Baden-Wuerttemberg. The Baden-Württemberg Greens want to bring geothermal energy out of its shadowy existence and promote the expansion of drilling deep in the south-west. From the point of view of the ruling party, the country should not in principle rule out areas in water protection areas. "We want to make Baden-Württemberg a deep geothermal energy state," says a position paper that the Greens have agreed on.
Deep geothermal energy can reliably supply climate-neutral heat and thus replace heat generation from coal-fired power plants. Above all, it is necessary to use the Upper Rhine Graben with its rugged subsoil to extract geothermal heat.
The green-black state government had already agreed on the expansion of deep geothermal energy. From the point of view of the Southwest Greens, raw materials such as lithium must be obtained as a "by-product" of using deep geothermal energy. Lithium is required, among other things, in the construction of electric vehicles.
In addition, the state must create potential maps so that municipalities and their public utilities can decide on their own deep geothermal projects. The state is also responsible: the state's own areas for the construction of plants must be identified and entered on the maps, the parliamentary group demands.
Similar to wind power, deep geothermal projects would also have to be approved much more quickly, and the parliamentary group believes that the number of employees in administration and the Ministry of the Environment must increase as the number increases.
Groundwater protection must have top priority when it comes to drilling and operation. Drilling should also be possible in the extended protection zone, the so-called water protection zone III, which is particularly often designated. "Priority areas of regional planning for water protection areas must not lead to the exclusion of deep geothermal energy," says the position paper.
Geothermal energy involves drilling for heat from the earth in order to use it for electricity or heat generation. According to the State Office for Geology, Raw Materials and Mining in Freiburg, a distinction is made between near-surface use of geothermal energy (up to a depth of 400 meters) and deep geothermal energy. Here, the geothermal energy is extracted from several kilometers deep by pumping thermal water. The temperature of the hot water is significantly higher than with near-surface geothermal energy. It can be up to 160 degrees Celsius.
Such hot thermal water is suitable for generating electricity and supplying heat. To do this, the hot water is fed from the depths into a power plant. There it evaporates and the steam drives turbines. The movement in turn generates electricity.
Earthquakes triggered by drilling have long damaged the technology's reputation. However, the mining authorities are convinced that deep geothermal energy can be extracted comparatively safely from the Upper Rhine. Hot water can be found there even at shallow depths.
From around two kilometers below the earth's surface, the water already has a temperature of up to 100 degrees Celsius. That means it doesn't have to be drilled as deep as in other places to bring hot water to the surface. From the point of view of the Greens, damage is practically impossible with this type of deep geothermal energy.
