Dottorato di Ricerca in Scienze della Terra Ciclo XXVI
Public engagement with geothermal energy: two Italian case studies
Ph.D. Thesis
Anna Pellizzone Matricola R09009
Tutore Anno Accademico Coordinatore Prof. Giovanni Muttoni 2013-2014 Prof.ssa Elisabetta Erba Co- Tutore Ph.D. Agnes Allansdottir Dr. Roberto De Franco
Index I
Index
Abstract 1 1. Introduction 5 2. What is social acceptance 15 2.1 Introduction 15 2.2 Social acceptance 15 2.3 Public engagement and innovation policy 18 2.4 Risk 24 2.4.1 Risk definition 24 2.4.2 Risk governance 27 2.4.3 Risk communication 29 2.5 Trust 30 2.6 Opposition: place attachment vs Nimby 36 2.7 Responsible Research and Innovation 39 2.7.1 An introduction to the concept 39 2.7.2 Science and society dialogue in Europe 41 2.7.3 RRI definition 42 2.7.4 RRI: contested technologies and successful innovation 43 2.7.5 RRI and geothermal energy 45 2.8 Introductive remarks 46 3. Palermo case study 47 3.1 Literature remarks 49 3.1.1 A short history of geothermal energy in Italy 49 3.1.2 Social acceptance of renewables 50 3.1.3 Social acceptance as an essential component of RRI 51 3.1.4 Carbon lock-in energy system and the role of society 53 3.1.5 Nimby, place attachment and trust 55 3.1.6 The VIGOR framework Project 58
II Index
3.2 Methods 58 3.2.1 Literature review 58 3.2.2 Data 59 3.2.2.1 Source of data 59 3.2.2.2 Data description 60 3.2.2.3 Data estimation 61 3.3 Results 62 3.3.1 Salience of energy issues including geothermal energy 62 3.3.2 Acceptance of the installation of geothermal technologies 67 3.3.3 Energy policy and trust in institutions 69 3.3.4 Public participation and information 71 3.4 Discussion 73 3.4.1 The importance of social acceptance and public engagement 73 3.4.2 Innovation and place attachments 74 3.4.3 Public engagement and trust 76 3.5 Conclusions and policy implications 79 3.5.1 Conclusions 79 3.5.2 Policy implications 80 3.5.3 Further research 81 4 Viterbo case study 85 4.1 Introduction 87 4.2 Methods 88 4.2.1 Literature review 88 4.2.2 Source of data 90 4.2.3 Data descriptions 91 4.3 Results 93 4.3.1 Salience of energy issues, renewables and environmental questions 93 4.3.2 Geothermal technologies and risk perception 98 4.3.3 Trust, information and public participation 102 4.4 Discussion and conclusions 106 4.4.1 Complexity and urgency of energy issue 106 4.4.2 The social acceptance of geothermal energy 107 4.4.3 Information as a step towards public engagement 109 Index III
4.4.4 Policy implications 111 4.5.5 Further research 112 5 Conclusions 115 5.1 Literature remarks 115 5.2 Palermo and Viterbo: a comparison between two case studies 119 5.3 General conclusive considerations 124 5.4 Policy implications 126 Bibliography 131 Appendix I Appendix II Appendix III Appendix IV Appendix V
Chapter 1: Introduction 1
Abstract
Italy was the first country to exploit geothermal resources for energy production, already back in 1904, and ranks fifth in the world for geothermal power production. Despite the extraordinary potential of the Italian geothermal resource, there appears to be little knowledge or understanding of this opportunity and its implications for the general society. However, several literature studies show that the lack of public engagement in the innovation process may be a constraining factor for eventual increase the share of renewables and that social acceptance of new technologies should be included in research programs.
In the first Chapter of this thesis I describe the research framework in which this work is included. The research is part of two national research projects assessing the geothermal resources of central and southern Italy (Progetto VIGOR and Progetto Atlante Geotermico del Mezzogiorno).
In the second chapter of this thesis I describe the key concept adopted by recent line of social sciences scholarship in order to analyze the social acceptance of renewables and to elaborate new innovation policy: trust, risk perception and communication, place-attachment, Responsible Research and Innovation and public engagement with science.
The core of the research is presented in chapter 3 and 4. To explore attitudes and public views towards geothermal energy technologies, we conducted two case studies: the first (Chapter 3) in the Palermo Province (Sicily) and the second (Chapter 4) in the Viterbo Province (Central Italy). In order to assess social acceptance of geothermal energy in the selected areas, we used a mix of qualitative (focus groups) and quantitative methods (survey).
In the light of the outcomes of these two case studies, I present the overall 2 Chapter 1: Introduction
conclusions in Chapter 5. After some literature remarks, an overall comparative reasoning on the findings of my research is given: beside some general similarities, the two case studies show significant peculiarities that confirm the strong relation existing between social acceptance and place-related meanings. Based on these findings, I conclude the thesis by suggesting some good practices oriented towards public engagement in order to include all relevant actors at every phase of the innovation process, from the very early stage (i.e. identification of priorities, social needs and future visions at a large scale level) to the development of single innovation projects (i.e. facilities siting and plants development at local level).
Chapter 1: Introduction 3
Sommario
L’Italia, nel 1904, è stata il primo paese ad utilizzare la geotermia per la produzione di energia elettrica e oggi si colloca al quinto posto a livello globale per produzione di energia elettrica da fonte geotermica. Nonostante lo straordinario potenziale della risorsa geotermica italiana, le opportunità e le possibili implicazioni sociali derivanti dallo sviluppo della geotermia sono state ad oggi poco esplorate. Tuttavia, come dimostrato in letteratura da diversi studi, la mancanza di un coinvolgimento della società nel processo di innovazione può essere uno dei principali fattori di limitazione alla diffusione delle energie rinnovabili. A partire da questa considerazione, l’integrazione dei programmi di ricerca con indagini sull’accettabilità sociale delle nuove tecnologie, e, nel caso specifico, con indagini sull’accettabilità sociale delle energie rinnovabili, si sta rivelando sempre di più una necessità imprescindibile per un’innovazione socialmente ed eticamente sostenibile.
Il primo capitolo di questa tesi descrive il contesto di più ampio respiro in cui questo lavoro è incluso. Questo studio è infatti parte integrante di due progetti di ricerca condotti a livello nazionale per indagare il potenziale geotermico del centro e del sud Italia (Progetto VIGOR e Progetto Atlante Geotermico del Mezzogiorno).
Nel secondo capitolo dell’elaborato è invece proposta una sintesi dei concetti chiave utilizzati nell’ambito delle scienze sociali per l’analisi dell’accettabilità sociale delle energie rinnovabili e per l’elaborazione di nuove policy destinate all’innovazione: fiducia, rischio, place-attachment, Responsible Research and Innovation e public engagement with science. 4 Chapter 1: Introduction
Il cuore di questa ricerca è presentato nei capitoli 3 e 4. Per indagare l’attitudine e i punti di vista dei cittadini rispetto alle tecnologie geotermiche ho condotto due casi studio: il primo (Capitolo 3) nella provincia di Palermo (Sicilia), il secondo (Capitolo 4) nella provincia di Viterbo (Lazio). Per stabilire l’accettabilità sociale dell’energia geotermica nelle aree selezionate, ho utilizzato sia metodi di indagine qualitativa (focus group), sia metodi di indagine quantitativa (questionari).
Alla luce dei risultati che ho ottenuto da questi due casi studio, le conclusioni sono presentate nel Capitolo 5. Dopo alcuni richiami alla letteratura, il capitolo presenta alcune riflessioni conclusive derivanti da un’analisi comparativa dei due casi studio: i risultati ottenuti nelle aree di indagine presentano infatti alcune peculiarità che confermano la forte relazione, già confermata in letteratura, tra l’accettabilità sociale e il concetto di place-attachment. Sulla base di questi risultati, la tesi si conclude con alcuni suggerimenti di buone pratiche orientate a garantire la partecipazione pubblica, col fine ultimo di coinvolgere tutti gli attori sociali coinvolti nell’innovazione tecnologica in ogni fase del processo di innovazione stessa: dalle prime valutazioni in termini di priorità di ricerca e di strategia su larga scala, fino allo sviluppo di singoli progetti sul territorio.
Chapter 1: Introduction 5
Chapter 1
Introduction
Geothermal power generation has its roots in Italy, where the first test in 1904 and the real beginning of power generation in 1913 took place, both at the Larderello dry steam field in Tuscany. Thanks to its extraordinary high-enthalpy resources located in the central-southern Tyrrhenian belt, Italy represents more than 50% of the European capacity with around 875 MWe installed capacity today, all concentrated in Tuscany (van Wees et al., 2013).
The geological structure of the country is extremely complex and the available geothermal information differs widely from region to region, as deduced from the heat flux map of Figure 1. During the Alpine orogeny (starting in the Cretaceous) period the collision between the African and European plates gave rise to the formation of the Alpine and Apennine chain. In the Late Miocene period the compressional front shifted east to the outer margin of the Apennine chain, resulting in the formation of foredeep basins along the Eastern margin of Italy. The inner West Apennines were affected by extension lasting up to the Pleistocene. This led to the opening of the Tyrrhenian basin, and to a significant crustal thinning associated with uplift of the mantle along most of the west Italian sector. Intensive intrusive and effusive magmatic activity occurred (Miocene - Quaternary) along the peri-Tyrrhenian area, in the Tyrrhenian Sea itself, in Ischia island, in Sicily (including the Aeolian and Pantelleria islands) and in Sardinia (Campidano graben) (Hurter and Haenel, 2002).
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Figure 1 – Heat flow map of Italy with location of the two case studies on the social acceptance of geothermal energy at Viterbo and Termini Imerese (Geothopica http://geothopica.igg.cnr.it/)
Geothermal still has a large untapped potential in Italy, notably thanks to the development of new technologies that have opened up new areas to geothermal research targeting medium enthalpy fluids suitable for electricity production.
This thesis is part of two national research projects: Progetto VIGOR and Atlante Geotermico del Mezzogiorno d’Italia (Geothermal Atlas of southern Italy), aimed at assessing the potential of geothermal resources in the country.
Chapter 1: Introduction 7
In the light of recent technological advances, research and development of new applications for harnessing the potential of geothermic resources is expanding on both a national and regional level. This is embedded within the context of a vast and diversified strategy for the development of alternative and renewable sources of energy. The “Atlante geotermico del Mezzogiorno d’Italia” project is one of the strategic parts of this strategy and represents the first level for the schematization of complex geothermic data from nine regions of central and southern Italy (Abruzzo, Basilicata, Apulia, Calabria, Campania, Latium, Molise, Sardinia, Sicily).
The harnessing of non conventional geothermic resources for the production of electric energy and an updated atlantes illustrating the geothermal resources have a strategic value in the economy and sustainable development of the Regions, potentially functioning as an investment-attraction and launch-pad for an energetic economy that may bring back Italian’s geothermal role as an important renewable energetic resource.
Consistent with this framework, the VIGOR project originates from an agreement between the Italian Ministry of the Economic Development and the Italian National Council (CNR) with the aim of locating and developing interventions in order to expand the exploitable geothermal energy potential of four Italian Regions (Apulia, Calabria, Campania and Sicily).
The two projects have a broad interdisciplinary approach and include classic geological, geophysical and engineering analyses, as well as studies on economical, juridical, and social issues concerning the implementation of geothermal energy in Italy.
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Geothermal development in southern Italy and the contribution of VIGOR Project
Adele Manzella1 and the VIGOR Team 1 Institute of Geosciences and Earth Resources – IGG-CNR, Via Moruzzi 1 – 56124 PISA, Italy 2 Institution/Company, Address [email protected]
Keywords: geothermal potential, exploration, thermal, and 30% of them are related to low-medium economics, regulation, energy demand temperature (Fig. 1).
ABSTRACT VIGOR, a three year Project launched at the end of 2010, is dedicated to a comprehensive geothermal assessment of geothermal energy and its technological applications in four regions of southern Italy. It refers to any kind of geothermal use, from air conditioning by means of ground source heat pumps (GSHP) to direct uses for industrial processes to power production, depending on the natural resource and the economic and social aspects of the reference territories.
In the two years of activity VIGOR has provided eight feasibility studies for geothermal resources in a wide range of temperatures, proposing eight different kinds of exploitation technologies, which have been chosen on the base of the resource as well as on the energy Figure 1: Distribution (in percentage) of primary demand of the area. Geothermal potential has also and final energy use in Italy on 2010. been evaluated, both at surface and at depth, and mapping of geothermal potential is under To partly answer the demand for a better knowledge development. Economics and regulatory aspects have of geothermal potential and geothermal technologies, also been considered and described. VIGOR Project was launched at the end of 2010. The VIGOR project (Evaluation of the geothermal VIGOR wants to be an example of a truly potential of Regions of Convergence) derives from an comprehensive geothermal assessment, to be followed operative agreement between the MiSE DGENRE in other regions, to answer energy demand and for the (Directorate General for Nuclear Energy, Renewable future benefit of society. Energy and Energy Efficiency, of the Ministry of Economic Development) and the CNR DTA (National 1. INTRODUCTION AND MAIN AIMS Research Council of Italy, Department of Earth and Many uses have been defined for geothermal energy, Environment), and is aimed at the implementation of from direct exploitation of geothermal heat to power innovative use of geothermal resources in the production. Investors and public seldom know them, Convergence Regions (Campania, Apulia, Calabria, and the geothermal potential remains unhindered. Sicily, Fig. 2) under the line of activity 1.4 of Indeed, Italy’s need of energy and the dependence Interregional Operative Program "Renewable Energy from imported fuels are very high, and a better and Energy Conservation 2007-2013". exploitation of geothermal resources may provide an important contribution, increasing the produced VIGOR considers any kind of geothermal application electricity from the actual 5.4 TWh to 12 TWh and the that can be recovered in the four regions, therefore heat production from the estimated actual 12600 balancing the knowledge and potential of them, TJ/year to 90000, following recent forecast (UGI). creating the base for a wide involvement in terms of occupation, market, business. In the target areas the The role of geothermal energy is crucial also amount of energy produced from geothermal source is considering that most of the uses of energy in Italy are irrelevant today, despite the interesting perspectives, assessed in relation to new ways of widespread use of
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Chapter 1: Introduction 9
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geothermal energy, with innovative technologies studies to be used for the formulation of specific capable of triggering a thermal cycle even with small calls to fund demonstration projects. temperature differences. 2. GEOTHERMAL ENERGY EXPLOITATION MADE CLEAR FROM EXAMPLES 2.1 Case studies In order to start the evaluation of different uses and technologies, four demonstration geothermal projects were studied, defining their resource characteristics, and their technological and economic parameters.
The chosen applications span the whole spectrum of resource temperature (Fig. 3) and apply to processes that could be of interest for the four Convergence Regions: power (Unterhaching, Germany; heat for space conditioning (Unterhaching, Germany, and Heerlen, The Netherlands); heat for milk and cheese production (Monterotondo, Italy), controlled temperature for wine production (La Rioja, Spain). The studies are part of the booklet (final version in preparation, a draft version already available), dedicated to geothermal direct uses.
Heerlen Monterotondo Unterhaching La Rioja
Figure 3: Reference temperature of the four case Figure 2: A graphic display of VIGOR targets, and studies considered in VIGOR with respect to in red the four Convergence Regions of Italy the VIGOR geothermal thermometer (a to which VIGOR is dedicated. graphic representation of the classic Lindal diagram of geothermal uses declined with VIGOR inherits the aims of the Structural and VIGOR logo and colours). Cohesion Funds that contribute to its existence: to reduce disparities between regions in terms of 2.2 Feasibility studies opportunities and to help all regions build economic, On the base of schematic description of various social and innovation capacities corresponding to their known geothermal resources prepared by the CNR situation and priorities. For this reason, VIGOR is Team for each region, the regional authorities and the particularly focused on geothermal resources that can Team chose two areas for each region where a detailed be exploited using technologies having a widespread assessment of the resource and a design of geothermal utilization, in particular direct uses that may cover plant to exploit were conducted. The choice was made wide sectors of the territory, creating the required considering the territory vocation and trying to present wide involvement in terms of occupation, market, many different kind of uses that could be taken as business. examples for demonstration projects not only in the The VIGOR Project is aimed at: eight areas, but wherever similar geothermal condition could be found. • providing to potential future users of the geothermal source analytical information useful to The resulting eight feasibility studies refer to engage in exploration and exploitation of resources of different depth and condition. Two areas geothermal energy, to broaden the knowledge of were chosen for designing low-enthalpy geothermal the natural potential and the real possibility of energy for heating and cooling purposes of residential exploitation of geothermal resources in the units, therefore requiring shallow exploration. In three Regions of Convergence; areas the resource of interest is at depth of a few hundred meters, whereas in other three the target • defining for the Ministry of Economic Development - DGENRE a number of feasibility geothermal reservoir is located at depth of more than 1
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km (Fig. 4). The proposed geothermal plants of the description of the documents and procedure required eight areas are listed in Tab.1. for the authorization. Each feasibility is described by a report and all the useful maps and diagrams.
3. GEOTHERMAL MAPS All the cartographic products of VIGOR can be accessed on the web through a webmapping service. Thanks a service developed by CNR, the maps can be viewed, searched, zoomed easily and quickly, as well as downloaded and printed. 3.1 Local maps The collection of available maps on the local scale are those produced for the feasibility studies, and comprehend geological, hydrogeological, geophysical maps and sections (see Fig. 5 for some examples).
Figure 4: Area location of feasibility studies. The colour of the eight circles describes the different exploration depth: yellow for shallow exploration (GSHP plants), blue for medium depth exploration (down to 400 m) and red for deep exploration (2-3 km).
Table 1: List of plants proposed in VIGOR. Colours are matched to those of Fig. 4. Area Name Region Proposed plant Swimming pool, Mondragone Campania district heating Guardia Lombardi Campania Power production Air conditioning Bari Apulia by GSHP, open circuit S. Cesarea Terme Apulia Pasta production Air conditioning Rende Calabria by GSHP, closed circuit Figure 5: Examples of produced maps and profiles Wastewater available on the web for two areas studied Terme Caronte Calabria treatment within VIGOR: geological map and electrical resistivity profiles in the Rende Termini Imerese Sicily Desalination area (top) and hydrogeological map of Mazara del Vallo Sicily District heating Termini Imerese (bottom).
3.2 Regional maps Each feasibility study describes the results of the assessment, including conceptual model of the Regional maps of geothermal potential are going to be resource, temperature and hydraulic condition at released soon, both for low enthalpy resources depth. Down-hole data are also provided, either from (described in Destro et al., 2013) and medium-high wells already available at the beginning of the project temperature resources (Trumpy et al., 2012). The (some of them courtesy of ENI), or from exploration medium-deep geothermal potential maps are obtained wells drilled for the occasion (still on-going). Each by evaluating the heat in place computed on the base assessment shows also the location for the wells or of temperature distribution at depth, and then defining ground source heat exchangers necessary to the the theoretical, technical and economic capacity by proposed geothermal plant. considering rock permeability and thermal conductivity, reservoir geometry, required temperature The feasibility then describes the proposed plant, of the technology and economic parameters (Fig. 6). which is designed taking into account the geothermal resource and the energy demand it wants to satisfy. The proposal is completed by the evaluation of the costs and the economic analysis, as well as the 3 EGC 2013 Chapter 1: Introduction 11
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that are being published on the website, a series of booklets are being released, describing various aspects of geothermal energy. Three books are related to technical aspects, one to regulation and authorization issues of geothermal plants and one on social aspects.
Figure 6: A draft Sicily theoretical potential map for binary plant power production.
Other regional maps are also available, such as the heat flow map, the temperature distribution at surface and at various depths, the thermal conductivity distribution at surface (Fig. 7).
Italian is the only language used for disseminating the project products, since VIGOR’s main audience is Italian, and too little is nowadays available in Italian language regarding geothermal energy. For this reason many figures that are shown in this paper, derived from VIGOR’s flyers and booklets, have Italian words.
REFERENCES Destro, E., Galgaro, A., Di Sipio, E., Chiesa, S., Teza, G., Manzella, A., and VIGOR Team: GIS- mapping model of low entalphy geothermal potential in Southern Italy (VIGOR PROJECT), Proceedings of the European Geothermal Congress 2013, Pisa, Italy, (2007), this issue. Trumpy, E., Pluymaekers, M., van Wees, J.D., Manzella, A., Botteghi, S., Caiozzi, F., Catalano, R., Gola, G., Doveri, M., Montanari, D., Figure 7: Some examples of regional maps: Monteleone, S.: Geothermal Potential: a new assessment approach and its application to temperature distribution at surface in the th four regions (top) and thermal conductivity VIGOR regions, Proceedings of 39 Course of in Apulia region (bottom). the International School of Geophysics “Understanding geological systems for geothermal energy”, Erice, Italy, (2012).
3. DISSEMINATION Acknowledgements Geothermal energy and its benefits, as well as VIGOR The present activity has been performed in the frame of the results have been described in eight seminars (two per VIGOR Project, aimed at assessing the geothermal potential and exploring geothermal resources of four regions in region) and two national conferences held in Rome southern Italy. VIGOR is part of the activities of the every year. Interregional Programme “Renewable Energies and Energy Savings FESR 2007-2013 – Axes I Activity line 1.4 VIGOR is producing many documents, which can be “Experimental Actions in Geothermal Energy”. The authors accessed on the project website http://www.vigor- acknowledge the management of VIGOR Project, and in geotermia.it, together with a general description of the particular Dr. Piezzo of MiSE-DGENRE (Directorate project and the access to the webmapping service. General for Nuclear Energy, Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency of the Ministry for Economic Development) and Beside the flyer and a brochure available in pdf format Dr. Brugnoli, Director of CNR-DTA (National Research on the website and distributed in printed version at the Council of Italy, Department of Sciences of the Earth seminars and conferences, and the feasibility reports System and Environmental Technologies).
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