Role of Tourism in Promoting Geothermal Energy: Public Interest and Motivation for Geothermal Energy Tourism in Slovenia

From household geothermal heat pumps to industrial geothermal heating and electricity production, geothermal energy is one of the most promising future climate change mitigation areas. This paper aims to analyse the potential role that the tourism industry has in the promotion of geothermal energy. Although general knowledge and understanding of geothermal energy is often relatively low, geothermal energy tourism has the potential to encourage the public to use and learn about geothermal energy and its applications. The paper first provides a theoretical conceptualisation of geothermal energy tourism at the energy production level and energy usage level. Empirical results from an online survey amongst a sample of the Slovenian population show that there is a reasonably strong interest in geothermal energy tourism, correlating with the public image of geothermal energy. The study furthermore identified three main motivational factors for energy tourism: the first is “Knowledge,” followed by “Having fun,” with the lowest level on the motivational factor being “Self-recognition.” The paper finally provides future recommendations on geothermal energy tourism as a tool for wider public acceptance but also knowledge on the potential risks of geothermal energy as a sustainable energy source.

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Preliminary Feasibility Study of Groundwater Source Geothermal Heat Pumps in Mason County and the American Bottoms Area, Illinois

Volume 1: Combined Energy Cycles, CHP, CCHP, and Smart Grids; Concentrating Solar Power, Solar Thermochemistry and Thermal Energy Storage; Geothermal, Ocean, and Emerging Energy Technologies; Hydrogen Energy Technologies; Low/Zero Emission Power Plants and Carbon Sequestration; Photovoltaics; Wind Energy Systems and Technologies ◽

10.1115/es2014-6342 ◽

2014 ◽

Author(s):

Xinli Lu ◽

David R. Larson ◽

Thomas R. Holm

Keyword(s):

Ground Surface ◽

Heat Pumps ◽

Coefficient Of Performance ◽

Weather Data ◽

Single Family ◽

Geothermal Heat ◽

Geothermal Heating ◽

Heating And Cooling ◽

Groundwater Source ◽

Mason County

Groundwater source heat pumps exploit the difference between the ground surface temperature and the nearly constant temperature of shallow groundwater. This project characterizes two areas for geothermal heating and cooling potential, Mason County in central Illinois and the American Bottoms area in southwestern Illinois. Both areas are underlain by thick sand and gravel aquifers and groundwater is readily available. Weather data, including monthly high and low temperatures and heating and cooling degree days, were compiled for both study areas. The heating and cooling requirements for a single-family house were estimated using two independent models that use weather data as input. The groundwater flow rates needed to meet these heating and cooling requirements were calculated using typical heat pump coefficient of performance values. The groundwater in both study areas has fairly high hardness and iron concentrations and is close to saturation with calcium and iron carbonates. Using the groundwater for cooling may induce the deposition of scale containing one or both of these minerals.

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GEOTHERMAL ENERGY OF THE REPUBLIC OF SRPSKA AND HYDROCHEMICAL ASPECTS OF ITS EXPLORATION AND EXPLOITATION

JOURNAL OF ENGINEERING & PROCESSING MANAGEMENT ◽

10.7251/jepmen1507055s ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 4 (7) ◽

Author(s):

Andrijana Stevanović ◽

Boban Jolović

Keyword(s):

Renewable Energy ◽

Geothermal Energy ◽

Renewable Energy Sources ◽

Energy Resource ◽

Geothermal Gradient ◽

Heat Pumps ◽

Electricity Production ◽

Thermal Waters ◽

The Republic ◽

Banja Luka

One of the most used renewable energy sources worldwide is geothermal energy. Itrepresents the heat, originated by natural processes happen in the Earth interior. The hot springsphenomena are the most frequent natural manifestation of geothermal activity.Geothermal potentiality of some area can be estimated based on geothermal gradient. Geothermalgradient is a conductive terrestrial parameter that represents the degree of increasing of the Earthtemperature vs. depth. It is usually expressed in ⁰C/m or ⁰C/km. Different areas have differentthermal gradients and thus different geothermal potential. Generally, higher geothermal gradientscorrespond to areas containing more geothermal energy.Geothermal characteristics of the territory of the Republic of Srpska are closely related to itscomplex geological setting. It is the reason why geothermal characteristics are different from areato area. Higher geothermal potentiality is recognised in the northern parts of the entity, in the firstorder in Semberija, Posavina and Banja Luka regions.The use of geothermal energy with different fluid temperatures can be considered throughthe Lindaldiagram, who firstly proposed acomprehensive scale with appropriate temperatures for differentuses. High temperature fluids are mostly used for electricity production and moderate and lowtemperature fluids for the direct use.Despite the fact that the territory of the Republic of Srpska hasfavourable geothermal properties, utilization of this kind of renewable energy resource isinadequate. Especially indicative are data about the use of geothermal energy by heat pumps (inbad sense) in comparison with praxis of developed countries.Chemical composition of thermal waters plays very important role and can be used in itsexploration stage, for analyses of possibility of its use and for prediction of exploitation effects, aswell. This kind of renewable energyresource, highly ecologically recommended, must be consideredmore seriously in the future in the Republic of Srpska. Furthermore, it must be put into the energystrategic documentsin appropriate manner.

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Numerical Analysis of Geothermal Heat Exchangers to be Implemented in a Geothermal-Solar Hybrid Power Plant for Electricity Production in Mexico

Volume 6B: Energy ◽

10.1115/imece2016-67869 ◽

2016 ◽

Author(s):

Jorge A. Rangel Arista ◽

J. Jesús Pacheco Ibarra ◽

Carlos Rubio-Maya ◽

Oskar J. González Pedraza ◽

Daniel Alcantar Martinez

Keyword(s):

Heat Exchanger ◽

Numerical Analysis ◽

Power Plant ◽

Geothermal Energy ◽

Hybrid Plant ◽

Electricity Production ◽

Borehole Heat Exchanger ◽

Geothermal Heat ◽

Mexican Government ◽

Hybrid Power Plant

The Mexican government due to the need of developing and creating cutting-edge technology for application of renewable energy has created renewable energy centers to develop research projects related to solar, wind and geothermal energy. In particular, geothermal energy has been of great interest due to high geothermal energy potential reported for the country. Regarding the projects approved by the Mexican government, the Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo, has been granted with fundings to carry out the design and implementation of a geothermal-solar hybrid plant for electricity production. This project is being developed in the community of San Nicolás Simirao (Michoacan State) where geothermal energy is available and exploited from an existing geothermal well. Initially, the well ran through induction, but fluid flow was not constant for long periods and was not sufficient to obtain a full operation of the geothermal-solar hybrid power plant. Therefore, it was necessary to explore new techniques to extract geothermal energy effectively, meeting design conditions of power plant. One solution might be a geothermal heat exchanger to extract heat from the rock and carry it to the surface. Literature reports two basic configurations of geothermal heat exchangers: one of them is the Downhole Coaxial Heat Exchanger and the other one is Borehole Heat Exchanger. Before making a decision to implement one type or another, several studies were carried out by the authors of this work to determine what type of configuration was most suitable, considering in such studies technical and economic aspects that provided information to continue or not the project. Therefore, in this paper the numerical analysis of both configurations (Downhole Coaxial Heat Exchanger and Borehole Heat Exchanger) is presented. The study was conducted to determine what type of geothermal exchanger presents the best trade-off between maximum heat extraction rate and minimum length to minimize costs. A minimum temperature of 125°C was proposed to reach at the hot fluid heat exchanger outlet, allowing a normal operation of the geothermal-solar hybrid plant. Through numerical analysis was determined that the Borehole Heat Exchanger configuration did not present good heat extractions rates, obtaining that for 100 m length the outlet temperature of the hot fluid was even lower to that of entering into the well. This behavior was attributed to heat loss in the return pipe. For the same configuration, but using a length of 500 m, a temperature of 117.21°C was reached at the heat exchanger outlet. On the other hand, the Downhole Coaxial Heat Exchanger configuration reached a temperature of 118.35°C for a length of 100 m. For a length of 200 m a temperature of 131.25°C was obtained, whereby the facility can operate with the minimum necessary conditions. Finally, for a length of 500 m, a temperature of 134.67°C was reached, showing that this type of configuration is the most suitable to be installed in the geothermal well. Thus the Downhole Coaxial Heat Exchanger configuration has more advantages than the Borehole Heat Exchanger configuration from a technical and economic (by pipe cost) point of view.

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Lay theories of grandiose and vulnerable narcissism

Current Psychology ◽

10.1007/s12144-020-01296-w ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Tatjana Koepernik ◽

Emanuel Jauk ◽

Philipp Kanske

Keyword(s):

Public Discourse ◽

Online Survey ◽

Implicit Theories ◽

Social Consequences ◽

Public Image ◽

Grandiose Narcissism ◽

Vulnerable Narcissism ◽

The Public ◽

Motivational States ◽

Psychological Theories

AbstractIn public discourse, narcissism is often portrayed one-sidedly and overly negative, rendering a picture of narcissistic individuals as “toxic people” or “evil characters”. Beyond these salient associations, psychological theories point to a more complex phenomenon, and different developmental mechanisms are being discussed in relation to it. We investigated the prevalence of different implicit theories on narcissism including beliefs about its developmental antecedents. We put forward the question whether grandiose and vulnerable narcissistic behaviors are regarded as congruent or incongruent expressions of underlying feelings and motives, that is whether grandiose behavior is attributed to underlying grandiosity or underlying vulnerability, and vice versa. Results of an online survey (N = 177) show higher agreement with congruent rather than incongruent theories (i.e., grandiose narcissism is attributed to feelings of superiority rather than inferiority, vulnerable narcissism is attributed to inferiority rather than superiority). In line with this, participants displayed predominant beliefs in parental overvaluation as a developmental antecedent of grandiose narcissism/parental coldness as an antecedent of vulnerable narcissism. With higher self-reported prior knowledge of narcissism, endorsement of theories assuming incongruencies increased. The likability of narcissism was not associated with endorsement of the different implicit theories, but instead with perceivers’ own narcissism levels. Results suggest that laypeople employ an “it is what it seems” – heuristic facing both grandiose and vulnerable narcissistic behaviors and are less likely to attribute grandiose or vulnerable behavior to incongruent motivational states. Findings might help to better understand the public image of narcissism and its social consequences.

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Joint synthesis “Geothermal Energy” of the NRP “Energy”

10.46446/publication_nrp70_nrp71.2020.4.en ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Gianfranco Guidati ◽

Domenico Giardini

Keyword(s):

Geothermal Energy ◽

Energy System ◽

Heat Pumps ◽

Electricity Production ◽

Industrial Processes ◽

Building Stock ◽

Drilling Depth ◽

Geothermal Resources ◽

Joint Project ◽

Deep Geothermal Energy

Near-to-surface geothermal energy with heat pumps is state of the art and is already widespread in Switzerland. In the future energy system, medium-deep to deep geothermal energy (1 to 6 kilometres) will, in addition, play an important role. To the forefront is the supply of heat for buildings and industrial processes. This form of geothermal energy utilisation requires a highly permeable underground area that allows a fluid – usually water – to absorb the naturally existing rock heat and then transport it to the surface. Sedimentary rocks are usually permeable by nature, whereas for granites and gneisses permeability must be artificially induced by injecting water. The heat gained in this way increases in line with the drilling depth: at a depth of 1 kilometre, the underground temperature is approximately 40°C, while at a depth of 3 kilometres it is around 100°C. To drive a steam turbine for the production of electricity, temperatures of over 100°C are required. As this requires greater depths of 3 to 6 kilometres, the risk of seismicity induced by the drilling also increases. Underground zones are also suitable for storing heat and gases, such as hydrogen or methane, and for the definitive storage of CO2. For this purpose, such zones need to fulfil similar requirements to those applicable to heat generation. In addition, however, a dense top layer is required above the reservoir so that the gas cannot escape. The joint project “Hydropower and geo-energy” of the NRP “Energy” focused on the question of where suitable ground layers can be found in Switzerland that optimally meet the requirements for the various uses. A second research priority concerned measures to reduce seismicity induced by deep drilling and the resulting damage to buildings. Models and simulations were also developed which contribute to a better understanding of the underground processes involved in the development and use of geothermal resources. In summary, the research results show that there are good conditions in Switzerland for the use of medium-deep geothermal energy (1 to 3 kilometres) – both for the building stock and for industrial processes. There are also grounds for optimism concerning the seasonal storage of heat and gases. In contrast, the potential for the definitive storage of CO2 in relevant quantities is rather limited. With respect to electricity production using deep geothermal energy (> 3 kilometres), the extent to which there is potential to exploit the underground economically is still not absolutely certain. In this regard, industrially operated demonstration plants are urgently needed in order to boost acceptance among the population and investors.

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A Regulatory Roadmap to the Past, Present and Future of Geothermal Energy in Greece

Materials Proceedings ◽

10.3390/materproc2021005010 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 5 (1) ◽

pp. 10

Author(s):

Effrosyni Varvitsioti ◽

Georgios Tsifoutidis

Keyword(s):

Geothermal Energy ◽

Raw Materials ◽

Co2 Reduction ◽

Legal Framework ◽

Electricity Production ◽

Geothermal Heat ◽

Energy Applications ◽

Energy Product ◽

Directorate General ◽

New Policies

Greece is gifted with geologic features that promote geothermal heat flow. Geothermal energy exploration began in the late 60s, culminating in the first geothermal energy law in 1984 and the introduction of geothermal energy as a mineral resource under the amendment of the Greek Mining Code. Since then, low- and high-temperature geothermal activities followed their separate ways, with a modest utilization of the energy product in the primary sector (agriculture, aquaculture) and attempts for electricity production stalled since the mid-1990s. The adoption of green policies by both the EU and Greece, the acceptance of global warming as an existing threat, the adhesion to CO2 reduction goals, energy efficiency and the application on renewable energy solutions as means to combat the increase in global temperature have led to an increasing interest in the utilization of the geothermal energy applications. This paper presents the new legal framework for geothermal energy established by Law 4602/2019, as introduced by the Greek Ministry of Environment and Energy, Directorate-General for Mineral Raw Materials and discusses its scope and goals set by the implementation of its provisions. The paper offers a roadmap to successfully test those new policies and regulatory provisions and, finally, it maps the interfaces of stakeholders and geothermal industry in an attempt to highlight the steps of the necessary administrative procedures towards the facilitation of viable geothermal projects.

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Geothermal heat potential - the source for heating greenhouses in Southestern Europe

Thermal Science ◽

10.2298/tsci151129155u ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 20 (4) ◽

pp. 1061-1071 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Danijela Urbancl ◽

Peter Trop ◽

Darko Goricanec

Keyword(s):

Geothermal Energy ◽

Heat Pumps ◽

Geothermal Water ◽

Southeastern Europe ◽

Energy Usage ◽

Geothermal Heat ◽

Energy Demands ◽

Geothermal Potential ◽

Heat Potential ◽

Temperature Heat

The paper presents economically evaluated solutions for heating greenhouses with geothermal potential, if the same greenhouse is placed in two different locations in Southeastern Europe, one in Slovenia and the other in Serbia. The direct geothermal water exploitation using heat exchangers is presented and the remaining heat potential of already used geothermal water is exploited using high temperature heat pumps. Energy demands for heating greenhouses are calculated considering climatic parameters of both locations. Furthermore, different constructions materials are taken into account, and energy demands are evaluated if the same greenhouse is made of 4 mm toughened single glass, double insulated glass or polycarbonate plates. The results show that the geothermal energy usage is economically feasible in both locations, because payback periods are in range from two to almost eight years for different scenarios.

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How will geothermal energy transform the environmental performance of the heating mix of the State of Geneva from a life-cycle perspective?

10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-10980 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Astu Sam Pratiwi ◽

Marc Jaxa-Rozen ◽

Evelina Trutnevyte

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle ◽

Environmental Impacts ◽

Geothermal Energy ◽

District Heating ◽

Electric Heating ◽

Heat Pumps ◽

The State ◽

Hotspot Analysis ◽

Ground Source Heat Pumps ◽

Geothermal Heating

The State of Geneva in Switzerland is determined to increase the share of renewable energy in its heating mix to reduce its dependence from fossil fuels and their greenhouse gas emissions. Geothermal energy from shallow and medium depths is identified as one of the new renewable energy sources to meet the high heat demand in urban areas of Geneva in combination with the district heating network. The program GEothermie 2020, led by the local utility Services industriels de Gen&#232;ve (SIG) and the State of Geneva, aims to understand the characteristics of the State&#8217;s subsurface to allow for sustainable use of geothermal energy, while considering the technology's environmental impacts.In this study, the environmental impacts of different geothermal heating systems for groundwater extraction in the State of Geneva were quantified using Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA). A systematic literature review revealed that most studies of geothermal LCA until now focused either on shallow geothermal applications with heat pumps or on high-enthalpy systems for electricity production. There was a lack of LCA studies for geothermal systems involving groundwater extraction from shallow and medium depth, even if the number of these systems is growing internationally.In the first phase of our LCA study, we built six scenarios, integrating the geothermal subsurface characteristics and the district heating designs at the surface. We built a model to simulate material and energy flows and create life-cycle inventories. Critical parameters such as temperature, flowrate, well depths, and the seasonal heating demand of residential buildings were used as the input parameters. For each scenario, we defined upper and lower limits for geothermal production and material intensity, and a reference case representative of an existing or ongoing project in Geneva.In the second phase, we quantified the ranges of environmental impacts of the scenarios using the Ecoinvent 3.6 database and ReCiPe 2016 Midpoint characterization factors.&#160; We performed hotspot analysis to understand the contribution of life-cycle steps to selected environment impacts. Subsequently, we introduced other heat sources such as electric heating, waste incineration with district heating, and gas boilers into the reference cases, and analyzed their impacts. We compared these impacts with those of other heat systems such as oil boilers, ground source heat pumps, waste incineration, and centralized gas boilers.We found that all of our scenarios of shallow-to-medium geothermal heating systems were less detrimental to the environment than oil boilers and centralized gas boilers in terms of global warming, air pollution, fossil resource scarcity, and acidification impacts. The ground source heat pumps were less detrimental than our geothermal scenarios in most cases, except for acidification. The hotspot analysis identified the operation phase as the activity that contributed the most to the environmental impacts in most cases, followed by the activities for the subsurface development or heating system construction. The latter became increasingly dominant when the heat production output was higher. Lastly, we found that introducing centralized gas boilers and waste heat into the district heating system increased these impacts, whereas the opposite was true when the low-carbon Swiss electric heating was introduced instead.

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