Geothermal Energy Resource Assessment for Greenhouse Heating and Irrigation (Case Study: Eastern Azerbaijan Province)

In this paper, Geographical Information System (GIS) is used as a support system for decision making in order to provide the map of high potential areas for the construction of greenhouses benefited from geothermal energy. The goal is to perform a geothermal energy resource assessment in Eastern Azerbaijan province as a base for further studies to achieve sustainable development objectives in the agricultural sector of the province.
A thorough study is conducted to determine the indices used for geothermal resource assessment. Then, using these indices and the data of the province, the conceptual model for geothermal resource assessment is provided. To do this, information layers are categorized in three geology, geochemistry and geophysics sections. Then, by means of programming in GIS, these layers are intersected to find the final map of areas with high potential of geothermal energy. The results showed that about 24% of the total area of the province are high potential areas. These areas can be used for the construction of greenhouses where geothermal energy can be utilized for irrigation and heating purposes.