Reposted from Earthward, https://fromknowledgetopower.com/geothermal-energy/ 14 SEPTEMBER 2023Thanks for reading Earthward! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. Over the past few months, both the popular press and specialty publications in the renewable energy field have been abuzz with excitement about the commercialization of a new geothermal energy technology by a Houston-based startup company, Fervo Energy. The approach, called Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS), uses hydraulic fracturing (fracking) techniques developed by the oil and gas industry to access geothermal energy at locations where hot underground water does not reach the Earth's surface. The Fervo Energy breakthrough gained wide notice in part because the US Department of Energy (DOE) has long promoted the potential of the technology. Fervo's accomplishment is real enough; later this year, the company will begin supplying small amounts of EGS-derived electricity to Google data centers in Nevada. Glowing reports by some sources notwithstanding, EGS has significant downsides and requires much more development before it might make a difference at scale. As we will see, the ardent attention paid to EGS also belies the availability of a much more promising and environmentally friendly geothermal technology with great potential to enhance the resilience of the electricity grid.
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Reposted from Earthward, https://fromknowledgetopower.com/geothermal-energy/ 14 SEPTEMBER 2023Thanks for reading Earthward! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. Over the past few months, both the popular press and specialty publications in the renewable energy field have been abuzz with excitement about the commercialization of a new geothermal energy technology by a Houston-based startup company, Fervo Energy. The approach, called Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS), uses hydraulic fracturing (fracking) techniques developed by the oil and gas industry to access geothermal energy at locations where hot underground water does not reach the Earth's surface. The Fervo Energy breakthrough gained wide notice in part because the US Department of Energy (DOE) has long promoted the potential of the technology. Fervo's accomplishment is real enough; later this year, the company will begin supplying small amounts of EGS-derived electricity to Google data centers in Nevada. Glowing reports by some sources notwithstanding, EGS has significant downsides and requires much more development before it might make a difference at scale. As we will see, the ardent attention paid to EGS also belies the availability of a much more promising and environmentally friendly geothermal technology with great potential to enhance the resilience of the electricity grid.