Carbon dioxide emissions from geothermal power plants
2021
O'Sullivan, Michael | Gravatt, Michael | Popineau, Joris | O'Sullivan, John | Mannington, Warren | McDowell, Julian
Geothermal is commonly considered to be a clean, green energy source but it does produce some greenhouse gas emissions, particularly CO₂. The amount of CO₂ is usually measured as an emission intensity of kg of CO₂ emitted per MWh of electricity produced. However, the quantity that is measured for the calculation of emission intensity is the waste CO₂ in the separated steam that feeds the power plant. In terms of total CO₂ emissions this is only part of the picture as there is a natural outflow of CO₂ into the atmosphere at most geothermal systems and this natural outflow is affected by the operation of a power plant. The correct measure of CO₂ emissions is the extra CO₂ output resulting from the operation of the power plant.Here we discuss a computer modelling study of the Ohaaki (New Zealand) geothermal project and show that during the lifetime of the project extra CO₂ is emitted but after the project is shut down the emission of CO₂ is reduced below its natural level and viewed over a long time period (300 years) there is no extra CO₂ emitted as a result of the operation of the Ohaaki power plant.
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