Policy Documents

This fact sheet presents the stimulation process to engineer geothermal reservoir (often mistaken for fracking as used in shale gas production). The document presents the key differences between the resources needed, and the different consequences of the processes used for Enhanced Geothermal Systems and for shale gas.

The debate on the 2030 framework must include heating and cooling stresses the Heat Coalition.

The European Parliament`s Industry, Research and Energy committee (ITRE) has approved its own initiative report on the Commission’s “Energy Roadmap 2050”. The Parliament calls notably for greater attention to be paid to the heating and cooling sector and highlights how geothermal, together with other renewables and energy efficiency measures, have the potential to decarbonise heat demand in a more cost effective way.

In December 2011 the European Commission published its Energy Roadmap 2050. The European Geothermal Energy Council (EGEC) promptly reacted to the publication of the Roadmap and welcomed the following main conclusions:

Heating and cooling represents 43%, and by far the largest share, of the final energy consumption in Europe. Although this sector is not only huge in size but also already provides low and no‐carbon solutions it has largely been overlooked in all the scenarios presented in the Energy Roadmap 2050.