‘Shooting ourselves in the foot': how Trump is fumbling geothermal energy
Compared with other clean energy sources such as solar and wind, geothermal enjoys rare bipartisan support. The US energy secretary, Chris Wright, has praised the technology, calling it 'an awesome resource that's under our feet'. And Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act preserved tax credits for geothermal.
But the administration's slashing of Department of Energy staff, delays in issuing low-interest loans, and tariffs are together creating uncertainty for the industry and investors.
The US has an advantage on geothermal over China and must move urgently, said David Turk, who served as the deputy secretary of energy under former president Joe Biden. 'Anything that stops our ability to execute on a plan – staffing, other funding – I think, is shooting ourselves in the foot,' Turk said.
The White House and Department of Energy did not respond to questions about how their policies are affecting enhanced geothermal.
Related: US renewable energy has tripled in a decade – but almost $8bn in projects now face cuts
The potential of geothermal
Geothermal energy uses the heat from the Earth's crust to transform water into steam that turns turbines and generates electricity. It has been used for more than a century, but has been limited to places where hot water reached the Earth's surface, including hot springs.
Now there's a new technique that can generate energy anywhere, known as enhanced geothermal. The same horizontal drilling approach used in fracking can reach hot rock deep below the surface. 'It opens up enhanced geothermal all over the country, all over the world,' Turk said. 'That's just tremendous.'
So far, enhanced geothermal systems are located in the Western US. One of the most promising geothermal projects by Fervo Energy can be found in Utah. But the technology can also work in the east.
The US is ahead of other countries on enhanced geothermal because of its shale gas boom over the past 15 years, said Eva Schill, a staff scientist who leads the Geothermal Systems Program at Berkeley Lab. 'The reason is that we have a lot of experience here from oil and gas fracking,' she said.
The enhanced geothermal industry is nascent, generating only 1% of the US's electricity. And it's still too expensive to compete with coal and natural gas.
But under the right conditions, it could evolve into a cheap source of power. A January article in the journal Nature Reviews found that it could be cost competitive with the national average cost of electricity generation by 2030.
The US is the world's second-largest greenhouse gas emitter after China, and although US emissions have trended downward for the past two decades, the country is still not on track to meet its climate targets. The rapid growth of AI datacentres is further threatening those targets by fueling rising energy demand; datacentres need to run 24/7, so they tend to rely on fossil fuels.
We have the technology, we have the tools … and I think now what we really need to do is establish the confidence
Jigar Shah, clean energy entrepreneur
Geothermal can potentially solve that problem. It could create 80,000 megawatts of new power, according to a liftoff report published by the Department of Energy.
'To put that in perspective, that could meet 100% of all of the AI datacenter load growth for the next 10 years,' said Jigar Shah, a clean energy entrepreneur who served as the director of the loan programs office at the Department of Energy under Joe Biden. 'That's pretty impressive.'
Already, Google and Meta have signed deals that would see geothermal companies power their datacentres.
How the Trump administration is fumbling geothermal
Enhanced geothermal accelerated under Biden-era policies. But several former energy department officials say the Trump administration is failing to provide the business certainty needed to get the fledgling industry off the ground.
'The whole ball game right now is bringing down those costs, proving it for investors,' Turk said.
'This is really about feelings,' Shah said. 'Do the investors feel like this administration really has their back when it comes to investing in these new technologies? They felt like we actually had their back when I was running the loan programs office, and when secretary [Jennifer] Granholm was running energy. They're unsure whether this administration has their back on these technologies.'
Under the Biden administration, the loan programs office was working on closing a low-interest loan for geothermal. Similar loans previously boosted Tesla and utility-scale solar. However, the Trump administration has yet to close a low-interest loan for geothermal, Shah said.
The gutting of energy department staff has lowered its capacity to support geothermal, several former energy department officials said. Thousands of scientists, analysts, engineers and procurement officers took deferred resignation offers or were fired. Politico reported that the administration was considering cutting loan programs office staff by half.
The Department of Energy has lost 'absolutely indispensable' experts on geothermal and loans, Turk said. 'So I would worry about, have we lost some of that capacity to actually execute?'
Trump's zeal for tariffs is adding to the industry's anxiety. Steel tariffs, now at 50%, are hurting companies that use steel in wells. Enhanced geothermal wells require installing miles of steel pipes.
Behind the scenes, geothermal companies are 'freaking out' about the steel tariffs, Shah said. 'They don't want to say anything negative, lest the Eye of Sauron find them,' he added.
The survival of the Inflation Reduction Act tax credits for geothermal provides some certainty. Geothermal can still access the full tax credit, as long as they begin construction by 2033, when the value of the credit will begin phasing down.
But geothermal projects now face strict restrictions on the involvement of 'foreign entities of concern,' such as Chinese companies and individuals, known as FEOC requirements. Geothermal projects use rare earth elements in their drill bits, and China dominates the rare earth minerals market, said a former energy department official who requested anonymity.
What Trump officials can do to boost geothermal
'This is a good enough market opportunity that somewhere in the world is going to come true, and we are really well set up for it, if we're not stupid,' the official said, talking generally about the industry. 'But we've unfortunately been pretty stupid, and we're making it harder on ourselves to win in an area that should be pretty easy to win.'
There are actions the Trump administration can take immediately to bring down costs and boost the industry.
The government can speed things along by 'doing a lot of mapping of resources to make it cheaper and less risky for drilling in this area versus that area', Turk said.
'Close a loan,' Shah said, explaining that it would send a strong signal to investors.
'We have the technology, we have the tools – the loan programs office and other tools – and I think now what we really need to do is establish the confidence,' Shah said.
Solve the daily Crossword
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
26 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Woman in Fight with Roommate Over Whether a Home Needs Both a Roomba and a Regular Vacuum
'Most of the time, it just bonks around like a lost toddler at IKEA until someone takes pity on it and turns it around,' the woman saidNEED TO KNOW A woman moved into a shared apartment with two roommates who agreed to share cleaning responsibilities However, she was left unimpressed when one of her roommates began using a Roomba instead of a regular vacuum cleaner 'It doesn't have a hose, can't clean corners or high surfaces, and doesn't work for any kind of mess,' she saidA woman who recently moved into an apartment in Boston with three other PhD students is unsure if she 'overstepped' after buying a vacuum cleaner without discussing it first. On Monday, July 28, the woman explained in a post on Reddit's "Am I The A--hole" forum that she is living with two other women in their mid-twenties, whom she didn't know before moving in. She said they all discussed splitting up the responsibility of keeping the apartment clean prior to the arrangement. However, she was unaware that the vacuum one of her roommates would be bringing was a Roomba. The woman said robot vacuums are ideal for light maintenance if used frequently, but are unsuitable for vacuuming the entire apartment. 'It doesn't have a hose, can't clean corners or high surfaces, and doesn't work for any kind of mess,' she explained. Complaining about her roommate, the woman continued, 'She also only wants to run it every other week, which doesn't really keep up with the dust and dirt of three people. 'The Roomba also hasn't mapped the apartment well due to its infrequent use,' she said. 'Most of the time, it just bonks around like a lost toddler at IKEA until someone takes pity on it and turns it around.' The woman said that when she tried to discuss her concerns with her roommate, the Roomba owner disagreed on the need to have a separate regular vacuum cleaner. In an attempt to avoid an argument, the woman said she bought her own regular vacuum that had a bag and an allergy filter to use in her bedroom and shared areas. 'When I brought it home, she was annoyed and said I had gone behind her back and broken our agreement,' the woman said of her roommate. 'I didn't see it that way, and shared that I'm not asking anyone else to use it or share costs. I just wanted to be able to clean the apartment to a level that works for me." 'Our other roommate said she doesn't really have a preference and doesn't care, so it seems like she is currently steering clear of this,' she continued. 'There's no blame or fault to be found in her at all; I totally understand why she might want to stay neutral." Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. 'I don't want to be the problem roommate, but now I'm wondering if I overstepped. AITA [am I the a--hole?],' the woman asked. Responses to the post reassured the woman that her views on the Roomba were fair. One person said her roommate was 'acting like a child,' while another argued there should be no issue with the addition of the vacuum because the Roomba can still be used. 'This is absurd. You are allowed to buy whatever you want for your shared apartment. Roommate sounds like a problem now and future,' someone else chimed in. Read the original article on People Solve the daily Crossword
Epoch Times
26 minutes ago
- Epoch Times
Carney, Trump Likely to Speak in ‘Next Number of Days': Trade Minister
Prime Minister Mark Carney and U.S. President Donald Trump will likely talk 'over the next number of days' following the U.S. decision to impose a 35 percent tariff on Canadian goods not covered under the free-trade agreement between Canada, the United States, and Mexico, the federal minister responsible for Canada-U.S. trade says. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc told CBS News' 'Face the Nation' that he was 'encouraged' by recent discussions with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.
Fox News
28 minutes ago
- Fox News
Bill Maher slams 'out of control' American universities, labeling them 'indoctrination factories'
Bill Maher slammed American universities and partially backed Trump's attempts to reform them on his HBO show 'Real Time' Friday
