As promised, President Donald Trump began reversing the nation’s energy policy on his first day in office with a series of orders heavily favoring oil, gas and coal. But there is a renewable energy that has found favor: geothermal energy.
Energy experts say it makes sense: Geothermal energy produces electricity 24/7. Many people working in this field come from the oil and gas industry and use much of the same technology to drill wells. Trump strongly supports and gains support from the oil and gas industry. And there is bipartisan support in Congress for geothermal.
“I would say the adoption of advanced geothermal under this new administration is not a big surprise,” said Alex Kania, managing director at Marathon Capital. “It’s reliable, it’s efficient, and frankly, their connections to more conventional forms of energy production, I think, are probably not lost on some people.”
Geothermal energy creates electricity cleanly by producing steam from the Earth’s natural heat and using that steam to turn a turbine. It is a climate solution because it reduces the need for traditional power plants that burn fossil fuels and cause climate change.
Asset declared an energy emergency Monday, and included geothermal heat among domestic energy resources that could help ensure a reliable, diverse and affordable energy supply. Solar, wind and battery storage were omitted, and wind was singled out in a separate order with measures intended to slow it down.
“Geothermal energy is heating up, and the Trump administration is going to empower the industry to realize its potential over the next four years,” said Bryant Jones, executive director of the geothermal trade association Geothermal Rising.
It’s a dynamic business right now.
New geothermal companies are adapting oil and gas technology and practices to create steam from ubiquitous hot rocks. This would make this type of electricity possible in many more places. The Department of Energy believes the next generation of geothermal projects could provide 90 gigawatts in the United States by 2050 – enough to power 65 million homes or more. Former Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm supported geothermal as a climate solution.
Trump’s pick for Energy Secretary, Chris Wrightis a fossil fuel industry executive who also values geothermal energy. His company, Liberty Energy, based in Denver, has invested in Fervo Energy, a geothermal company based in Houston. Wright said during his confirmation hearing that he is excited about geothermal energy as a “huge and abundant energy resource under everyone’s feet.”
Wright’s nomination is a clear signal that this administration will support geothermal, said Terra Rogers, a program director who focuses on technology at the nonprofit Clean Air Task Force.
“He is well informed about its risks and opportunities, and continues to be a strong advocate for what it could be,” Rogers said.
The United States is a world leader in electricity generated from geothermal energy, but it still represents less than 0.5% of the country’s total large-scale generation. according to the United States Energy Information Administration. The large states are California, Nevada, Utah, Hawaii, Oregon, Idaho, and New Mexico, where reservoirs of steam, or very hot water, are found near the surface.
In its first actions this week, the new administration also signaled support for nuclear power and removing barriers to mining uranium, which can be refined into nuclear fuel. Like geothermal energy, nuclear energy does not cause climate change. The decree also supports hydroelectricity.
Solar energy is the fastest growing source of electricity generation in the United States.
Trump wants to increase oil and gas production so the United States has the cheapest energy and electricity of any country in the world, he says. He tackled wind energytemporarily suspending sales of offshore wind leases in federal waters and suspending federal approvals, permits and loans for onshore and offshore projects.
Trump says wind turbines are horrible, run only on subsidies, and are “several times” more expensive than natural gas. Offshore wind is one of the most expensive sources of new electricity generation, but onshore wind is less expensive than new natural gas plants, according to estimates from the Energy Information Administration.
Jones, of Geothermal Rising, said the industry hopes support for geothermal energy will lead to simplified permitting, more federal research and tax credits to promote innovation.
Sage Geosystems in Houston is a geothermal company launched by former executives of oil and gas giant Shell. CEO Cindy Taff said it was exciting to see new momentum developing for geothermal. She hopes this will spur investment in large projects, including those that meet the growing demand for electricity from data centers and artificial intelligence, as well as projects to make military installations energy resilient.
If geothermal projects could multiply quickly across the country, she said, it would reduce costs, and it would be good for everyone.
“This could be the decade of geothermal,” Taff said.
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