Online maps promise to decrease investment risk and increase development of geothermal energy
A new tool to investigate global geothermal energy potentials is now available online, just ahead of next week’s World Geothermal Congress in Melbourne, Australia. The new and freely available gravity anomaly maps, the product of collaboration between the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and the European Space Agency (ESA), offer a new technique to gauge geothermal potentials around the world.
As geothermal energy exists underground, it is extremely difficult to measure. Accordingly, exploration is expensive, time consuming, and risky for investors and governments. This new technique, using Global Bouguer and Free Air Gravity Anomaly Maps, enables prospectors to gauge geothermal potentials at minimum risk and minimum cost.
