6 April 2010
Geothermal energy building a head of steam
However, investment by the world's biggest producers, such as the US, the Philippines and Indonesia, is giving geothermal a new lease of life. Geothermal power has been tapped on a large scale for longer than most other renewable energies – the first plant was developed at Larderello, Italy, in 1904. But it has been eclipsed in terms of growth and nominal capacity in recent years. Between 2000 and 2008, global solar energy capacity soared from around 730 megawatts (MW) to nearly 13.5 gigawatts (GW), while wind-energy capacity rose from 18.5 GW to 122 GW, according to BP. In the same period, geothermal capacity grew sedately, from around 8.2 GW to 10.5 GW (see Figure 1). However, geothermal
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