Мировые тенденции в развитии геотермальной энергетики. Часть 1. Геотермальные ресурсы по регионам мира

Abstract

The article provides an overview of materials on the use of geothermal resources over regions of the world. The dependence of efficiency of using geothermal resources on the geophysical and geographical parameters of each region is shown. We present data on the countries where geothermal energy is developing most successfully and for what purposes it is used. The leaders are here the United States, the Philippines, Mexico, Indonesia, and New Zealand. All these countries are located in the areas of present-day volcanism, within the “Fiery Ring”, where the heat carrier has high parameters and is available on the Earth's surface, where the cost of building a geothermal power plant is minimal, and the prime cost of energy is competitive in the energy market. It is emphasized that geothermal energy is used very little on the global scale: the share of electricity generated from geothermal resources is only 0.5%. It is produced only in 24 countries. The direct use of geothermal heat is much more wide-spread: for space heating, including centralized heat supply, for and pools, greenhouses, air conditioning, for heating open ground, and pavement, in industrial processes, for melting snow and other purposes. For example, in the capital of China, Beijing, about three hundred wells were drilled to a depth of about 3 kilometers. Water with a temperature up to 70 °C flows from them and is used for central heating of high-rise buildings and for heating greenhouses. In Iceland, owing to geothermal heat, 90% of the country's heating capacity needs are met. Almost half of the volumes of geothermal energy are spent for heating and hot water. In the Paris basin, there are 37 circulation systems, including 50 installations for centralized heat supply. Heat is also supplied to greenhouses and fish farms. In 2007, a new draft of the circulation system for heating the Orly airport in Paris was implemented. In the vicinity of Paris, 170 thousand houses are heated by 33 geothermal plants.