A State-of-the-Art Review on Geothermal Energy Extraction, Utilization, and Improvement Strategies: Conventional, Hybridized, and Enhanced Geothermal Systems

Abstract

The rising population along with a growing reliance on modern technology has increased energy demand. Energy sources must be used with caution as the focus on developing a sustainable environment grows. Renewable energy technology is required to create energy resources that will be much more sustainable than today's fossil-fuel energy systems. In the past few decades, studies have indicated that utilizing geothermal energy as well as enhancing the efficiency of geothermal systems currently being used are both viable choices for addressing these challenges. Despite its constraints compared to other renewable energy sources, geothermal energy produced by Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) reduces environmental consequences and emissions of hazardous gases. Besides, the direct applications of geothermal energy for domestic and commercial use, as well as power generation in a variety of power plant setups, both are significantly beneficial. In the current study, an intricate review is conducted regarding the respective topics in terms of energy growth, evaluating the technologies implemented in power plants and direct heat applications based on which the benefits and drawbacks of geothermal technology as well as the areas for growth are described. Moreover, for performance enhancement of the existing conventional systems, the implementation of Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) and Hybridized Geothermal Systems (HGS) has been suggested as the viable alternatives in this review article.

Keywords

• Geothermal energy
• Extraction methods
• Enhanced Systems
• Direct heat applications
• Power plant technologies
• Hybridized systems