| Abstract |
The geological prospects for deep geothermal energy direct use, e.g. for heating buildings, are favorable in the Netherlands. However, because the country has large reserves of natural gas and the price of energy is low, so far only one trial borehole has been drilled for a demonstration project, and it had a negative result. A demonstration project which is expected to become operational in 1997 is currently being prepared. Several more projects may be operational before 2010. Using heat pumps powered by gas engines to exploit shallow geothermal energy did not get off the found partly because the amount of natural gas saved was disappointing and the maintenance costs were high. However, a new heat pump program is currently being formulated, which is intended to achieve a saving of conventional energy of 5-10 PJ in 2000 and 50 PJ in 2010. The present use of geothermal energy is relate to heat pumps and is thought to be approximately 2 MWth. |