Proceedings World Geothermal Congress 2015 Melbourne, Australia, 19-25 April 2015 1 Geothermal Conference Publications: what are we talking about? Juliet Newson, Contact Energy Ltd, Taupo, New Zealand juliet.newson@contactenergy.co.nz Keywords: IGA; International Geothermal Association; Geothermal Conference Paper Database; geothermal research; geothermal publication; EGS; geothermal technology; geothermal tools; geothermal databases; International Energy Agency; IEA; Technology Roadmap Geothermal Heat and Power; Geothermal Technology Development; geothermal development; geothermal future ABSTRACT This paper is an investigation into trends in publication topics contained in the IGA Geothermal Conference Paper Database, and the IEA Technology Roadmap Geothermal Heat and Power Technology Development Actions. The IEA Actions are a set of recommendations to encourage the use of geothermal energy. Of interest is the correspondence between recommended action, and what has actually happened. Because the IGA database contains papers since 1977, it is possible to see trends in publication on these topics since then, to comment on the correlation with recommended Technology Development actions, and comment on near- future trends The broad conclusion is that the geothermal industry and research efforts correspond with the recommendations of the IEA on the importance of developing EGS and types of geothermal resource other than ‘conventional high and medium temperature hydrothermal’. There is less correspondence between recommendations for field studies, drilling and well logging; in other words, actual development work on real sites. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND The International Geothermal Association maintains a free database of Geothermal Conference papers, from 1977 to the present. The content of papers in this database is the best indication of trends in the geothermal industry, not only in terms of research, but also of industry development, as many geothermal companies report on their projects at such conferences, but do not write articles for scientific or engineering journals. In 2011 the International Energy Agency (IEA) published a Technology Roadmap Geothermal Heat and Power, which recommended the Technology Development Actions for enabling increased use of the geothermal energy resource (IEA, 2011). The above paragraphs describe two perspectives on the geothermal industry. From the IEA, there are recommended actions; and from the IGA, reports of work carried out or planned. For this study I used the structure of the Technology Roadmap to effect a set of searches of the IGA Conference Paper Database. The IEA recommendations were only published in 2011, a matter of several years ago, and a direct response in technical conference presentations may not be so immediate. So the focus of this paper is to look at longer term trends, and determine if these recommendations are in broad agreement with industry (and by definition, existing policy and funding) priorities. International Energy Agency The International Energy Agency is an autonomous agency, established in 1974. A mandate of the IEA is to “provide authoritative research and analysis on ways to ensure reliable, affordable and clean energy for its 28 member countries” (IEA Technology Roadmap Geothermal Heat and Power, 2011). The IEA Technology Roadmap is intended to define a growth path for the use of geothermal energy, and is designed to “… enable governments, industry, and financial partners to identify the practical steps they can take to participate fully in the collective effort required”. Specifically, this document contains the Technology Development Roadmap needed to fulfill the full potential of geothermal as a renewable energy resource. Figure 1 (below) shows the outline of the Technology Development plan for geothermal energy as presented by the IEA. The plan is divided into ‘Disciplines’, each with Actions or topics that involve specific technologies where development would encourage increased geothermal energy use. The suggested timeline (milestones) is also shown. The majority of the recommended actions are immediate, that is, should be completed in the years between 2011 and 2020, or 2025. For actions which have no particular end date, such as Modular development of EGS plants, the timeline is shown as fading out.