As Germany adjusts to the removal of Russian gas from its energy mix, its government is now eyeing geothermal energy as a clean, reliable way of heating buildings.
A 2022 study conducted by the Leibniz Institute for Applied Geophysics found that deep and near-surface geothermal energy could supply 40% of Germany’s heating needs by 2045.
But at the moment, deep geothermal energy accounts for less than half a percent of the country’s heating supply, even though it has abundant hot water deposits, particularly in the south.
At the start of September, the Federal Cabinet unveiled draft legislation called the Geothermal Acceleration Act, which aims to promote geothermal energy by cutting red tape and simplifying authorisations.
It’s meant to pave the way for the government’s target of generating 10TWh of geothermal energy by 2030, around 10 times the amount generated now.
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