Energy from Geothermal Resources and Scope of its Utilization in India

Demand of energy is increasing day by day worldwide. Also the use of non-renewable energy resources has created serious problems like global warming and air pollution. At the same time, these resources are fast depleting. So we have to look on renewable energy resources to meet the future energy needs. Geothermal energy resources are very versatile renewable energy resource and have wide range of potential use to fulfill the energy need of society in and around the regions of its availability. The present study critically examines the energy from geothermal resources and scope of its utilization in India. There are about 400 known thermal areas in India, each represented by hot spring. The potential geothermal resources exist all around these hot springs. The temperatures of these springs range from 34°C to 96oC. Based on cation’s and anions study, the water types are mostly NaHCO3Cl, NaCaHCO3Cl, CaMgHCO3 and NaHCO3ClSO4. The geothermal fluids from the shallow wells at Puga have been effectively applied to the refining of borax and sulphur as well as experimental space heating. India’s first power plant to produce estimated output power of 250MW will be setup at Puga. The helium content in the hot gases from Bakreswar geothermal sites varies from 1-3%. Helium exploration field stations were established in the above mentioned sites. The geothermal gradient varies from 0.7-2.5oC/m at Chhumathang geothermal field indicating the powerful geothermal region. There exists great scope to use this versatile resource for electrical as well as non-electrical applications in India.