The increase in green awareness among travellers and the search for less environmental impact means that the sector is looking with greater interest at this type of energy system, which is clean, sustainable and efficient.

Competitiveness and energy efficiency were the terms most used in the day of improvement of sustainability in tourism enterprises held in Santiago de Compostela under the baton of the Galician Geothermal Cluster and the Galician Tourism Cluster. About thirty professionals came together in this meeting with the aim of approaching the advantages of the installation of this type of renewable energy, which has a wide margin for improvement and implementation in Galicia.

This was explained by the president of Acluxega, Manuel López, who highlighted with practical examples the great advantages of the bet for geothermal energy whose implementation cost is somewhat higher than that of other systems but with a very fast return on investment. But beyond the cost, the experts who participated in the conference highlighted the improvement in competitiveness and the environmental cost of betting on this green energy as an alternative to traditional ones. “Green sells more and more because society and the traveller is increasingly aware of climate change,” explained López, “so we have to value the implementation of these measures of energy efficiency, recycling and use of recyclable elements in hotels,” he explained. Gerardo Rodríguez, an EnergyLab expert, also had an impact on this aspect. He highlighted the increase in sustainable tourism and the objectives set by the UNWTO in the medium and long term for decarbonisation and improving the sustainability of companies.

Advantages of geothermal energy

In this sense, Eusebio Vázquez, professor at the Uvigo, focused his intervention on an approach to the basic concepts of the operation and installation processes of geothermal energy as an alternative to the rise in dispersed territories such as Galicia and where the land is especially suitable for the prospecting work required for the installation of heat pumps. The advantages of using this type of installation are many: no visual, sound and olfactory impact, clean, indigenous and efficient energy, which does not depend on weather conditions (wind/sun), highly efficient and with a very low maintenance cost.

The day was completed with practical examples of geothermal installations in Galicia, from rural tourism houses and hostels, such as Bela Muxia, to hotels such as Quinta da Auga, buildings, private homes or even business parks such as Porto do Molle in Nigrán, which has the highest geothermal power installed in Spain to date.

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