Geothermal Energy Could Replace Gas by 2030

Geothermal energy could be one of the main drivers of the Hungarian economy, said Attila Steiner, State Secretary for Energy and Climate Policy, reported Index. According to the Prime Minister, we are “within reach, i.e. a few years away from energy independence”. This would give geothermal energy, which has long been known to be Hungary’s hidden treasure, an even greater role in the nation’s energy production alongside solar energy.

The Carpathian Basin has exceptional potential for harnessing geothermal energy. Hungary is currently, and has been for many years, at the forefront of Europe in this regard. There is still a huge untapped potential for the direct use of this resource. “Geothermal heat is a suitable alternative to gas in Hungary,” said Judit Mádlné Szőnyi, a hydro-geologist and university professor, in response to the suggestion that Hungarian households could be heated with geothermal energy instead of natural gas.

Attila Steiner, the State Secretary for energy and climate policy, said that Hungary’s potential for geothermal energy production is particularly good. One of the most important goals is to strive for self-sufficiency, to ensure affordable energy and to decarbonize energy production.

According to the government,

geothermal energy meets all three of our objectives: is available locally at relatively low operating costs, will contribute to increasing Hungary’s energy sovereignty and to keeping energy prices affordable.

Attila Steiner’s Facebook post informs us about how this energy source is used in many places already, mainly for heating. In Szeged (South-Hungary), Győr (West-Hungary) and Miskolc (East-Hungary) in particular, there is significant extraction of geothermal energy.

“Szentes (near Szeged) is also worth mentioning, where 100 percent of the heating in the city is already provided by geothermal energy” he added.

For many years, Hungary has been among the top five European countries in terms of direct thermal utilization of geothermal energy, but the resources could be significantly increased.

Attila Steiner pointed out that geothermal energy has several fields of application. In agriculture, it is most suitable for heating foil houses and greenhouses, but it can be used in spas and district heating systems. If geothermal heat can be used at temperatures above 120 degrees Celsius, it can also be used to generate electricity.

“In the concept of geothermal heat recovery, we focus on energy use”

said the government.

Geothermal energy; Photo: Pixabay

According to the National Heat Utilization Concept they aim to double the use of geothermal energy by 2030. It is calculated that new uses could provide the basis for replacing at least half a billion cubic meters of natural gas by 2030 and more than 1 billion cubic meters by 2035.

The aim would be to eliminate the need to use gas in as many places as possible where geothermal energy is available,

concluded Attila Steiner. He stressed that one of the major policy successes of our six-month EU presidency was that we were the first to get member state ministers to agree that a European program was needed to better exploit the potential of the earth’s heat. Geothermal energy could be one of the main drivers of the Hungarian green economy. A recent independent analysis shows that Hungary has a strong position in the production and export of heat pumps, as well as in battery production, and that our development potential is promising.

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