Podcast Summary
Expanding the Use of Geothermal Energy: Geothermal energy, with its potential to significantly reduce the world's reliance on fossil fuels, is gaining renewed interest due to new technologies and has the potential to become ubiquitous. The current installed capacity is 16 gigawatts, but there's huge potential to expand its use, especially with new technologies.
Geothermal energy, which has been around for a long time but is gaining renewed interest due to new technologies, has the potential to become a ubiquitous energy source that could significantly reduce the world's reliance on fossil fuels. Currently, there are 16 gigawatts of geothermal capacity installed globally, with the US leading the way, but there's huge potential to expand its use, especially with new technologies that can make it viable in areas where geothermal resources are not as readily available. Jamie Beard, founder of InnerSpace, a nonprofit focused on expanding the use of geothermal energy globally, shares his vision of making geothermal exponential by 2030. Despite the challenges, the promise of replicating Iceland's reliance on geothermal energy everywhere on the planet is an exciting prospect for addressing the climate crisis.
Challenges in Developing Geothermal Energy: Geothermal energy's potential is vastly underdeveloped due to unique exploration risks, lack of funding mechanisms, and challenges for startups and small companies.
Geothermal energy, despite its potential, is being vastly underdeveloped due to various factors including lack of familiarity with the resource, funding mechanisms, and the unique exploration risks associated with understanding the subsurface. These risks make it challenging for startups and companies without significant resources to finance and develop geothermal projects. Additionally, even after developing hydrothermal projects, there are risks related to output, temperature, and depletion, which can impact the project's longevity and profitability. Overall, the geothermal industry is on the cusp of a revolution with next-gen technologies, but significant progress is needed to overcome these challenges and unlock the full potential of this renewable energy source.
Exploring next-gen geothermal resources and technologies: The geothermal industry is focusing on reducing risks in pre-project planning and exploring next-gen resources and technologies, like geothermal anywhere, to provide a reliable, clean, and decarbonized baseload power source anywhere in the world, despite challenges in porosity, drilling costs, and fluid circulation.
The geothermal energy industry is working to reduce risks associated with pre-project planning and instead focusing on operating geothermal resources after projects are up and running. However, achieving this goal is not an easy task. The industry is also exploring next-generation geothermal resources and technologies, such as geothermal anywhere, which involves drilling deep enough to access heat, even in areas without the necessary characteristics for energy production. This concept could revolutionize the energy sector by providing a reliable, clean, and decarbonized baseload power source anywhere in the world. However, challenges remain, including making porosity where it doesn't exist, drilling cheaply to reach deep and super-hot temperatures, and circulating fluids to harvest heat. Innovation and research are key to addressing these challenges and making geothermal energy a viable and ubiquitous energy source.
Exploring New Frontiers in Geothermal Energy: To meet global energy demand by 2050, we need to significantly increase geothermal capacity and explore new technologies and locations, including 'geothermal anywhere'.
The field of geothermal energy is rapidly advancing with various technologies and approaches, including enhanced geothermal systems, closed loop systems, and hybrids. These systems have different advantages, costs, and challenges, but they offer exciting possibilities for producing heat and electricity in different parts of the world. Furthermore, the concept of "geothermal anywhere" refers to the potential for geothermal energy production in locations previously thought unsuitable, such as Illinois, which has challenging geology for geothermal projects. However, to meet global energy demand by 2050, we need to significantly increase our geothermal capacity, which currently stands at a small fraction of a gigawatt. To achieve this, we would need to drill geothermal wells at a rate similar to current oil and gas well drilling capacity, aiming for terawatt-scale production. While we're not yet at the point of economically feasible geothermal production in previously unsuitable locations, the vision is huge, fast, and driven by an existing industry.
Exploring Geothermal Energy: Focus on Easier Locations and Gradual Progress: Start geothermal projects in easier locations with shallow heat sources, gradually advance to deeper and more challenging projects as technology and experience improve, and address environmental concerns through responsible exploration and development practices.
The development of geothermal energy as a viable and cost-effective alternative to solar and wind plus storage is a long-term goal that requires careful consideration of project economics and the specific geological conditions of the location. The speaker suggests that the industry should focus on starting in easier locations with shallow heat sources and gradually moving towards deeper and more challenging projects as technology and experience advance. Additionally, while geothermal energy offers significant benefits in terms of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, it's important to acknowledge that all energy sources have environmental impacts, and the industry must address concerns related to the subsurface fluids and potential geological risks through responsible exploration and development practices.
Responsible scaling and community engagement crucial for geothermal energy: Geothermal energy offers a small environmental footprint and efficient heating/cooling solutions, but responsible scaling and community engagement are essential to mitigate potential negative impacts and maximize benefits.
Geothermal energy is a promising renewable energy source with a small environmental footprint, but it's crucial to prioritize community engagement and responsible scaling to mitigate potential negative impacts. Geothermal energy has several advantages over other renewables and fossil fuels, including a smaller land footprint and minimal rare earth mining requirements. However, if we were to rapidly scale up geothermal energy production to the level of the oil and gas industry, community engagement and environmental considerations would become essential. Geothermal energy can also make a significant impact at the distributed scale, particularly in heating and cooling applications. Geothermal heat pumps work by extracting heat or cold from the ground instead of the air, making them an efficient and underutilized solution for decarbonizing heating systems. By using a consistent temperature in the subsurface, geothermal heat pumps can save energy by requiring less heating or cooling to maintain comfortable temperatures in buildings. Overall, geothermal energy holds great potential, but it's essential to prioritize responsible scaling and community engagement to maximize its benefits.
Geothermal Heating and Cooling: Consistent and Efficient Energy Solution: Geothermal heating and cooling reduces the need for other heating sources, is effective in extreme climates, and can be used with other renewable sources. However, high installation costs can be a barrier. Incentives and focus on heat pumps can help offset these costs.
Geothermal heating and cooling is an effective energy efficiency solution for both residential and commercial applications, reducing the need for other heating sources. Companies like Bedrock and Dandelion are leading the way in this space. Geothermal heating and cooling can be used in conjunction with other renewable sources like solar and wind for electrified heating. Europe has been a leader in using geothermal for district heating, which involves heating entire towns or cities through underground networks. Geothermal heating and cooling is particularly efficient in extreme climates as it offers a consistent and predictable temperature year-round. However, the cost of installing geothermal systems, which involves drilling to lay pipes underground, can be a barrier. Incentives and focus on heat pumps, particularly air source heat pumps, can help offset these costs. While air source heat pumps have performance issues in extreme climates, geothermal heating and cooling offers a consistent and efficient solution.
Exploring the Multifaceted Benefits of Geothermal Energy: Geothermal energy provides heating, cooling, lithium extraction, energy storage, carbon capture and storage, and waste heat utilization. Its synergy with CCUS makes depleted oil and gas fields potential sites for both energy production and carbon sequestration.
Geothermal energy, a clean and baseload source of energy, offers more than just heating and cooling solutions. Its potential co-benefits include lithium extraction, energy storage, carbon capture and storage (CCUS), and waste heat utilization. These additional applications can make geothermal projects more economically viable, but it's essential not to overshadow the intrinsic value of geothermal energy itself. The hope is that geothermal will be recognized and utilized for its incredible potential as a standalone solution, rather than just as a means to support other industries. Additionally, the synergy between geothermal and CCUS is noteworthy, as depleted oil and gas fields can serve as potential sites for both geothermal energy production and carbon sequestration.
Funding gap hinders commercialization of innovative geothermal technologies: The geothermal industry faces a significant funding gap, preventing the commercial demonstration and scaling of innovative technologies like depleted oil and gas fields for carbon sequestration and geothermal anywhere or hot dry rock concepts.
While the combination of geothermal energy and carbon sequestration presents an intriguing opportunity, the implementation is not without challenges. On one hand, depleted oil and gas fields can be used to sequester carbon while generating heat and electricity. However, engineering complexities and limited funding hinder widespread adoption. In the geothermal industry, there are various stages of development, from traditional resources to new technologies and research. However, a significant gap exists in funding for first-of-a-kind projects, particularly those related to geothermal anywhere or hot dry rock concepts. This funding shortage is a major obstacle preventing the commercial demonstration and scaling of these innovative technologies. The Department of Energy's new Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations aims to address this issue by providing support for these first-of-a-kind projects. Ultimately, solving this funding gap is crucial for the growth and success of the geothermal industry in addressing climate change.
IRA brings opportunities for geothermal energy, but securing funding for first-of-a-kind projects is a challenge: To secure funding for first-of-a-kind geothermal projects under the IRA, a combination of different types of capital, including insurance, government money, and catalytic capital, may be necessary.
The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) brings new opportunities for geothermal energy, but securing funding for first-of-a-kind projects remains a challenge due to unique subsurface risks and the introduction of new technologies. To address this, there's a need for focused dialogue with the right entities, creative solutions like insurance or government guarantees, and exploring opportunities in other government departments. The Department of Energy's loan programs office, as well as initiatives in other departments, could provide potential solutions. Historically, the DOE's loan guarantee program has shown success, even with some failures, which is the type of risk the government should be taking on for such projects. Ultimately, a combination of different types of capital, including insurance, philanthropy, government money, and catalytic capital, may be necessary to address the demonstration problem on a project-by-project basis.
Collaboration between entities for geothermal projects: Successful geothermal projects require collaboration between off-takers, governments, insurers, and the oil and gas industry to optimize the concept, manage risks, and accelerate the process. Initial funding and operational data are crucial for subsequent projects.
Addressing the climate problem requires a collaborative effort from various entities with different risk appetites, and the key to success lies in launching multiple scalable geothermal projects in a consortium. This approach, which includes off-takers, governments, and insurers, among others, would optimize the geothermal concept, manage risks, and accelerate the process. The initial challenge is to secure funding for the first project and obtain operational data to secure funding for subsequent projects. The DOE's Geothermal Technologies Office (GTO) and its projects, such as Forge, are crucial in testing geothermal systems in hard rock drilling and engaging with the oil and gas industry for innovation and know-how. The recent launch of the Geode program is a significant step towards tech transfer from the oil and gas industry into geothermal.
Leveraging oil and gas industry expertise for geothermal energy transition: The oil and gas industry's vast workforce and skills can be utilized in the geothermal energy sector for a smoother clean energy transition, despite historical mistrust and polarization.
The transition to clean energy from the oil and gas industry could be smoother if we leverage the existing workforce and skills in the sector, specifically in the context of geothermal energy. The oil and gas industry has a vast workforce with expertise in exploring, drilling, and producing subsurface energy assets, and geothermal energy is also a subsurface energy asset. By framing the transition in a way that utilizes the existing skills and workforce, rather than requiring a complete shift to new roles, we may be able to make the transition more palatable and effective. However, there are challenges, including historical mistrust and polarization between the hydrocarbon industry and environmental and climate groups, which can make the transition more difficult. Despite these challenges, the potential benefits of integrating the oil and gas workforce into the clean energy transition, particularly in the geothermal sector, are significant. It's an exciting opportunity to turn the industry's expertise towards solving a global problem and meeting global energy demand by 2050.
Collaboration between environmental groups, unions, and oil and gas entities in geothermal energy: Uniting diverse interests in geothermal energy for climate change mitigation, energy security, and community building.
The potential for collaboration between environmental groups, unions, and oil and gas entities in the geothermal energy sector is a unique opportunity for significant scale and community building. Despite differing motivations and terminology, all parties can agree on the benefits of geothermal energy, whether it's climate change mitigation or energy security. The key is to focus on areas of agreement and bridge the gaps through trust-building efforts. The excitement around geothermal energy is not just due to its potential environmental impact but also its potential for serious opportunities for scale and community building. This collaboration could lead to groundbreaking advancements in the sector.
