The potential of geothermal energy for US homes
Advancements in geothermal systems and sustained political support provide an opportunity for the industry to scale. At Cornell University in upstate New York, researchers are
Advancements in geothermal systems and sustained political support provide an opportunity for the industry to scale. At Cornell University in upstate New York, researchers are testing how a deep geothermal system can work far from the tectonic boundaries and volcanoes that have long defined where the energy is viable. By tapping into the planet's internal warmth, the project, known as Earth Source Heat, could supply the 2,300-acre (931-hectare) campus in Ithaca with fossil fuel-free heat to help the university become carbon neutral by 2035. "We are developing the tools to do geothermal where the people are, not making people go out to where the rocks are hot," said Wayne Bezner Kerr, project program manager. If it succeeds, it could serve as a blueprint for scaling geothermal heating across New York and the cold, densely populated Northeast United States. That would be a departure because conventional geothermal systems depend on naturally occurring underground reservoirs of hot water, largely limiting development to the west of the country. A researcher takes samples of rock chips from Cornell's drill site for geological evaluation Image: Jason Koski/Cornell University What makes the Cornell project different is that it's an enhanced geothermal system (EGS). It works by drilling deep into hot, hard rock, fracturing it, and circulating water through the cracks to capture heat for energy. The approach borrows heavily from oil and gas techniques of horizontal drilling and fracking. However, unlike oil and gas fracking, Cornell's deep geothermal system uses much lower pressures, and the researchers have said they will avoid using explosives and environmentally harmful substances for fracturing rock. And apart from the geographical benefits, these technological advances also have a political advantage. Even under President Donald Trump, geothermal has largely escaped the polarization that surrounds other clean energy such as wind and solar, which is good news for a potential scale-up. Geothermal's untapped potential Geothermal can be used to generate electricity and to heat and cool buildings. The United States leads the world in installed geothermal capacity, with about 3.7 gigawatts.
Yet it remains a marginal player, with geothermal power plants generating just 0.4% of the country's total utility-scale electricity in 2023. But it could become a "meaningful" part of the US mix within the next 25 years, according to Drew Nelson of Project InnerSpace, a nonprofit working to scale geothermal systems. This chimes with a 2022 analysis that found geothermal capacity could reach 90 gigawatts by 2050. Much of the potential comes from enhanced geothermal systems. In Utah, for example, what is being billed as the world's largest next-generation geothermal is under construction. Developed by Texas-based geothermal company, Fervo Energy, the Cape Station is expected to add 500 megawatts to the grid by 2028 — enough to power some 350,000 US homes annually. How big oil and gas can spark a geothermal energy revolution To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video The company previously completed a pilot project in Nevada. The 3.5-megawatt facility supplies power to the state's grid and supports Google's data centers and cloud region in the state. Nelson described the application of oil and gas techniques to geothermal in the past couple of years as "a revolution." These techniques make "existing geothermal sites more efficient as well as opening up vast new swaths of country for geothermal potential," he added. Technological advances in geothermal are converging with rising demand for clean, reliable energy that can help the US meet skyrocketing demand, added Nelson. "Those two things are coming together nicely to create a potential market for geothermal to scale," he said. Political support for geothermal energy Since returning to office in 2025, President Donald Trump has clawed back billions in funding for climate and clean energy investments, ordered work to halt on wind projects, and pushed to expand domestic oil and gas drilling. But geothermal — particularly next-generation technologies — continues to receive support from the administration. Energy Secretary Chris Wright, formerly CEO of oilfield services company Liberty Energy, which invested in Fervo Energy, has publicly backed geothermal expansion.
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