The U.S. Department of Energy is investing $31 million in a pilot project that could point to 100 gigawatts (100 billion watts) of geothermal energy potential. “Natural gas has been having a field day in the US energy profile for the past dozen years or so, but it looks like the sleeping giant of U.S. geothermal power is being nudged out of its stupour,” Casey reports. The Frontier Observatory for Research in Geothermal Energy (FORGE), part of a package of new clean energy initiatives in the U.S., will “facilitate the development of rigorous and reproducible approaches that could drive down the cost of geothermal energy and further diversify our nation’s energy portfolio,” DoE said in a release. (h/t to InsideClimate News)
- The climate news you need. Subscribe now to our engaging new weekly digest.
- You’ll receive exclusive, never-before-seen-content, distilled and delivered to your inbox every weekend.
- The Weekender: Succinct, solutions-focused, and designed with the discerning reader in mind.