| Abstract |
Current well construction technologies have significant potential for improvement in very high-temperature geothermal conditions. The COMPASS initiative has the ambition to address the current challenges in geothermal well design for utilising superhot geo-resources, ensuring sustainable exploitation of geothermal energy, and unlocking the huge potential from near-magmatic resources, thereby contributing to reducing the LCOE and lowering the environmental footprint of geothermal projects. In this study, the environmental impacts of the proposed COMPASS geothermal power plants from Icelandic and Italian perspectives have been evaluated, alongside the impacts of existing Icelandic and Italian geothermal power plants, using a cradle-to-grave approach. The LCA analysis was conducted with SimaPro 9.5.0.0 LCA tool, following ISO LCA standards. The functional unit of this LCA study is 1 MWh of electrical energy production from these plants. It has been reported that carbon footprint savings of about 31.9 % and 80.6 % could be achieved by the proposed COMPASS plants in Icelandic and Italian perspectives, as compared with the existing Icelandic and Italian plants, respectively. The results of these studies demonstrate the potential of COMPASS plants for improving environmental performance and thereby enhancing geothermal power growth in Europe and other countries. |