Geothermal power could be 'massively impactful for global decarbonisation' as US plant gets a boost

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🗞️ Driving the news: A new geothermal power project in southwest Utah is drilling up to 125 wells, signaling a significant advancement for renewable energy
• Geothermal power, which uses the Earth's heat to generate electricity, is seen as crucial for global decarbonization
• This initiative aims to reduce reliance on traditional, polluting power plants

🔭 The context: Traditional geothermal plants, like The Geysers in California, relied on naturally occurring hot water or steam, which are rare
• Newer methods adapt drilling techniques from the oil and gas industry to create geothermal reservoirs from hot rock, expanding the potential for geothermal energy
• The United States, a leader in geothermal energy, currently generates less than 0.5% of its electricity from this source

🌍 Why it matters for the planet: Geothermal power provides a stable and clean energy source that can operate continuously, unlike intermittent sources like wind and solar
• This stability is essential for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and combating climate change by replacing fossil fuel-based power generation

⏭️ What's next: The Cape Station project in Utah is expected to begin delivering electricity to California by 2026
• This project, along with innovations like Fervo's horizontal drilling, could lower costs and make geothermal energy more widespread and impactful for global decarbonization

💬 One quote: "If these purchases help to get this technology off the ground, it could be massively impactful for global decarbonisation.” — Wilson Ricks, energy systems researcher at Princeton University

📈 One stat: Geothermal energy accounts for less than 0.5% of the United States' total large-scale electricity generation, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA)

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