Geological Survey of Canada quotes "enormous geothermal energy resources" in Canada: report
By Nelson Daily Staff
A recent report detailing the geothermal energy resource potential in Canada confirms that “geothermal energy, as a renewable energy source, not only provides a clean and renewable option for electricity generation around the clock, but also efficient and competitive heating options for Canadians all over Canada.”
Alexander Richter, director of the Canadian Geothermal Energy Association, said the Geological Survey of Canada and the team that worked on the report highlighted “enormous geothermal energy resources that could supply the country with a renewable and clean source of power.”
With the high capacity factor, geothermal energy makes it a “particularly attractive as a renewable base load energy supply” for Canada, said Richter.
Other key highlights of the report:
- Geothermal energy potential is broadly distributed across Canada, however, there is only sufficient data to characterize geothermal potential for 40 per cent of Canada’s landmass.
- Canada’s in-place geothermal power exceeds one million times Canada’s current electrical consumption, although only a fraction of this can likely be produced.
- Remote northern communities could be the first to benefit from geothermal development in Canada.
- Canada has significant potential for EGS development, as few as 100 projects could meet a significant fraction of Canada’s base load energy needs.
- Research on decreasing installation costs could make further exploitation of abundant low- temperature geothermal resources feasible.
- Environmental impacts of geothermal development are relatively minor compared to other energy developments, however there are still key issues to be addressed.
- Geothermal installations have the potential to displace other more costly and environmentally damaging technologies.
- Geoscience research and mapping is required to reduce exploration risk as well as to support regulatory development in order to attract industry investment.
CanGEA sees this report as a confirmation of its own findings that the expected resource potential of Canada, electricity generated by geothermal energy could replace approximately 10 nuclear power plants and provide up to 10 per cent of Canada’s current total electricity generation.
It could provide more than 9,000 permanent jobs and approximately 30,000 temporary jobs in manufacturing and construction.
The industry represents a $25-billion market opportunity for companies willing to participate in the growth of the industry, despite current development being scarce and small scale.
In its recently released Technology Roadmap for Geothermal Heat and Power, the International Energy Agency (IEA) highlights the “importance of geothermal energy in the global efforts of reducing carbon emissions, using a sustainable and reliable source of energy that is available all over the world, and does not fluctuate with the weather or season,” said Nobuoa Tanaka, executive director at the IEA.
Documents referred to
- Geological Survey of Canada, Open File 6914, Geothermal Energy Resource Potential of Canada, at: http://www.geopub.nrcan.gc.ca/moreinfo_e.php?id=288745 (June 2011)
- International Energy Agency, Technology Roadmap for Geothermal Heat and Power, available at: http://www.iea.org/papers/2011/Geothermal_Roadmap.pdf (June 2011)
