Abstract
The contribution of renewable energies to the world's total energy demand has increased particularly during the last decades, and they will continue gaining market share. The European energy and climate policies have as one of their targets 20% of final energy from renewable origin by 2020. Underground coal mines closured and flooded constitute large underground reservoirs that can be economically managed to supply geothermal energy (heating and cooling) by means of heat pumps. This paper analyzes the geothermal potential of the water stored inside the coal mines of the Asturian Central Coal Basin (ACCB) and the reduction of CO2 emissions compared to the use of fossil fuels. The results of the study that has been carried out show a capacity of 50 MWt. The potential for generation thermal energy is 112,000 MWh/year with an electric consumption of 14,000 MWh/year. The Coefficient Of Performance (COP) medium is 8 kWht/kWhe. The reduction of CO2 emissions compared to other fuel sources can reach 80%.
Highlights
Renewables were the third largest contributor to global electricity production in 2015
Hydroelectricity supplies the vast majority of renewable electricity, generating 16.0% of world electricity, which is 70.3% of total renewable electricity, whilst biofuels and waste, including solid biofuels, play a minor role in electricity generation, supplying 1.9% of world electricity
Geothermal, solar, wind and tide energies accounted for only 4.8% of world electricity production, 21.2% of total renewable electricity in 2015 [1]
Summary
Renewables were the third largest contributor to global electricity production in 2015 They accounted for 22.8% of world electricity generation, after coal (39.3%) and gas (22.9%) and ahead of nuclear (10.6%) and oil (4.1%). In the framework of a circular economy it can be found new possibilities for mine water which can be considered as a potential resource generating new economic activities in the mining regions. Another alternative for the use of the closed mines is the construction of Compressed Air Energy Storage (CAES) plants. This paper analyses the geothermal potential of the water stored inside the flooded underground closed mines for heating and cooling of buildings, and the reduction of CO2 emissions compared to conventional fossil fuels, such as natural gas and diesel oil
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