MUMBAI: India's first geothermal company GeoSyndicate Power Private Ltd has been granted permission to assess the potential through exploratory drilling, which is expected to commence during the second half of this year, company Chairman D Chandrasekharam said.GeoSyndicate is a knowledge based company, which made remarkable progress in geothermal energy sources.

It recently signed a MoU with Panx Geothermal, an Australian Geothermal venture, with Bertus De Graaf as its founder to exploit the Godavari rift and Ladakh geothermal provinces to generate power, D Chandrasekharam told PTI.Exploiting the available geothermal resources of the country will provide energy source and offer several advantages like getting relief from already spiraling oil prices, reduce carbon dioxide emission, mitigate climate change and reduce fossil fuel use wherever it is possible, says Chandrasekharam."At present about 10,000 MW of electricity is being generated across the world from geothermal sources.

Unlike other renewable, geothermal can provide base load power and is attractive in terms of cost. Earth has abundant heat and it is up to us how best we can use of it for our future betterment," says Chandrasekharam also the head of the Centre of Studies in Resources Engineering.Chandrasekharam who had participated in a workshop last month, organized by the United Nations in China, said that Asian countries have made a mark by demonstrating how global climate change due to carbon dioxide emission and also how that can be mitigated by using geothermal energy. Besides generating power, geothermal energy is used for space cooling and space heating thus saving several tons of fossil fuel, he said.

The recent climate change conference in Bali in Indonesia concluded without any solution. Both US and the European Union divided over setting specific dates for greenhouse gas reduction by the developed countries. This only shows how important coal and oil are in developing a country's economy. India is trying to contribute to climate change mitigation by harnessing the available non-conventional energy sources without dampening the country's economic growth, he said.India is contributing 4.9 per cent of electricity from non-conventional energy sources to its total electricity output.

It is far less in relation to its resources available. Geothermal energy is at present contributing about 10,000 MW over the world and India's small resources can augment the above percentage.Coal-based or gas-based power projects that have open knowledge about its energy source and geothermal exploration needs in-depth knowledge about earth's interiors to assess the energy potential. The methods are similar to oil exploration.

Due to the ongoing debate on climate change, clean development mechanism, green house gas emissions, several companies are jumping into the geothermal bandwagon without having knowledge about the magnitude of information one needs to establish the resources.Chandrasekharam, also a volcanologist, said that geothermal energy is not competing with other energy sources but trying to give an energy mix thus driving the country towards energy independence.

Oil reserves will last for another 40 to 50 years and the country should be prepared with backup plans to support its sustained economic growth rate.If the MIT report of 2006 released in the US has any truth in it, then United States has to depend on enhanced geothermal systems for future growth, Chandrasekharam added.