The Biden-Harris administration's announcement of an ambitious new objective to widen the usage of geothermal energy highlights their initiatives to reduce the nation's dependency on fossil fuels gradually.
US President Joe Biden wants to reduce the cost of enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) to $45 per megawatt hour by 2035, a 90% decrease, according to a statement released by the US Department of Energy (DOE) on Thursday, Sept. 8.
These technologies could provide the country with new green energy sources while also assisting in house heating.
Smojke is coming out of the cooling tower of the coal-fired power plant Datteln 4 of Uniper in Datteln, western Germany, on May 30, 2020. - Despite repeated protests in recent months against the controversial hard coal-fired power plant Datteln 4 , it will go into regular operation on Saturday.
Vast Geothermal Energy
"The United States has a vast, geothermal energy resource lying right beneath our feet, and this program will make it economical to bring that power to American households and businesses," Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said in a statement.
The Enhanced Geothermal Shot DOE aims to unlock the Earth's practically limitless heat resources to supply American communities with dependable, clean energy and increase the potential for a thriving domestic geothermal industry.
The United States is home to more than five terawatts of heat resources, sufficient to supply all of the world's power demands. Over 40 million American households could be powered economically if just a small portion of this energy was captured, according to DOE.
Buildings and entire communities can reduce their carbon footprints by using geothermal heating and cooling - another technology EGS can facilitate.
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Biden's 2035 Goals
Reaching President Biden's objectives of 100% carbon pollution-free power by 2035 and net-zero emissions across the U.S. economy by 2050 will be made much easier by achieving the Enhanced Geothermal Shot, as noted by DOE.
To help the country realize its full geothermal potential and achieve the objectives of the Enhanced Geothermal Shot, DOE is funding research and development for this source of energy.
Recent expenditures include up to $165 million to transfer best practices from the oil and gas industry to develop both EGS and conventional geothermal and $44 million to support EGS innovations for DOE's Frontier Observatory for Geothermal Energy Research (FORGE) field laboratory.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Act of 2017, sponsored by President Biden, provides $84 million in funding to support four pilot EGS demonstration projects that will help improve EGS in various geographies and geological settings as well.
DOE argues that EGS is a new technology that has the potential to boost American economic growth, particularly in rural areas significantly. The majority of geothermal occupations are intrinsically local and involve the construction and drilling of wells, both of which need the use of domestic labor.
3.7 gigawatts of electricity are currently produced in the U.S. using geothermal energy. However, existing technology prevents the country from accessing a significant portion of this energy.
But DOE claims that engineering can uncover those resources and add fresh, clean electricity to the grid through the advancement of EGS drilling.
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Written by Joaquin Victor Tacla
