The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is planning up to a $165 million new investment in a geothermal power initiative that would utilize expertise from the oil and gas industry to unlock energy resources and move away from fossil fuels.
Geothermal energy, which taps into heat within the earth, currently makes up less than 1% of the U.S. energy mix. If harnessed, it could generate 8.5% of all U.S. electricity generation by 2050, the department said.
The DOE will initially provide $10 million to fund a consortium to study issues in the geothermal sector and then provide $155 million over the next four years on research for the project, called the Geothermal Energy from Oil and Gas Demonstrated Engineering initiative.
“Leveraging the extensive knowledge, technology, skill and experience of the oil and gas sector is the perfect way to tackle barriers to geothermal deployment while also giving fossil fuel-based communities and workers a role in the transition to clean energy,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm in a statement.
The department plans to pick a consortium leader by February, with an anticipated kick off in May.
Oil and gas shares some commonalities with geothermal in terms of equipment used and processes for tapping into the subsurface.
"If we can leverage the more mature oil and gas industry, hopefully we can overcome some of the remaining barriers in the geothermal industry," said George Stutz, a manager in the DOE's Geothermal Technologies Office.
A separate geothermal project underway in Utah has benefited through partnerships with oil and gas, said Doug Blankenship, senior DOE advisor, noting that it has helped speed well drilling rates.
Earlier this week, U.S. hydraulic fracking firm Liberty Oilfield Services, which was contracted to work on the DOE's Utah geothermal project, said it would invest $10 million in geothermal firm Fervo Energy.
"The ability to mine heat is much better today than it was 30 years ago," Liberty's CEO Chris Wright, who worked in geothermal earlier in his career, said of the investment.
Recommended Reading
Report: Freeport LNG Hits Sixth Day of Dwindling Gas Consumption
2024-04-17 - With Freeport LNG operating at a fraction of its full capacity, natural gas futures have fallen following a short rally the week before.
Permian NatGas Hits 15-month Low as Negative Prices Linger
2024-04-16 - Prices at the Waha Hub in West Texas closed at negative $2.99/MMBtu on April 15, its lowest since December 2022.
BP Starts Oil Production at New Offshore Platform in Azerbaijan
2024-04-16 - Azeri Central East offshore platform is the seventh oil platform installed in the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli field in the Caspian Sea.
US Could Release More SPR Oil to Keep Gas Prices Low, Senior White House Adviser Says
2024-04-16 - White House senior adviser John Podesta stopped short of saying there would be a release from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve any time soon at an industry conference on April 16.
Core Scientific to Expand its Texas Bitcoin Mining Center
2024-04-16 - Core Scientific said its Denton, Texas, data center currently operates 125 megawatts of bitcoin mining with total contracted power of approximately 300 MW.