Experts agree that the energy sources of a country should be based on the concept of the energy trilemma. The energy trilemma consists of three imperatives namely affordability and access, energy security, and environmental sustainability. Based on the energy trilemma, only hydropower, geothermal, and nuclear meet the criteria. In Indonesia, the concept of the energy trilemma is still not fulfilled, considering there are still many plants utilizing coal and fossil fuels as energy sources. The energy problem is becoming serious to be as experts predict that Indonesia will experience an energy emergency in 2030.
In an online general lecture entitled “What We Have Beneath Our Feet: High Enthalpy Geothermal Resources”, a lecturer of Civil Engineering in President University, Anggoro Wicaksono, ST, MBA., discussed various types of energy that exist on earth and one that can be found in Indonesia (27/5).
Anggoro who is the secretary and energy analyst at Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia, said that experts predict natural resources will start to run out by 2025 and new renewable energy will be not optimal. Not only in the natural resources itself, the development and planning for the use of renewable energy are also threatened. This then makes the experts and researchers discover a huge amount of new energy that Indonesia has, namely geothermal energy which is the answers the energy trilemma problem. Not only because of the large amount but geothermal is also highly considered potential because of its low carbon emissions.
In the process of finding the geothermal sources, there are at least four steps that must be passed through, namely geological mapping, hydrothermal survey, geophysical survey, and exploratory drilling. The accuracy of the first three steps is the most important before the last step is carried out. It will be a problem if the first three steps are not carried out well. If you drill in the wrong location and do not find any energy in it, the huge costs that have been spent will be wasted.
For now, the potential of geothermal resources in Indonesia is 29.4 Giga Watt (GWe) and has only been used at 2271 MW. Seeing that there are still many geothermal potentials that have not yet been utilized, Anggoro encouraged students to become practitioners in managing these resources. “Indonesia is ranked second in the Top Geothermal Countries in 2019. For this reason, there is no need to go far to other countries to study geothermal energy. Make Indonesia geothermal learning orientation,” he said. In the form of dry steam, wet steam, and hot water, he explained that geothermal energy can be used for electricity, agriculture, tourism, and hot water baths.
Anggoro said that despite having great potential, the use of geothermal energy faces various challenges, including licensing, social problems, forestry, and other resource risks. At present, the government has made various efforts to address this challenge, including simplifying licensing and deregulation, and issuing fiscal incentives in order to facilitate investment in the geothermal industry. (VE/SL)
Source: https://president.ac.id/p/148-news/detail/716-geothermal-energy-as-the-solution-of-an-energy-eme