Pursuing Sustainable Development Goals
The Role of Geothermal and Hydraulic Energy in Türki̇ye’s Achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 7: Potential, Opportunities, and Barriers
Kenan Koç, Yüksel BayraktarThe United Nations General Assembly adopted the Sustainable Development Goals in September 2015 as a roadmap to be completed by 2030, aiming to eradicate poverty, protect our planet, and fight inequality and injustice. The main objective is to leave a livable and sustainable world behind for future generations. In this regard, basic goals have been established under 17 headings. SDG7, one of these goals, focuses on providing countries with access to affordable and clean energy. Renewable energy resources are considered essential for achieving this objective. Given Türkiye’s geographical structure, hydraulic and geothermal energy resources play a vital role. This study aims to analyze Türkiye’s situation concerning hydraulic and geothermal energy resources and assess their impact on achieving the targets set by SDG7. The share of hydraulic energy in the total installed capacity was approximately 32% in 2011 and 31% as of June 2022. The percentage of geothermal energy increased from 0.20% to 1.60% for the same period. Regarding SDG goals, Türkiye has successfully achieved the SDG7 goal, with 100% of the population having access to electricity and 95.1% having access to clean fuels and technologies for cooking. Additionally, 15.9% of the primary energy sources in Türkiye come from renewable energy. However, Türkiye fell short of the target regarding carbon dioxide emissions measuring 1.3% of such emissions per electricity generation. Based on this information, it can be concluded that Türkiye’s hydraulic and geothermal energy resources have been instrumental in achieving the said targets. Nevertheless, Türkiye needs to further utilize renewable energy sources to effectively reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Policy recommendations are discussed in this paper.