Atlas of geothermal resources in Europe

The geothermal resources of most European countries have been estimated and compiled in the recently published Atlas of Geothermal Resources in Europe, a companion volume to the Atlas of Geothermal Resources in the European Community, Austria and Switzerland. Publication of this Atlas comes at a time when the promotion of a sustainable and non-polluting energy is high on the agenda of local energy suppliers, municipal administrations and all European governments. The participating countries are: Albania, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine and the UK. A volumetric heat content model for porous reservoirs was the basis for calculating the resources, assuming that exploitation of the geothermal resources would take place in a doublet well system. The geothermal reservoirs are defined in a set of 4 maps, by depth, thickness, temperature and resources. The assessment methodology is simple and is based on a small number of parameters so that regions with very limited data coverage can also be evaluated. An example is given in this paper of the eastern North German Basin. The maps presented in the Atlas permit a first order evaluation of the geothermal potential in terms of technical and economic viability. This uniform procedure applied to all countries and regions allows comparisons and serves as a guide for setting priorities and planning geothermal development. This Atlas also helps in the search for appropriate partners for international cooperation in geothermal exploration in Europe. (C) 2003 CNR. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.