Environmental and Socio-Economic Impact of Deep Geothermal Energy, an Upper Rhine Graben Perspective

Abstract

The Upper Rhine Graben is a region renowned in Europe for the exploitation and development of geothermal energy with projects in France, Germany and Switzerland. In the last 20 years, numerous seismic events have been felt by local population triggering social concerns that have been addressed at different levels (state regulation, technical adaptation of projects and communication). Indeed, geothermal projects need a high level of acceptance by inhabitants in the surrounding area. In this regard, the local socio-economic impact is a crucial factor in social acceptance. Nevertheless, this energy resource has many advantages such as competitive heat prices and low environmental impacts, quantified by Life Cycle Analysis. This approach is also completed by continuous environmental monitoring. Moreover, additional valorization of geothermal water through its use for low temperature heating or recovery of mineral resources are ways of providing additional benefits to the local community. This chapter is dedicated to present the environmental and socio-economic impacts of two operational EGS projects (Soultz-sous-Forêts and Rittershoffen) located in Northern Alsace (France) producing geothermal electricity and heat in a rural area.