{"id":63554,"date":"2025-12-18T08:09:12","date_gmt":"2025-12-18T06:09:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/neaman-c1cb3f55b1-b5h3cnebcnd7f2cd.a02.azurefd.net\/?p=63554"},"modified":"2026-03-15T15:13:58","modified_gmt":"2026-03-15T13:13:58","slug":"geothermal-energy-alternatives-assessment-and-environmental-regulation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.neaman.org.il\/en\/geothermal-energy-alternatives-assessment-and-environmental-regulation\/","title":{"rendered":"Geothermal energy – Alternatives assessment and environmental regulation"},"content":{"rendered":"

* The research is a chapter in a dedicated Geothermal Regulation report generated by EnergyCom [The full report<\/a>]<\/p>\n

Energy-generation facilities affect the environment at every stage of their life cycle.<\/p>\n

Globally, environmental regulation of geothermal facilities includes the assessments of potential effects on natural resources (Environmental Impact Assessments\u2014EIA) and quantification of expected impacts through Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). Applying a standardized assessment across all facilities allows for comparison among alternatives and identification of the option with the lowest environmental impact.<\/p>\n

This study assessed environmental regulations worldwide and analyzed the required regulation configurations for Israel, using life-cycle data from international studies.<\/p>\n

According to the study\u2019s findings:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. The main environmental impacts of geothermal facilities fall into two domains:<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
      \n
    • Risks to water resources\u2014due to potential effects on flow rates and the possibility of inducing seismic instability beginning in the drilling stage; and<\/li>\n
    • Life-cycle impacts related to water consumption, air and water emissions, and greenhouse-gas emissions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
        \n
      1. A national-level study to map low-risk areas for search drilling is crucial as a pre-stage for any permitting process and regulation.<\/li>\n
      2. New closed-loop systems significantly reduce environmental impacts compared with other technologies and are suitable also for offshore deployment, particularly through the reuse of offshore gas and oil wells for geothermal facilities.<\/li>\n
      3. Technological innovation in drilling, construction, and operation will alter and the impacts at each stage of a facility\u2019s life cycle.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        The primary short-term policy recommendation is to conduct research and develop a national database that will enable a continuous high-quality environmental and life-cycle analyses in Israel<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

        The research and database should include: (1) \u00a0assessment of seismological impacts by drilling technique and location; (2) \u00a0analysis of potential effects on water resources from drilling in various regions of the country; (3) \u00a0life-cycle assessment of electricity-generation facilities in Israel, including geothermal facilities (even if only theoretically estimated through meta-analysis adjusting international data to Israeli conditions); (4) \u00a0evaluation of alternatives and expected impacts associated with converting offshore gas and oil wells into advanced closed-loop geothermal facilities.<\/p>\n

        Collaboration among stakeholders is another essential pre-requisite for efficient regulation. It should include the Ministry of Energy, the Ministry of Environmental Protection, the Geological Survey, the Renewable Energy Organization, Mekorot, regional authorities and relevant research and industry bodies. Information sharing among all entities and with regional clusters in Israel regarding expected processes is critical for developing regional regulations that complement national standards.<\/p>\n

        Long term recommendations highlight the importance of developing a skilled workforce capable of participating in national and regional regulatory processes, including – supervising the implementation of Geothermal facilities over time, and updating regulation periodically based on field experience. It is also advisable to conduct a pilot or simulation of establishing a facility in the Golan Heights in accordance with the defined national and local regulatory framework, and to refine databases and regulations based on the results, with the objective of minimizing the duration and complexity of approval processes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        * The research is a chapter in a dedicated Geothermal Regulation report generated by EnergyCom [The full report] Energy-generation facilities affect the environment at every stage of their life cycle. Globally, environmental regulation of geothermal facilities includes the assessments of potential effects on natural resources (Environmental Impact Assessments\u2014EIA) and quantification of expected impacts through Life […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":63556,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[1708,29,49,54],"post_category":[12],"class_list":["post-63554","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-report","tag-2025-en","tag-environment","tag-infrastructure","tag-innovation","post_category-energy-environment"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nGeothermal energy - Alternatives assessment and environmental regulation - Samuel Neaman Institute<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.neaman.org.il\/en\/geothermal-energy-alternatives-assessment-and-environmental-regulation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Geothermal energy - Alternatives assessment and environmental regulation - Samuel Neaman Institute\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"* The research is a chapter in a dedicated Geothermal Regulation report generated by EnergyCom [The full report] Energy-generation facilities affect the environment at every stage of their life cycle. 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