1/The DOE just dropped a fantastic, years in the making, 218-page update on geothermal energy in the US. The GeoVision study outlines a roadmap to generate over 16% of US electricity and heat 45 million homes from geothermal by 2050. https://www.energy.gov/eere/geothermal/geovision

2/The report is comprehensive and worth a read, but for those who don’t have the chance to dive in to all 218 pages, a few highlights below.

3/First, it’s full of great graphics, like this one that answers common questions on what geothermal is, showing the spectrum from residential ground source heat pumps to direct use to electricity generating systems.

3/The US currently has about 2.5 GW of geothermal electricity, but has the potential for *much* more. In the “Technology Improvement” scenario, we get to 60 GW, and in the “TI + High Natural Gas Prices” we get to 120 GW!

4/Side note, considering a lot geothermal is found in states that already have 100% Clean Energy targets (CA, HI, NV, WA, NM), I think even the “High Natural Gas Prices” scenario is conservative and we could see a lot more.

5/To unlock the full potential of geothermal will of course require major innovations across technology, policy, and markets.

6/For technology innovation, the report highlights leveraging recent advancements from oil and gas, using better data tools for exploration, and building on $140m FORGE project to drive new technology improvements.

7/On the markets, adoption of new financing structures can make a big difference. Also highlighted is the potential for hybrid systems, like the geothermal/solar system pictured here, to realize resource diversification benefits.

8/For policy, the quickest win is streamlining the federal permitting process to accelerate project development. A recent memo by @ClearPathAction highlighted this nicely, read more here: https://twitter.com/TimMLatimer/status/1128371385221255168

9/The study goes beyond just electricity generation to highlight heating and cooling opportunities. Residential geothermal heat pumps, like the ones @DandelionEnergy are deploying, could be in over 28 million households.

10/Across the board, the prize outlined in this report is HUGE. The whole community is wrestling with how to get to and beyond 80% clean energy grids, and this report highlights how we can get 16% from a clean, dispatchable resource.

11/Geothermal electricity has many benefits, it’s clean, reliable, will lead to a huge reduction in NOX and SO2 emissions, and has the smallest footprint of any major electricity source.

12/We’ve got our work cut out for us, but the prize is massive, and we know from success lessons of solar and wind that the right combination of policy, technology, and market innovation can shepherd in mainstream deployment. Time to make it happen for geothermal. END