In Italy, 7% of total gross energy consumption comes from renewable energies, of which hydropower has the main share. The contribution of terrestrial heat to Italy's total energy demand (194 million Oil Equivalent Tons - OET) was in 2007 0.65%, out of which 0.55% from power generation and 0.1% from direct uses, including heat pumps. Since 1904, when the world's first experiment in geothermal exploitation was carried out at Larderello in Italy, geothermal power production has increased continuously up to the present value of 810.5 MWe installed capacity (711 MWe efficient capacity), with a gross generation of 5.5 TWh/y. This value represents 10% of the energy produced by geothermal power plants in the world, and by far the greatest amount in Europe, and represents about 1.7% of geothermal electricity generation in Italy. Power generation has increased in the last years, despite acceptability problems in some areas with local communities that are slowing down further installations for the exploitation of its potential . The total thermal capacity installed for direct use amounted in 2006 to 650 MWt, including heat pumps (150 MWt), with a thermal energy aggregately used of 8000 TJ/y, and an average annual load factor of 39%. Despite its huge potential, the direct use of geothermal energy in Italy is still very small. As to the future, we outline two possible development scenarios for the use of the Earth's heat up to the year 2020. We forecast that geothermal-electrical generation may increase 1.5-1.8 times with respect to the current situation, whereas the whole range of direct uses can increase much faster, 6-9 times more than the 8000 TJ/y said above. Based on these growth scenarios, it is estimated that geothermal uses in Italy in 2020 will aggregately lead to a saving up to 3.8 million OET, which is roughly three times more than the 2006 value. At the same time, the whole of such uses in 2020 will avoid discharging 6.5 to 10 million t/yr CO2 into the atmosphere, for scenarios I and II, respectively.
The current status of geothermal resources in Italy and potential for 2020.
Manzella A;
2009
Abstract
In Italy, 7% of total gross energy consumption comes from renewable energies, of which hydropower has the main share. The contribution of terrestrial heat to Italy's total energy demand (194 million Oil Equivalent Tons - OET) was in 2007 0.65%, out of which 0.55% from power generation and 0.1% from direct uses, including heat pumps. Since 1904, when the world's first experiment in geothermal exploitation was carried out at Larderello in Italy, geothermal power production has increased continuously up to the present value of 810.5 MWe installed capacity (711 MWe efficient capacity), with a gross generation of 5.5 TWh/y. This value represents 10% of the energy produced by geothermal power plants in the world, and by far the greatest amount in Europe, and represents about 1.7% of geothermal electricity generation in Italy. Power generation has increased in the last years, despite acceptability problems in some areas with local communities that are slowing down further installations for the exploitation of its potential . The total thermal capacity installed for direct use amounted in 2006 to 650 MWt, including heat pumps (150 MWt), with a thermal energy aggregately used of 8000 TJ/y, and an average annual load factor of 39%. Despite its huge potential, the direct use of geothermal energy in Italy is still very small. As to the future, we outline two possible development scenarios for the use of the Earth's heat up to the year 2020. We forecast that geothermal-electrical generation may increase 1.5-1.8 times with respect to the current situation, whereas the whole range of direct uses can increase much faster, 6-9 times more than the 8000 TJ/y said above. Based on these growth scenarios, it is estimated that geothermal uses in Italy in 2020 will aggregately lead to a saving up to 3.8 million OET, which is roughly three times more than the 2006 value. At the same time, the whole of such uses in 2020 will avoid discharging 6.5 to 10 million t/yr CO2 into the atmosphere, for scenarios I and II, respectively.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
