Submitted by eBoom Staff on December 27, 2010

United States based global market research firm, MarketsandMarkets (M&M) has released a report predicting the global geothermal energy market direct use and power generation capacity will reach 120,300 MW by 2015.

According to the report, Global Geothermal Power and Heat Pump Market Outlook: (2010-2015), with 37% of the world's geothermal energy supply, Europe is the current geothermal market world leader followed by the Americas and Asia. Geothermal direct use will double globally in the next five years swelling from  50,500 MW to 101,100 MW, while global geothermal electricity capacity will grow to 19,200 MW.

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n 2010, the United States was the world leader involved in both geothermal power generation and direct use. China and Sweden took second and third place in geothermal direct use and the Philippines and Indonesia for geothermal power generation.

The report also listed the major geothermal players including geothermal power producers Enel (Italy), First Gen (Philippines), Ormat Technologies (U.S.) and geothermal pump industry leaders Climate Master Inc. (U.S.), Waterfurnace International Inc. (U.S.), Ochsner (Germany).

Touching on why Europe and the Americas are the leaders in the global geothermal market, M&M's summary of the report ends with:

The favorable policy and regulation framework and recent investment activities by governments and venture capitalists are boosting the development of the geothermal energy market. However, the growth in the market is impacted by higher initial cost and limited geographical availability of resources. All these reasons make Europe and Americas leading regions in direct use and geothermal power generation respectively.

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