Investment Opportunities in North American Geothermal Energy North America is entering a new investment cycle in geothermal energy. The United States offers the region’s deepest commercial market and the largest advanced-geothermal pipeline; Mexico provides proven high-temperature volcanic resources and an established utility-scale industry; while Canada presents an earlier-stage opportunity centered on sedimentary-basin geothermal, direct-use heating, closed-loop systems, and oil-and-gas technology transfer. The investment case now extends well beyond conventional geothermal power plants. It includes enhanced geothermal systems, advanced closed-loop systems, geothermal heat pumps, district heating, industrial heat, geothermal storage, lithium extraction from geothermal brines, data-center power, and hybrid renewable-energy projects. In the United States, utilities had already procured or agreed to procure 1,007 MW of next-generation geothermal capacity through 12 power-purchase agreem...
How Geothermal Energy Works: From Underground Heat to Electricity Grid By: Robert Buluma In 1904, the Italian town of Larderello lit five lightbulbs using nothing but the heat of the Earth. By 1913, a full-scale plant was producing 250 kilowatts there from natural steam vents. Yet more than a century later, geothermal remains one of the most underappreciated clean energy sources on the planet — today accounting for just about 0.5% of global electricity. That is beginning to change. As the world searches for reliable, round-the-clock renewable power to complement intermittent wind and solar, geothermal is attracting unprecedented attention. "Geothermal could be the backbone to providing a clean, affordable, reliable, low-cost grid," says Katrina McLaughlin of the World Resources Institute. With emerging technologies poised to unlock heat virtually anywhere beneath our feet, understanding how this remarkable resource works has never been more important. I. The Fiery Engine Dee...