Major oil companies are joining forces with startups and scientists to use oil industry technology to accelerate geothermal energy, which could become a key source of clean, on-demand power.
Saul Elbein reports for The Hill.
In short:
- Oil companies and startups in Houston are exploring ways to apply oil drilling technology to geothermal energy production.
- The Department of Energy projects geothermal could power 260 million homes by midcentury with the right investments.
- The new Geothermal Energy from Oil and Gas Demonstrated Engineering (GEODE) consortium aims to tackle barriers to scaling geothermal, including financing and technical challenges.
Key quote:
“There’s a lot of technical resources in the oil and gas industry that can be systematically applied to the geothermal sector.”
— Tim Latimer, CEO of Fervo Energy
Why this matters:
Geothermal energy could play a vital role in the shift to renewable energy by providing consistent, zero-carbon electricity. Collaboration between the oil industry and clean energy startups could accelerate breakthroughs needed to overcome current technical and financial obstacles.
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