Geothermal: Finding a Comprehensive Voice, Built by Consensus, that Can be Communicated Everywhere by Everybody

Speaking with One Global Voice for Geothermal Energy

(from the November/December GRC Bulletin)

by Will Pettitt, PhD, Executive Director - GRC 

Will Pettitt, PhD

During our 2018 Annual Meeting and Expo in Reno last month the term “Speaking with One Global Voice” suddenly took off. It appeared in conversations everywhere and clearly struck a deep-seated chord in the imagination of the community. I first used that term in an interview published online and then in my opening address to the meeting. The language has probably been used many times before and I discovered its significance during earlier discussions with Dr. Kate Young about the GRC’s Ambassador Program that she has led. It seems that our community is saying the time is right for us to speak with one global voice.

Speaking with one global voice does not mean there is only one speaker. Nor does it mean that we are focusing on the international arena. The use of the term “one global voice” instead means that we are finding a comprehensive voice, built by consensus, that can be communicated everywhere by everybody (Definition of global according to online Oxford Dictionaries: Relating to or encompassing the whole of something, or of a group of things). What we aim to achieve is as many speakers as possible, millions if we can get them, all communicating consistent messages for geothermal energy. How do we achieve that?


This lofty goal is achieved by getting geothermal energy rooted into the public conscience. It speaks directly to our mission in the graphic below and the goal for geothermal energy to be synonymous with renewable energy (described in Executive Director’s Message in the July/August 2018 Bulletin: “The GRC at once Advocates, Facilitates and Educates”). To execute on this goal, we need to be successful in a number of practical steps:

• Unite our industry;
• Find the messages;
• Play the political game;
• Educate the public and our leaders;
• Work with others;
• Invest in our future and what’s right, and;
• Find a million voices!

Our mission is to help elevate the geothermal community by raising the recognition and acceptance of geothermal energy across the spectrum of society, in government, industry, academia and the general public, in both the US and internationally.

We are working on all of these steps in parallel. One reason I think the community is energized about speaking with one global voice is that recent public opinion has united behind climate change and the need for renewable, “carbon-free”, energy. High-profile public figures have become vocal advocates for renewable energy (for example, https://www.gatesnotes.com/Energy/My-plan-for-fighting-climate-change ). Along with technological advances, and favorable policy and economic environments, then public opinion puts renewable energy onto a realistic trajectory for replacing carbon-emitting sources of power. There is clearly a movement in public opinion that geothermal energy needs to be a part of and can’t afford to miss.

There are also many things going on in our industry right now that enables the practical steps towards achieving our goal of getting more into the public conscience. For instance, the reunification of the GEA and GRC in the USA, and the creation of the GRC’s Policy Committee, now means that the GRC speaks with one voice for the geothermal community across the spectrum of society. This means that your one association can, for example, support R&D through networking and dissemination of high-end geothermal innovation, whilst at the same time advocating for policy improvements that would facilitate greater application of power-producing projects and more resource development.

Bringing together people from these often-different parts of our community can lead to efficient synergies such as the collective desire to produce a clear and simple messaging for the benefits of geothermal energy. A draft of an “elevator pitch” is given in the graphic below, which is an output of thought leaders coming together in our Ambassador Program. Through both conventional media channels and new channels such as social media, marketing and communication professionals within our industry can help all of us in our community connect these messages with millions of voices in the general public. It’s these voices that will persuade our government leaders that geothermal energy has a legitimate and bright future within the world-wide renewable-energy mix.

Draft “Elevator Pitch” for geothermal power. Assembled from: “Talking Points for Geothermal Today” presented by Paul Thomsen, and; “PowEARTHful – Renewable. Reliable. Always available. Geothermal Energy” presented by Kate Young, at the Ambassador Workshop, GRC Annual Meeting and Expo, Reno, October 2018.