Environmental Health Assessment of Communities Located Near Geothermal Energy Facilities

Abstract

Geothermal energy is widely regarded as a low-carbon, dispatchable renewable resource central to global decarbonization strategies, yet the communities residing near geothermal power plants and district heating facilities are exposed to a distinct set of environmental emissions and geomechanical processes that warrant careful, ongoing health assessment. Geothermal fluids naturally contain hydrogen sulfide, carbon dioxide, methane, and trace elements that can be released to the atmosphere during energy extraction, while reservoir pressure changes associated with fluid withdrawal and reinjection can induce ground deformation and, in some settings, low-magnitude seismicity. This article synthesizes the epidemiological and environmental health literature on communities located near geothermal energy facilities, examining chronic and short-term hydrogen sulfide exposure studies, respiratory and cardiovascular health outcomes, community risk perception, and the reactive transport and geomechanical processes that govern long-term emissions and ground stability risk at geothermal sites. It draws on subsurface reactive transport modeling relevant to long-term geothermal reservoir performance, machine learning-enhanced geomechanical characterization relevant to induced seismicity and ground stability risk, and heterogeneous reservoir management principles from analogous subsurface energy operations, and further considers how AI-driven public health surveillance and predictive analytics frameworks developed for national healthcare systems could be adapted to strengthen environmental health monitoring around geothermal facilities. The article concludes by identifying persistent challenges in exposure assessment precision, epidemiological study design, and integrated health-environment surveillance, and proposes a research agenda for advancing environmental health assessment of geothermal-adjacent communities toward more precise, continuously monitored practice.