| Title | Geothermal Update in Bangladesh |
|---|---|
| Authors | Mohammed MASUM, Md. KAMRUL Ahsan and Mohammed NURUL Hoque |
| Year | 2020 |
| Conference | World Geothermal Congress |
| Keywords | temperature, exploration, tectonic |
| Abstract | Energy is one of the vital factors for ensuring the sustainable development of a country. At present Bangladesh is experiencing a lot of drawbacks as power demands are increasing at a rate greater than that of production. The power production of the country is mainly depends on its natural gas reserve which is predicted to put an end soon. The country has targets to produce more than 50% power from coal energy which has negative impacts on environment. In this context, geothermal energy can provide a viable solution for Bangladesh to heighten power crisis scenario and ensure a secured future. The Ganges-Brahmaputra Delta, world’s largest one has formed the most parts of Bangladesh which also has a large sedimentary basin. Bangladesh due to its geo-tectonic settings and thick sedimentary covers (130 m -20 km) as well as lies close to both the Eurasian-Indian plate boundary and Indo-Burman Ranges, as a result the country is tectonically very active. Only one combined study have been carried out by geologists in abandoned deep wells (which have been done for gas exploration) of northwest region found temperatures of more than 100°C (in the depth of 3 to 4 kilometers) which might be suitable for geothermal energy production. Survey and study of the temperature variable of these investigated wells indicated that geothermal gradient along the southeast part of the Bengal for deep region and along the northwest stable shelf is from 19.8 to 29.5°C/km on average and from 20.8 to 48.7°C/km on average respectively. Besides this paper some descrptive very fundamental studies of geothermal field have been carried out by some researchers where provided suggestion to the government for take necessary action to utilizing the geothermal resources in future specially in that abandoned gas wells. To improve the power crisis in our country geothermal energy can be a vital & useful alternative. Bangladesh is one of the largest deltas which has very good aquifer system and need only sufficient temperature. The main theme of this paper is present status and to emphasize the more research on mentioning abandoned wells as should be needed to detailed study about geothermal energy resource in Bangladesh. The geothermal prospects, geological mapping of surface geothermal manifestations as well as low-temperature surveys are essential to evaluate the geothermal resources in Bangladesh. |