| Abstract |
District heating is the largest sector of geothermal energy direct use in the world. It holds great promise for further development, especially when operated in conjunction with district cooling. At the end of 1984, the installed thermal power of all direct use projects in the world was bout 7072 MW and the associated flow rate, 57,803 kg/s. The thermal energy used was found to be 23,957 GWh, in most instances above a reference temperatures of 35 to 40°C. The amount of oil saved by geothermal energy direct used worldwide was estimated to be about 2.8 million tonnes per year. |