Abstract
Greece is a country with high geothermal energy potential; through the research that started over 40 years ago, a significant number of geothermal fields have been identified. Yet, its utilisation is rather limited, as it is exploited solely through direct uses. This means that there is a total absence of power production through geothermal energy, which to a great extent is due to the local societies’ opposition created by the bad experience of the Milos Island pilot power plant (1970–80s). Deficiencies and errors made during construction and operation led to environmental pollution, resulting to the strong reactions of the residents. This has affected the attitude of local communities and authorities against the large scale exploitation of high temperature deep geothermal resources (any use of geothermal energy with heat extraction, for resources with temperatures above 90 °C) until today in various areas; on the contrary, low temperature deep geothermal (any use of geothermal energy with heat extraction, for resources with temperatures between 25 and 90 °C) utilization is perceived much more positively. Until now most attempts made for the exploitation of geothermal fields are characterised by the lack of local societies’ awareness, involvement and engagement. The conducted literature review shows that public attitudes and awareness are at a rather medium to low level. Exploiting the large potential of geothermal energy requires increase of awareness and improvement of the lost confidence of local societies towards high temperature deep geothermal exploitation.
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Notes
- 1.
According to the European Commission (n.d.): “Natura 2000 is a network of core breeding and resting sites for rare and threatened species, and some rare natural habitat types which are protected in their own right. It stretches across all 28 EU countries, both on land and at sea. The aim of the network is to ensure the long-term survival of Europe’s most valuable and threatened species and habitats, listed under both the Birds Directive and the Habitats Directive.”
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Karytsas, S., Polyzou, O., Karytsas, C. (2019). Social Aspects of Geothermal Energy in Greece. In: Manzella, A., Allansdottir, A., Pellizzone, A. (eds) Geothermal Energy and Society. Lecture Notes in Energy, vol 67. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-78286-7_9
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