| Abstract |
As we have shown in previous work, there are important geothermal reserves with temperatures below 200°C in Mexico, which are mainly sub-utilized. Our previous work focused on the aggregated reserves of the whole country. In this paper we present a first, partial assessment of the geothermal reserves of the State of Queretaro. This assessment is necessarily partial because the information currently available is insufficient to estimate the reserves of the whole state. Queretaro is the second Mexican state, when considering the number of known geothermal localities by state. Our updated compilation registers 238 geothermal localities (warm springs and domestic water wells) in it. This abundance of geothermal resources is consistent with the fact that 50.6% of the state’s area lies on the Mexican Neovolcanic Axis. Our present reserve assessment includes 112 (47%) of the cataloged geothermal localities. These are distributed in 28 geothermal systems with areas ranging between 3 and 46 km2. To estimate the reserves we used the volume method, complemented with Monte Carlo simulations, to quantify the inevitable uncertainties, and a recovery factor equal to 25%. Our results indicate that the reserves corresponding to these 28 geothermal systems lie between 1.9x104 and 3.3x104 PJ, with 90% confidence. The most likely estimated reservoir temperatures range 77-161°C. These temperatures are adequate for an ample variety of domestic and industrial direct heat applications that would be useful for the socioeconomic development of the State. Some applications suggested by the current economic activities in the State are: drying fruits, grains and cement blocks; process heat for the textile, paper, sugar, beer and soft drinks industries; greenhouses; fish farming; space heating and refrigeration; spas and other touristic attractions. The magnitude of these reserves and that of their associated temperatures are potentially important to positively impact the economic development of the State, in particular, that of the human populations co-localized with the geothermal systems. In the near future we plan to obtain the information missing to allow the assessment of the reserves corresponding to the identified localities that currently lack these data. |