(Video 1:29:44 Hours)
Will Pettitt
Executive Director, Geothermal Resources Council (GRC)
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- Geothermal energy results from the heat generated by Earth; it is converted to electricity or used directly.
- There is no doubt that geothermal energy will be a huge success in the near future. We will need renewable and clean sources of energy that are always on, no matter the time or the weather—sources like geothermal energy, which supplies energy continuously.
- One of the benefits and challenges of geothermal is that it is completely hidden from us underground (that means it has a low profile, but it also easily overlooked).
- Geothermal industry types:
- Extraction of hydrothermal hot water from deep underground to generate power.
- Direct use of cooler hydrothermal hot water
- Geothermal heat pumps that cool or heat individual buildings or houses
- Enhanced geothermal systems can be used in locations that would not normally be suitable for geothermal energy, but they are still in the research phase
- California will have 60 percent renewable energy by 2030, and other states will follow.
- In the United States, California is the largest producer of geothermal energy.
- Geothermal energy provides a flexible baseload and can provide resilience, reliability, and stability as we transition to renewable energy.
- Geothermal power production creates quality jobs and contributes to local economies near the resources. For every two megawatts of geothermal development, five quality jobs are created.
- Geothermal is a facilitator of other, intermittent renewables. The renewable power industries can collaborate for the benefit of everybody.
- A recent study by the Department of Energy stated that geothermal energy could provide over 60 gigawatts of power, which would be over 10 percent of U.S. electricity demand.
- The Geothermal Resource Council supports the Geothermal Energy Opportunities (GEO) Act, The Advanced Geothermal Innovation Leadership (AGILE) Act of 2019, and the Enhancing Geothermal Production on Federal Lands Act.
- Geothermal developers are looking at ways to increase the value of geothermal plants. One way to achieve this is through co-production of minerals. Lithium, for example, is found in geothermal brines, especially in the Imperial Valley in California, and it could potentially be recovered from the brine. The demand for lithium, used in lithium-ion batteries (for smartphones, laptops, electric vehicles, energy storage…), is expected to increase significantly over the next 10 years.
- The geothermal industry is helping build a future where geothermal power and heat can be rolled out across the nation as a critical source of renewable energy.
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