| Abstract |
Australia has committed to net zero carbon emissions by 2050, largely focussing on mitigating emissions from electricity production. However, more than 20% of Australia’s end use energy is consumed as heat for industrial processes, overwhelmingly from fossil fuels. Alternative solutions include electrification and green hydrogen research, neither of which can currently be considered a viable zero emissions energy source. This work assesses the potential for emerging Advanced Geothermal Systems (AGS) to provide a source of low to medium temperature (< 250˚C) process heat for industry in Australia, presenting a case study at one of the country’s five large alumina refineries. These refineries are each among the largest individual consumers of industrial process heat in the country and so represent among the most pressing challenges of the sustainable industrial heat transition. Initial estimates suggest that optimised AGS designs are theoretically able to provide the ~600 MWth required by the case study refinery in Western Australia. This suggests the limiting factor in implementation of this technology is the economic feasibility when compared to black coal and natural gas. This work presents a sample of the optimised designs generated, as well as an economic analysis including Levelised Cost of Heat (LCOH) comparisons, including potential Carbon Credit Unit earnings. |