A Sustainability Assessment Framework for Geothermal Energy Developments

Geothermal projects have significant socio-economic and environmental impacts, both positive and negative. In order for energy developments to contribute to sustainable developments they must result in positive impacts in all dimensions. Sustainability assessments are valuable tools for policy- or decision-makers for making informed conclusions regarding policy effectiveness and progress toward sustainable development. Currently available assessment frameworks are not suited to assessing geothermal projects, thus a new, specialized framework is required. The methodology for developing a geothermal sustainability assessment framework is described in this paper.

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