An Example of Heating Buildings by Geothermal Energy: Bigadic (Balikesir) Turkey

Energy has nowadays been a basic necessity because of industrialization. Widespread use of energy resulted in increase in consumption. However, since fossil energy resources are limited and will be used up soon along with causing environmental pollution, the importance of alternative energy resources has also been increasing. Geothermal energy is one of the alternative sources of energy, and it does not pollute the environment as well. Since Turkey is geologically active and has many active fault zones, it is one of the countries with a great deal of earthquake risk. Fault zones bring both the probability of an earthquake risk and a chance for geothermal water sources. Since coal and oil do not exist in Turkey abundantly, the import of these energy sources causes a big load on the budget. Therefore, wind, sun, and geothermal energy are considered as alternatives. Thermal hot springs have been used for health and cleaning purposes for many years. However, it is quite new to use these resources for producing electricity. The purpose of this paper is to explain advantages of geothermal energy at residences to keep houses warm during winter season with a central heating system in Bigadic, a town of Balikesir, Turkey.