As governments rapidly search for ways to accelerate the shift away from fossil fuels to renewable alternatives, there could be huge potential for developing natural geothermal resources underground. Investing in networked geothermal power could provide abundant clean heating and electricity for millions of households and businesses worldwide. Although countries with abundant geothermal resources have been tapping into the natural power source for thousands of years, governments have only recently funded greater research into the use of advanced geothermal systems aimed at expanding the use of the energy source.
Geothermal energy is a type of renewable energy that comes from the Earth’s core. Energy can be extracted from the thermal sources stored in rocks and fluids several miles below the Earth’s surface. Underground geothermal reservoirs of steam and hot water can be used for electricity generation and other heating and cooling applications in rich geothermal regions. Accessing geothermal energy requires the drilling of a borehole at a depth of between two and three miles underground, flowing cold water at low pressures through hot rocks, and transporting the warm water to the Earth’s surface through a second borehole for use as heating or for electricity generation.
In the U.K., a 2023 report suggested there is significant potential for the development of the country’s geothermal resources to provide clean heating and electricity. The report highlights several regions of untapped geothermal energy in the U.K., which could be developed to provide networked geothermal power. Many of these areas happen to coincide with towns and cities included in the government’s Levelling Up White Paper, which lists several deprived parts of the U.K. that require greater attention and investment. These areas include Redcar and Cleveland, Middlesbrough, East Lindsey, Hartlepool, Northumberland and Bassetlaw. Other areas of potential for geothermal energy production include Newcastle upon Tyne, Northeast Derbyshire, the East Riding of Yorkshire and Nottingham.
The MP Kieran Mullan, who managed the production of the report, said there was a “strong overlap” between areas where investment is required and the best geothermal locations, which could encourage greater support for renewable energy development in these areas. Mullan stated of the potential to tap into the U.K.’s geothermal resources, “Unlike wind or solar this technology provides baseload – it is there constantly. And our expertise in drilling in the North Sea means we are well placed to motor ahead.”
The U.K. has vast amounts of untapped geothermal power, with enough geothermal energy underground to heat every home for a hundred years, according to estimates. However, Mullen emphasised that there is “catching up to do because across Europe there has been much stronger government intervention to support nascent deep geothermal industries in those countries.”
The U.S. is also looking to tap into the natural energy stored underground through investment in new technologies to tap into geothermal resources and distribute the power. Earlier this year, Eversource Energy commissioned the first networked geothermal neighbourhood in the U.S. to be run by a utility, in Framingham, Massachusetts. There is great optimism around the potential for project expansion, as much of the equipment needed to tap into geothermal sources is already in place. Utilities can use gas line equipment to deploy networked geothermal power, circulating fluid rather than gas., with the potential to set up networks anywhere.
Audrey Schulman, the executive director of the nonprofit climate-solutions incubator HEETlabs, stated, “In the end, what we would like is if the gas utilities become thermal utilities.” Eversource is using a geothermal loop in Framingham, which could ultimately be connected to an adjacent neighbourhood and another, to expand the network. Schulman explained, “Each individual, shared loop can be interconnected, like Lego blocks, to grow bigger and bigger.”
While a shift to geothermal power may have seemed impossible just a few years ago, there is growing pressure from the White House for utilities to decarbonise. Last year, New York became the first state to ban natural gas hookups in most new buildings. This ban is expected to be rolled out in several other states in the coming years, including California, Vermont and Colorado. This gives utilities little choice other than to look for clean heating alternatives. There is also a wide range of incentives, provided by the Inflation Reduction Act and other climate policies, to invest in renewable energy and clean technologies. Eversource Energy and two dozen other utilities, which together represent 47 percent of the country’s natural gas customers, are joining forces to establish an information-sharing coalition, known as the Utility Networked Geothermal Collaborative, which is expected to encourage more geothermal power networking projects across the U.S.
Following several decades of stagnation in the geothermal energy sector, governments are once again looking to the abundant renewable energy source to provide heating and power in place of natural gas. Greater investment in the sector could support the development of large networks of geothermal power, offering millions of households clean heating. Some countries, such as Iceland, are already well acquainted with geothermal power, with countries such as the U.K. and U.S. expected to soon follow.
By Felicity Bradstock for Oilprice.com
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