Global geothermal marketing continues to grow
The geothermal industry is booming as the technology becomes more affordable for smaller commercial property owners and residential homeowners. The technology is also growing in popularity as news of its efficiency spreads.
Geothermal market figures show growth
According to Renewable Energy Focus, the geothermal energy market continued to grow in 2013. During the figures tabulated in 2012 alone, the U.S. contributed 147 MW of newly installed geothermal capacity and another 207 MW is the result of a statistical revision done by the Geothermal Energy Association, which brought the total amount of geothermal energy produced in 2012 in the U.S. to 3,386 MW.
The expansion of the geothermal energy market is demonstrating the power of sustainability and consumers’ focus on investing in cleaner resources. The geothermal energy investments made in the past year are setting a precedent that demonstrates how much the world is beginning to care about investing in sustainable solutions and decreasing the draw modern life is having on the planet.
The U.S is hardly the only nation making investment in geothermal energy solutions. According to the news source, Nicaragua and Mexico have both recently completed expansion projects on pre-existing geothermal power plants, 36 MW and 25 MW respectively. Germany and Kenya have also been busy focusing on how to grow the use of geothermal energy in each prospective nation and how to make investments in the technology more affordable to increase accessibility.
Currently, the European geothermal market is being dominated by Italy and Iceland, 882 MW and 674 MW respectively, both nations currently make up about 90 percent of the installed geothermal capacity on the continent. The expansion of the geothermal energy market in nations across the world is making the adoption of this solution in every day solutions more common because it decreases the mystique attached to the technology.
Geothermal solutions available to individuals
All too often many people think of geothermal energy as something that is only used to power large plants or commercial properties, but the technology can be installed on a small residential home as well. A geothermal heat pump is an ideal way to lower operational expenses associated with heating and cooling a home. Instead of relying on traditional energy resources like oil and natural gas, a geothermal system only requires a slight amount of energy to circulate the warmth or cool air throughout a property. Because the ground stays at a relatively consistent and temperate temperature at a certain level, a homeowner never has to worry that the temperature inside a house will ever dip too low or rise too high. As a result, a homeowner is able to drastically reduce the operational costs associated with the house because two of the major energy consuming practices are being handled with renewable energy.
