Geothermal energy sector needs better promotion

Solar and wind usually take all the spotlight when discussing the potential clean energy alternatives for fossil fuels. Geothermal energy, despite being very reliable clean source of energy is usually regarded as low tier energy alternative. What geothermal energy sector needs is better promotion on global scale.

This is where Global Geothermal Alliance should step in and make the difference. This alliance, which was funded in 2014, consists of 36 countries, and has a main goal of strengthening the geothermal industry's skills base.

Global geothermal energy production grows approximately three to four percent per year but this is still only a tiny fraction of total geothermal potential. There is much more room for global geothermal energy industry to grow and become one of the leading industries in clean energy sector.

Global Geothermal Alliance recently stated that "geothermal energy development particularly in developing countries, faces important challenges. Due to risks related to geological drilling during the exploration phase, along with the associated costs, financing the early stage of the process is limited to investors that understand and accept the possible associated risks."

Exploration and drilling costs still provide major obstacle to spreading geothermal energy industry in new parts of the world. New technologies will have to be developed in order to reduce high upfront costs of new geothermal energy projects.

Global Geothermal Alliance was funded in September, 2014 at the summit organized by UN secretary General Ban Ki-moon. The alliance is hopeful to achieve a five-fold growth in the installed capacity for geothermal power generation and at least two-fold growth for geothermal heating by 2030.