| Title | Circular Economy and the development of KenGen Green Energy Park within the Olkaria Geothermal Area |
|---|---|
| Authors | Irene Ronoh |
| Year | 2023 |
| Conference | World Geothermal Congress |
| Keywords | Circular Economy, Geothermal Direct uses, Sustainability |
| Abstract | A circular economy feeds back into its own development and is a regenerative economic model aimed at minimizing waste and reducing resource dependency. This sustainable economic approach uses a ‘repair, reuse, recycle’ model of production is more beneficial than the traditional linear model of ‘take, make, dispose’. Other benefits of circular economy include reduction of environmental footprint, increased economic growth, creates a greater collaboration between companies, improving the products and saving on production costs, enhancing the business competitiveness and creating more jobs. Circular economy concept within the KenGen Green Energy Park will be the main agenda to promote sustainable development mainly by enabling the wastes fluids from geothermal electricity generation to be utilized for direct use processes before reinjecting it back to the geothermal reservoir. KenGen Green Energy Park intends to utilize resources within the Olkaria Geothermal Area which include vast land resources, cheaper electricity, steam and brine for industrial land uses corresponded to eight target industrial sectors. These sectors are iron and steel, pulp and paper, textile and apparel, wood and wood products, plastics and packaging, fabricated metal products, fertilizer, and food processing. The required energy will be harnessed from the proximity of the geothermal power plants, brine in separator stations and steam from low-enthalpy geothermal wells. The main purpose is to develop the park as a sustainable and competitive Eco-Industrial Park, through improved efficiency, by embracing a robust circular economy. The focus is to develop industrial clusters, assess material flows within the clusters and determine industrial symbiotic opportunities between the firms. The park aims to increase sustainability in utilization of geothermal resources and operate under the following principles: integrated utilization of the steam, brine and electricity from geothermal energy; by-product sharing hence minimizing of waste; job creation resulting from an improved economy and social progress due to development of innovation. |