Despite Earthquakes: Greens Demand Geothermal Energy

Despite the earthquakes triggered by drilling in Basel and Strasbourg and the looming environmental damage, the Greens are sticking to the geothermal process and are now putting pressure on it. According to the German Press Agency, the Baden-Württemberg faction wants to quickly advance the expansion of deep drilling in the southwest. It is stated in a position paper that they want to make Baden-Württemberg a deep geothermal energy land. It can reliably provide climate-neutral heat and thus replace heat generation from coal-fired power plants. It is necessary above all to use the Upper Rhine Graben with its rugged subsoil to extract geothermal energy. Drilling should also be possible in the extended protection zone, the so-called water protection zone III, which is particularly frequently designated. Priority areas of regional planning for water protection areas should not lead to the exclusion of deep geothermal energy, as stated in the position paper. Similar to wind power, deep geothermal energy projects should also be approved significantly faster. The green-black state government has also already agreed on the expansion of deep geothermal energy. Geothermal energy is extracted from several kilometers deep by pumping thermal water. However, earthquakes triggered by drilling raise doubts about the safety of the process. According to the mining authority, deep geothermal energy can be extracted relatively safely in the Upper Rhine region. Source: Depositphotos/ Anoo77