27 Amendments of Tiziana BEGHIN related to 2023/2111(INI)
Amendment 11 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 16 a (new)
Citation 16 a (new)
– having regard to the main outcomes and recommendations of 'Study on Geothermal plants and applications emissions: overview and analysis – Final report'10a, _________________ 10a Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, 2020, ISBN 978-92- 76-04112-2, doi: 10.2777/755565
Amendment 14 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 16 c (new)
Citation 16 c (new)
– having regard to 'The heat pump wave 2023', Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, 2023, ISBN 978-92-68-04870-2, doi: 10.2760/27877, JRC13404510c _________________ 10c https://op.europa.eu/en/publication- detail/-/publication/94cf1914-10b1-11ee- b12e-01aa75ed71a1/language-en/ https://op.europa.eu/en/publication- detail/-/publication/94cf1914-10b1-11ee- b12e-01aa75ed71a1/language-en/
Amendment 15 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 16 b (new)
Citation 16 b (new)
– having regard to the results of the regional project PATOS-2 – Particolato Atmosferico in Toscana. Linea di ricerca 7. Individuazione di marker specifici delle centrali geotermoelettriche, Università degli Studi di Firenze 2 Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra - Università degli Studi di Firenze 3 Museo di Storia Naturale - CNR Istituto di Geoscienze e Georisorse, sezione di Firenze 4 - Department of Science Facilities the Natural History Museum, London, Regione Toscana, 2015,10b _________________ 10b https://flore.unifi.it/retrieve/handle/2158/1 017014/86438/2015RelazioneFinalePatos- DST.pdf
Amendment 17 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 16 d (new)
Citation 16 d (new)
– having regard to the 'District heating and cooling in the European Union Overview of markets and regulatory frameworks under the revised Renewable Energy', Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, 2022, ISBN 978-92-76-52343-7, doi: 10.2833/962525, (including the related 7 Annexes)10d _________________ 10d https://op.europa.eu/en/publication- detail/-/publication/4e28b0c8-eac1-11ec- a534-01aa75ed71a1/language-en and https://energy.ec.europa.eu/publications/d istrict-heating-and-cooling-european- union_en
Amendment 18 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 16 e (new)
Citation 16 e (new)
– having regard to 'Studio geostrutturale, idrogeologico e geochimico ambientale dell’area amiatina', Università di Siena, 200810e _________________ 10e https://www.regione.toscana.it/documents/ 10180/726542/Studio+geostrutturale.pdf/6 3ecc29a-7f82-40b2-b610-cdfc7f17b562
Amendment 27 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas geothermal energy technologies are included in net-zero technologies in the European Commission Net Zero Industry Act legislative proposal and heat pumps and geothermal energy technologies are categories deemed strategic net-zero technologies for Europe in the Net Zero Industry Act Annex;
Amendment 32 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas the industry estimates that geothermal can supply more than 25 % of the heating and cooling consumed in Europe and over 10 % of its electrical power, giving an important contribution in the process of becoming more resilient and strategically autonomous in energy as well as in the fight against energy poverty;
Amendment 56 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Notes that the development of technologies has broadened the area suitable for cost-efficient geothermal projects and their scope; stresses the potential of ubiquitous low-temperature, shallow geothermal resources that are available in all Member States;
Amendment 77 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Believes the potential of geothermal brines raw materials mining should be further investigated to enhance and strengthen EU's geopolitical and economic resilience in raw materials and compounds secure supply chains, particularly strategic and critical raw materials;
Amendment 78 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 b (new)
Paragraph 2 b (new)
2b. Recognizes that geothermal energy is a non-intermittent renewable energy source that can play a pivotal role in the development of stable local renewable based energy systems, thereby enhancing the EU's energy, geopolitical and economic resilience;
Amendment 83 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Draws attention to geothermal solutions that are able to store excess wind and solar power for subsequent use in heating, cooling and power production, and their crucialsupport role for the development and stability of renewable-based energy systems;
Amendment 86 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Notes the potential of cascaded use, where the same geothermal fluid is used for multiple purposes; stresses the need to foster cross-industry synergies between geothermal and other sectors, including agriculture (e.g, the greenhouses heating and cooling in the agricultural and floriculture sector, as well as the agri-food processing supply chain) and through shared use of sites, infrastructure, data and workforce skills;
Amendment 91 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Underlines that technical solutions for exploiting shallow geothermal resources can be adapted and are already in use in certain Member States to harness the heating and cooling potential of sewer systems, aqueducts, and reservoirs;
Amendment 108 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Stresses that national and EU-wide measures for geothermal energy should be based on an assessment of the geothermal potential of Europe, taking into account the diverse geological and climate conditionshallow and deep geothermal resources, underlying rocks, geothermal fluids even within adjacent areas, and an estimate of the cost-efficiency, financial risks, CapEx and OpEX of deploying geothermal solutions; in different climate conditions for heating and cooling only and/or electrical energy production.
Amendment 119 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7a. Notes that public resistance and fear about the exploitation of geothermal energy remains a challenge: is convinced that duly maintaining high environmental standards and transparency, and avoiding any conflicts of interest, could help in overcoming distrust;
Amendment 122 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 b (new)
Paragraph 7 b (new)
7b. Acknowledges, on the other hand, that public concern to direct and indirect emissions and environmental and health consequences of geothermal projects are in several cases entirely justified because of scientific evidence and findings available in existing literature pointing at: – power plant and soil direct and indirect emission of gases (including Non- Condensable Gases) and fine-particles, containing inter alia:heavy metals, ammonia, ozone, sulphur oxide, hydrogen sulphide, mercury, arsenic, radon, hydrogen, methane and carbon dioxide climate-altering gases; – freshwater contamination; – groundwater over-exploitation, including the amount of water necessary in reinjection processes to compensate the volume reduction of exploited and cooled geothermal fluids; – induced or increased site-specific subsidence and/or seismicity. Additionally, the anthropogenic emissions due to geothermal activity of many potentially harmful substances contained in geothermal emissions are not preassessed and/or not monitored routinely or at all.
Amendment 129 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 c (new)
Paragraph 7 c (new)
7c. Public concerns and fears can be further reinforced by: – lack of transparency of deep geothermal exploitation operations; – conflicting findings or interpretations in assessment studies and monitoring reports due also to the absences of specific and harmonized geothermal appropriate LCA methodologies; – lack of environmental data monitoring, collecting and reporting, or not uniform and/or not harmonized data collecting methodologies;
Amendment 132 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 d (new)
Paragraph 7 d (new)
7d. Points at the fact that environmental performances and human health impacts of geothermal energy exploitation can vary extremally widely, from 'almost zero' for shallow resources to significant potential harms for deep resources exploitation, depending on specific deep geothermal technologies used, population density, the presence of industrial and residential settlements, underground rocks and geothermal fluids characteristics. Therefore the diversity and peculiarity of each area, even within geographically adjacent areas, should be carefully and duly evaluated based on both adapted existing LCA and specific geothermal appropriate LCA methodologies, including the pre- assessment of soil, air and freshwater geochemical background, followed by monitoring of resulting geochemical baseline after the development of deep geothermal applications;
Amendment 156 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Stresses that for areas with insufficient subsurface data, governments can play a role in funding geothermal resource mapping and exploratory drilling; welcomes the fact that some Member States have already taken steps in this direction; calls for EU funding to support this data collection with a view to creating an EU-wide atlas of geothermal potential, in particular for surface geothermal potential, which is the most scalable option;
Amendment 177 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Expresses concern that while geothermal heat pumps (GHPs) are currently the most efficient heat pumps, producing more heat for less electricity in cold climates compared to air source heat pumps, their much higher upfront drilling and installation costs tend to discourage their selection; calls on the Member States to explore possible financial incentives to bridge this gap, also taking into account that the use of GHPs represents an ideal synergy for reducing energy poverty, the development of heating and cooling districts, and renewable energy communities;
Amendment 190 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 a (new)
Paragraph 14 a (new)
14a. Calls on the Commission to consider setting up dedicated research and industrial development funds for total reinjection and closed loops binary technologies, and in particular for closed loops utilizing underground heat exchange, thus potentially addressing many of environmental and climate issues and health risks in existing deep geothermal EU plants utilizing open loops technologies and surface heat exchangers. Moreover, calls on the Commission to evaluate a progressive EU and Member States' ban of support mechanisms and incentives for any additional open loop geothermal energy production and/or capacity.
Amendment 194 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 b (new)
Paragraph 14 b (new)
14b. Calls on Member States to fully make use of existing European funding opportunities to support re-skilling of the workforce, in particular but not limited to transition areas, with a view to new job opportunities arising from a widespread exploitation of the shallow geothermal energy potential;
Amendment 200 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Notes that the requirements of mining laws designed for large-scale mining projects are difficult to uphold in much smaller-scale geothermal projects; calls on the Member States to review and simplify existing mining laws, where necessary, or to develop dedicated permitting rules for geothermal; asks the Commission to provide guidelines to ensure the requisite level of coherence, intervening to address the fragmentation of national, regional, and municipal regulations, and distinguishing shallow geothermal from deep geothermal energy and the type of technologies used;
Amendment 220 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Notes that permits for geothermal installations must be made extensible to covering the extraction of lithium or the production of hydrogenand any other potential raw materials and compounds (e.g., phosphate and nitrates) or production of renewable hydrogen and ammonia from existing capacity under the same lease;
Amendment 257 #
Motion for a resolution
Subheading 7
Subheading 7
Territories in transition: hydrocarbon and mining industry, skills and assets repurpose
Amendment 276 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23
Paragraph 23
23. Calls on the Member States to make use of existing European funding opportunities to support the re-skilling of the workforce in transition areas, with a view to capitalising on the jobs arising from geothermal projects;Notes notes that oil and gas industry skills can be applied to the geothermal sector;
Amendment 288 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25
Paragraph 25