Below the surface of the Earth, deep reservoirs of steam and hot water provide a vast potential source of geothermal energy. This energy is used to generate electricity at some power plants in Western states.
But in most parts of the U.S., accessing geothermal requires deep drilling. That’s long been a barrier to developing this renewable resource, technologically and financially.
Beard: “But that has changed significantly in the past 10, 15 years. And that is related to the fact that we had a massive technology flourish in the oil and gas shale boom. So there were massive advancements in drilling technologies.”
Jamie Beard is the founder of Project Inner Space, a nonprofit working to grow the geothermal industry.
Beard: “These technologies that were developed over the last 10 or 15 years, when transferred into geothermal, can massively reduce cost, also speed up the process of drilling, and allow us to drill places that we weren’t able to drill before. … That is an asset that we need to be leveraging.”
So her group is working to bring renewable energy advocates and funders together with fossil fuel companies.
She says bridging the gap between these often-polarized groups could spur the rapid development of this clean and renewable energy source.
Reporting credit: Sarah Kennedy / ChavoBart Digital Media
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