TITLE:
The Importance of Geothermal Energy Resources in Turkey
AUTHORS:
Oyku Bilgin
KEYWORDS:
Geothermal Energy, Renewable Energy, Clean Energy, Energy Potential
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Access Library Journal,
Vol.5 No.2,
February
28,
2018
ABSTRACT: Turkey is located on an active tectonic zone as geological location and the country has a lot of rich in terms of geothermal energy resources. Geothermal energy which is an alternative energy resource has advantages such as low-cost, safe, natural and clean resource. Geothermal energy is defined as hot water and steam which is formed by heat that accumulated in various depths of the Earth’s crust; with more than 20℃temperature and which contain more than fused minerals, gases and various salts than normal underground water. Geothermal energy is clearly distinguishable with its low cost, clean, safe and natural properties. Turkey has over 1300 geothermal springs that located all over the country that have various of temperatures. Generally, the western parts of Turkey have high-temperature resources for power generation. Along with power generation, it is calculated that minimum 31,500 MWt geothermal energy can be achieved for direct heat energy use. 78% of these geothermal fields are based in Western Anatolia, 9 in Central Anatolia, nearly, 5% in Eastern Anatolia, 7% in the Marmara Region and 1% in the other regions. Turkey has 90% low or medium enthalpy geothermal resources and suitable for direct applications (heating, thermal tourism, mineral waters etc.). Additionally, there are 10% for indirect applications (electric energy production). In this study, the importance of geothermal energy resources was investigated in Turkey.