| Abstract |
Energy has a strategic role in social and economic development of all the countries around the world and it’s consumption due to increasing standards of living and fast Industrial development is rising considerably. However limited sources of fossil fuels and their rather rapid depletion as well as the increasing CO2 emissions in the atmosphere and its dangerous consequences in terms of climate change, has lead that their replacement with new sources seems to be inevitable. As a renewable source of energy, geothermal energy because of being economically viable, locally available and also competitiveness with other forms of energies, has found a great attention among many countries around the world. Japan by having several volcanoes and approximately 28,000 hot springs in the country has a significant geothermal resources and currently has the third ranking geothermal energy potential, and eighth ranking geothermal electricity production in the world. Geothermal energy with the share of 0.5% or 2.4 Mtoe in 5.7% or 24.9 Mtoe of Total Primary Energy Supply (TPES) and also by producing 2.6 TWh or 0.3% of renewable electricity generation and 7.8% of total domestic energy production in 2015, has a substantial potential of supplying heat and electricity in Japan. Moreover the Japanese government with several strategies like Feed-in-Tariff (FIT) scheme and subsidies has been encouraging investors to facilitate geothermal power development. |