What's New

Q. Despite the advantages of geothermal energy, it has not been adopted on a wide scale in India. Discuss.

Approach:

• Provide a brief introduction about geothermal energy.
• Highlight the advantages of geothermal energy.
• Enlist the reasons for it not being adopted on a wide scale.
• Conclude accordingly.

Answer:

• Geothermal energy is the heat produced deep inside the Earth, which can be harnessed for use as heat and electricity. It originates from the geological processes during the formation of the planet, the radioactive decay of minerals etc.
• India has 5 geothermal provinces and a number of geothermal springs. Geothermal resources in India have been mapped by Geological Survey of India (GSI).
• As per the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), a broad estimate suggests that there could be 10 gigawatt (GW) geothermal power potential.
• Recently, an agreement for establishing India’s first-ever geothermal field development project in Ladakh has been signed.

Following are some of advantages of geothermal energy (GE).

• Renewable source of energy: Geothermal energy is extracted from the earth’s core and will be available as long as the earth exists, therefore it is renewable and can be used for roughly another 4-5 billion years.
• Environment friendly: GE is green in all aspects of its production and use with absolutely zero carbon produced.
• Abundant supply: There is no fluctuation and the resource is always available to be tapped into unlike solar or wind power.
• No fuel needed: No fuel is used at all during the production and use of energy.
• High efficiency: Geothermal heat pump systems use 25% to 50% less electricity than conventional systems for heating or cooling, and require less space for hardware as opposed to conventional systems.

Despite the above advantages, geothermal energy has not been adopted on a wide scale in India due to following reasons.

• Suitable to particular regions: Prime destinations are exceptionally zone-specific, hence it becomes difficult to find geothermal power outside of those areas.
• High initial costs: The cost of drilling wells to geothermal reservoirs is very expensive.
• Environmental concerns about greenhouse emissions: The gases stored under earth’s surface are released into the atmosphere during digging causing environmental damage. Also, there are concerns related to H2S pollution.
• Surface instability and earthquakes: Geothermal energy runs the risk of triggering earthquakes as geothermal power plant construction involves drilling hot rock that contains trapped water or steam in its pore spaces.

Government push to promote geothermal energy.

• The Ministry of New & Renewable Energy has released Draft Indian Geothermal Energy Development Framework stressing on the role and active participation of states.
• Draft National Policy on Geo-Thermal Energy envisions to establish India as a global leader in geothermal power by deployment of geothermal energy capacity of 1000 MW in the initial phase till 2022.
• Proactive measures to harness geothermal energy may help India in meeting its energy needs as it seeks to grow economically without losing sight of its commitments under the COP26.