Cancelled – Geothermal energy: surely Lanzarote has huge potential? (Geology Section)

Apologies, but this talk has had to be cancelled. We will advise of any future re-scheduling.

A Zoom lecture by Dr Roger Trend.

About 60% of the world’s electricity comes from fossil fuels, almost all the rest coming from nuclear, hydro, solar and wind. Less than 0.3% is generated from geothermal energy, despite it being a renewable resource that is not dependent on weather or water. Geothermal is easiest in volcanic regions, as you’d expect. The Canary Islands, a chain of eight main volcanic islands, has massive geothermal heat flow rates and, indeed, active volcanoes. Lanzarote is the fourth largest. What is the geology underpinning Lanzarote’s geothermal energy, how is it being exploited now and what is the potential for clean electricity generation?

Nearly all of the world’s geothermal electricity generation involves extracting hot fluids from the rocks to drive steam turbines, or by pumping down fluids which get heated (enhanced systems), but both are non-starters on Lanzarote. First, the areas with highest heat flow constitute a Hot Dry Rocks field, so there’s no hot water down there to extract. Second, these areas are within the highly-protected Timanfaya National Park, so enhanced systems are out of the questions. And turbines are noisy, obtrusive and polluting.

It’s actually one of the most accessible districts in the world for electricity generation, so can it be exploited effectively? I’ll summarise current research which explores how innovative solid-state thermoelectric generator devices can be used for electricity generation within the National Park. There are some similarities with the 1980’s Cornwall HDR Project and the current United Downs Deep Geothermal Power Project, but the differences are much more interesting … But I’ll start with a brief outline of Lanzarote geology and look at some interesting problems relating to the origin of its geothermal heat.

Roger Trend: CV

I taught geology, geography and science in UK state schools for 20 years and then worked in university education departments for another 20 years: Sheffield, Exeter, Oxford. As an academic I taught and undertook research, including the role of Head of Teacher Training at Exeter. Most of my teaching involved teacher training and almost all of my research focused on Earth science education. I wrote quite a few articles, chapters and books and I edited various book series and journals, including Teaching Earth Science. I’ve been a consultant for Usborne on about 50 children’s Earth science books: work that I continue to enjoy greatly. I wrote a few small books for Sidmouth Museum. Simply because it had to be written, I wrote The Island of Volcanoes: a guide to Lanzarote geology and landscape, published in Spain (Dec 2023) in English, Spanish and French and the UK (Aug 2024).

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