One of the causes is the massive use of fossil fuels for the heating sector, which is a major energy consumer: households heating and hot water alone account for nearly 80% of total final energy use in Europe. For example, the Danube Region countries mostly use fossil fuels (gas, coal) for heating and combustion of fossil fuels directly impacts people’s health. Cities heated by coal often have bad air quality. This significantly contributes to greenhouse gas emissions amplifying unfavourable trends in climate change and makes these countries energy security vulnerable, depending on the supply of imported resources.

The EUSDR priority area approaching the energy field aims at exploiting the full potential of an integrated energy market, also by increasing the energy efficiency of the region and enhancing the use of renewable energy sources.

We present you DARLINGe, a project financed by the Danube Transnational Programme that shows how one of the priority area’s objectives may be reached. Thus, the project aims to improve energy security and efficiency in the Danube Region by promoting the sustainable utilization of the existing, however still largely untapped, deep geothermal resources in the heating sector.

The project approach renewable heating technologies such geothermal heating systems to cut the use of fossil fuels by offering a real option for the decarbonisation of the heating sector.

Geothermal energy provides a renewable local energy source; it is widely available, since underground heat is global. Being a base-load energy source, it provides a 24/7 delivery with predictable outputs, irrespective of weather conditions and has huge untapped potentials which can be economic boosters. Geothermal heating can supply energy at different temperatures from low (15-20 ℃) to high (100 ℃ or above) and can be combined with other energy sources to increase efficiency.

Considering all these advantages, DARLINGe has mapped the rich, however still largely untapped deep geothermal energy resources and the heat demands to be matched in Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and in Romania.

Science-based solutions and management tools were delivered to decision makers at local, regional and national levels for a responsible management of the environment. DARLINGe also raises the awareness on how to use geothermal energy in an efficient and sustainable way in other sectors as well, e.g. in agriculture, or at already existing balneological sites by heating nearby buildings.

Some other concrete results of the project consist of creating a stakeholders database with more than 900 experts from the region, elaborating a training material on geothermal resource management and delivering workshops for stakeholders, establishing the interactive web-portal (Danube Region Geothermal Information Platform), elaborating the Transnational Geothermal Strategy and the Danube Region Action Plans.

Making use of the project’s outputs, the 15 project partners expect that people will be more aware that geothermal energy is available, affordable and environment-friendly.

EUSDR is getting people together to work in the Danube Region for a greener and healthier environment!