Geothermal energy in the world and UN Sustainable Development Goals

Abstract

The United Nations (UN) has committed to ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all by 2030, as stated in Sustainable Development Goal 7. In line with this, electricity will need to be brought to over one billion people in developing and transitional countries over a short time period. It is foreseen that a large part of this energy will come from the renewables, including geothermal energy. Capacity building is a key enabler in accelerating the utilization of geothermal energy in countries of greatest need. Based on the World Energy Council report, published in 2019, on the current world energy status and future energy scenarios, the primary energy consumption in the world was assessed as 565 EJ in 2015, with about 82% coming from fossil fuels, and only 14% from renewable energy sources. Different scenarios proposed by WEC for development to 2060 are discussed with emphasis on the potential contribution of the renewables and their prospects. The current share of renewables in energy production is mainly from biomass and hydro, but in a future envisioned through depleting resources of fossil fuels and environmentally acceptable energy sources, geothermal energy with its large technical potential is expected to play an important role. Africa is currently a region where access to energy is limited, but WEC has predicted an annual growth rate of 5% in the next decades, considerably higher than for other regions. This paper provides an overview of the energy utilization in the world and the operations of UNU Geothermal Training Programme in Iceland are presented, with emphasis on East Africa. Utilization of geothermal energy in Africa is reviewed and examples are presented from the region, as well as from Iceland where geothermal energy plays a larger role than in any other country in the world.