The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded up to $165 million to expand research on U.S. geothermal energy production, a news release said.
“The U.S. has incredible, untapped geothermal potential beneath our very feet, which can be harnessed to meet our energy demands with a round-the-clock, clean renewable resource,” U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said in a statement.
Through the Geothermal Energy from Oil and Gas Demonstrated Engineering (GEODE) initiative, $10 million will be used to build a roadmap to tackle geothermal energy technology and knowledge gaps. The roadmap will then be used to fund $155 million in research addressing such gaps.
The country has vast geothermal resources but only has tapped into a small portion of the resource.
Subsurface environments posed "unique challenges" as do process issues, such as lengthy permitting timeliness, the DOE said.
"We're developing a roadmap for addressing technology and knowledge gaps in geothermal energy to help expand and deploy more clean energy," the DOE tweeted. "Our $165M investment will: Reduce fossil fuel dependence; Create good-paying jobs; Fight climate change."
The oil and gas, and geothermal industries have numerous similarities that provide new opportunities for geothermal expansion—from advances in drilling and well construction to co-production possibilities in existing oil and gas basins," the news release said.
"Accessing the expertise, technologies, and experience of the larger domestic oil and gas industry can help overcome barriers and encourage private investment," it said.
