Differences in Direct Geothermal Energy Utilization for Heating and Cooling in Central and Northern European Countries

Geothermal energy has emerged as an alternative heating source that can replace fossil energy. This mature technology is already in use all over Europe, but there are significant differences in its use between European countries. One possible explanation for this phenomenon concerns societal differe...

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Published in:Energies
Main Authors: Ellen Nordgård-Hansen, Ingvild Firman Fjellså, Tamás Medgyes, María Guðmundsdóttir, Baldur Pétursson, Maciej Miecznik, Leszek Pająk, Oto Halás, Einar Leknes, Kirsti Midttømme
Format: Text
Language:English
Published: Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute 2023
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.3390/en16186465
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spelling ftmdpi:oai:mdpi.com:/1996-1073/16/18/6465/ 2023-10-09T21:52:37+02:00 Differences in Direct Geothermal Energy Utilization for Heating and Cooling in Central and Northern European Countries Ellen Nordgård-Hansen Ingvild Firman Fjellså Tamás Medgyes María Guðmundsdóttir Baldur Pétursson Maciej Miecznik Leszek Pająk Oto Halás Einar Leknes Kirsti Midttømme 2023-09-07 application/pdf https://doi.org/10.3390/en16186465 eng eng Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/en16186465 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Energies Volume 16 Issue 18 Pages: 6465 geothermal energy societal embeddedness level (SEL) environment stakeholders policy regulations market Text 2023 ftmdpi https://doi.org/10.3390/en16186465 2023-09-10T23:54:51Z Geothermal energy has emerged as an alternative heating source that can replace fossil energy. This mature technology is already in use all over Europe, but there are significant differences in its use between European countries. One possible explanation for this phenomenon concerns societal differences directly related to geothermal energy, the topic that is investigated in this study. The present work proposes using the societal embeddedness level (SEL) method to analyze and compare the status of non-technical factors affecting geothermal energy use in Hungary, Iceland, Norway, Poland, and Slovakia. The method considers four dimensions: environment, stakeholder involvement, policy and regulations, and markets and financial resources. Only Iceland fully covers the four dimensions by reaching all the milestones in the SEL framework. Iceland has the advantage of a long history of active use of geothermal energy for domestic use. The other countries face challenges within several of the dimensions, while the form and cause of these challenges are specific to each country. The findings illustrate that to mitigate climate change and drive the energy transition forward, both technical and societal factors related to various renewable energy sources must be assessed. Text Iceland MDPI Open Access Publishing Norway Energies 16 18 6465
institution Open Polar
collection MDPI Open Access Publishing
op_collection_id ftmdpi
language English
topic geothermal energy
societal embeddedness level (SEL)
environment
stakeholders
policy
regulations
market
spellingShingle geothermal energy
societal embeddedness level (SEL)
environment
stakeholders
policy
regulations
market
Ellen Nordgård-Hansen
Ingvild Firman Fjellså
Tamás Medgyes
María Guðmundsdóttir
Baldur Pétursson
Maciej Miecznik
Leszek Pająk
Oto Halás
Einar Leknes
Kirsti Midttømme
Differences in Direct Geothermal Energy Utilization for Heating and Cooling in Central and Northern European Countries
topic_facet geothermal energy
societal embeddedness level (SEL)
environment
stakeholders
policy
regulations
market
description Geothermal energy has emerged as an alternative heating source that can replace fossil energy. This mature technology is already in use all over Europe, but there are significant differences in its use between European countries. One possible explanation for this phenomenon concerns societal differences directly related to geothermal energy, the topic that is investigated in this study. The present work proposes using the societal embeddedness level (SEL) method to analyze and compare the status of non-technical factors affecting geothermal energy use in Hungary, Iceland, Norway, Poland, and Slovakia. The method considers four dimensions: environment, stakeholder involvement, policy and regulations, and markets and financial resources. Only Iceland fully covers the four dimensions by reaching all the milestones in the SEL framework. Iceland has the advantage of a long history of active use of geothermal energy for domestic use. The other countries face challenges within several of the dimensions, while the form and cause of these challenges are specific to each country. The findings illustrate that to mitigate climate change and drive the energy transition forward, both technical and societal factors related to various renewable energy sources must be assessed.
format Text
author Ellen Nordgård-Hansen
Ingvild Firman Fjellså
Tamás Medgyes
María Guðmundsdóttir
Baldur Pétursson
Maciej Miecznik
Leszek Pająk
Oto Halás
Einar Leknes
Kirsti Midttømme
author_facet Ellen Nordgård-Hansen
Ingvild Firman Fjellså
Tamás Medgyes
María Guðmundsdóttir
Baldur Pétursson
Maciej Miecznik
Leszek Pająk
Oto Halás
Einar Leknes
Kirsti Midttømme
author_sort Ellen Nordgård-Hansen
title Differences in Direct Geothermal Energy Utilization for Heating and Cooling in Central and Northern European Countries
title_short Differences in Direct Geothermal Energy Utilization for Heating and Cooling in Central and Northern European Countries
title_full Differences in Direct Geothermal Energy Utilization for Heating and Cooling in Central and Northern European Countries
title_fullStr Differences in Direct Geothermal Energy Utilization for Heating and Cooling in Central and Northern European Countries
title_full_unstemmed Differences in Direct Geothermal Energy Utilization for Heating and Cooling in Central and Northern European Countries
title_sort differences in direct geothermal energy utilization for heating and cooling in central and northern european countries
publisher Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
publishDate 2023
url https://doi.org/10.3390/en16186465
geographic Norway
geographic_facet Norway
genre Iceland
genre_facet Iceland
op_source Energies
Volume 16
Issue 18
Pages: 6465
op_relation https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/en16186465
op_rights https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
op_doi https://doi.org/10.3390/en16186465
container_title Energies
container_volume 16
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