Latest news with #geothermal
Wall Street Journal
3 days ago
- Science
- Wall Street Journal
Geothermal Energy Is Heating Up. It's Going to Need More Geologists.
During her Ph.D. studies, Pooja Sheevam examined the structure of planets like Mars. Now, she is exploring terrain closer to home for her government job researching geothermal projects in arid New Mexico. Sheevam was drawn to the geothermal industry while studying at the University of Nevada at Reno because she wanted to be a part of something new and increasingly relevant: cultivating a renewable source that extracts heat from the Earth's core for energy.
BBC News
3 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Geothermal energy: Why NI is a 'Goldilocks' area for renewable home heating
The ground that Emmanuel Burns' County Antrim apartment block is built on has significantly reduced his energy bills since he moved in 18 months Rural Housing Association complex in Randalstown in County Antrim uses the heat of the earth itself to warm rooms and heat water through a geothermal system - pipes dug down into the ground to reach the renewable heat stored Ireland has been identified as one of eight "Goldilocks" regions in the UK with just the right conditions for accessing geothermal energy, thanks to the rocks beneath the only equipment Mr Burns needs is a thermostat on the wall. "It's pretty easy to use, you can adjust the heating to whatever you want - from 14 degrees to 26," he said. "Before I moved in here, I was paying £20, £30, £40 a week for heating, whereas now it's £15 a week."That's your heating day and night, your hot water, your air conditioning and you're making a saving every week, which adds up throughout the year."All nine apartments in the block are connected to six boreholes hidden beneath the car park, via two units located in a separate plant boreholes tap into water that was stored in layers of Sherwood sandstone as the rock formed over water heated up, depending on how deeply it was machines in the apartment block plant room extract the water, compress it to extract the heat, and then pipes feed that heat around the complex. Sherwood sandstone is found across Northern Ireland at different British Geological Survey says that makes it a "Goldilocks" region - just right – for a number of green energy opportunities, including say there is potential for secure, affordable, sustainable energy and skilled job creation as a result."The principle is that the deeper you go into the earth, the warmer it is," said Dr Marie Cowan, director of the Geological Survey of Northern porous nature of Sherwood sandstone makes extracting that heat possible."You can either use a closed loop system and drill into the earth and put it through a heat exchanger to decarbonise a home, a hospital, a school, a public building," she said."Or you can go deeper still, where there's a greater opportunity for warmer temperatures and tap that into a heat network for a town or a bigger estate that needs a greater heat." The technology has been used for decades in parts of Scandinavia, but we are only "catching up a wee bit now", according to Ryan Daly from Daly Renewables, who installed the system at Mr Burns' apartment block."The benefits of this is that the system itself is about 300 to 400% more efficient than a typical gas or oil boiler," he said."Typically it will have less maintenance than a boiler system."The technology has proven to be reliable, it's efficient, it helps save on carbon as well."Pilot geothermal projects were launched in Antrim and at the Stormont Estate in east Belfast in 2023 to test the potential. Can it be scaled up? The question is, can the results of these studies be scaled up across Northern Ireland?Dr Cowan believes they can."Whether it's further drilling, deeper drilling or more studies, the idea is to de-risk that [geothermal] opportunity for the whole of Northern Ireland."So whether you're in the private sector, public sector, a local council and education authority, a health trust, you can use that information and help decarbonise your estate."That also creates potential for skilled jobs in the mechanical, electrical and plumbing Ireland has targets for reducing its greenhouse gas emissions and increasing its renewable energy use, which industry experts have warned are likely to be how we heat our homes has a role to play in meeting those Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK and Ireland not to have a renewable energy support scheme in place for private residential Department for the Economy has consulted on proposals to support the decarbonisation of residential has been a complete turnaround for Dr Cowan over the course of her career."I was coming to look at these rocks for oil and gas exploration," she said."How the world has changed since then."Twenty-five years later, we're looking at the same rocks with a totally different lens - an opportunity to decarbonise the planet and make up for the legacy of that industry."
Forbes
5 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
Sage Geosystems, Next-Gen Geothermal Source Driven By Earth's Pressure
Sage drilling activity Sage Cindy Taff is CEO and co-founder of Sage Geosystems. The company was founded in 2020 and is developing energy storage and geothermal baseload technologies deep in the earth and above temperatures of 170℃ degrees. The Sage Geosystems team has over 200 combined years in the oil and gas industry, with experience delivering major projects including Deepwater, Arctic, and Unconventional shales. The company is headquartered in Houston, Texas. For more information, visit News reports are available, as well as videos. The following is an interview with Cindy Taff. 1. Sage calls their next-generation geothermal technology 'pressure geothermal.' Can you explain what this means and how it differs from other next-generation geothermal technologies? Pressure geothermal leverages both the Earth's heat and pressure to generate more power. By using the natural elasticity of the rock, we can bring hot water to the surface without pumps. Unlike traditional approaches, we maintain pressure in the system rather than venting it at the surface, and we hold open fractures with pressure instead of adding bridging materials like sand or proppant. These innovations reduce friction and energy losses, boosting net power output by 25-50% compared to other next-generation geothermal technologies. 2. The Sage pressure geothermal concept is a huff-and-puff in two synchronized wells. How does this work? Sage's proprietary cycle-based heat recovery approach, adapted from the 'huff-and-puff' method in oil and gas, is designed for efficient energy extraction. Each well has its own set of fractures (i.e., wells are not connected in the subsurface like EGS) and operates in a repeating cycle. In one well, water is injected for 12 hours, expanding the fracture network to ensure full contact with the hot rock and maximum heat absorption. After a brief soaking period, the process reverses: the natural pressure and elasticity of the rock push the heated water back to the surface, without the need for pumps. The hot water flows through a heat exchanger to heat a refrigerant, or low-boiling-point working fluid, which drives a turbine to generate electricity. By alternating between wells, Sage enables near-continuous power generation. 3. The operation depends on creating a fracture network in the hot dry rock, which is then inflated with a 'pad' of water, and 10-20% of this pad is cycled to harvest the Earth's heat. How are the fractures created and how is the water cycled? Sage uses their proprietary downward gravity fracturing to create the subsurface fracture network. This technique uses a high-density fluid, weighted with heavy minerals like barite or hematite, to initiate and propagate fractures using gravity rather than high-pressure pumping. Because the fluid is heavier, it creates fractures at lower surface pressure, making the process more efficient and controlled. This approach is similar to methods used for disposing of nuclear waste. Once the fracture network is established, the high-density fluid is circulated out and replaced with water, which is then cycled to extract heat, as described above. 4. What reservoir characteristics does the Sage method need to be viable, such as depth, temperature, overpressure, natural fracture permeability? How extensive are these potential locations in the USA? For comparison, hot, dry rock permeabilities in Los Alamos and Project Forge have extremely low permeabilities. Conventional geothermal requires a rare combination of three things: hot subsurface temperatures, naturally occurring water (an aquifer), and enough natural permeability to allow the water to flow. These conditions typically only exist near volcanic zones, such as those along the Ring of Fire. Sage's pressure geothermal approach removes two of those constraints. We don't rely on natural permeability or existing water – we create our own artificial reservoir and cycle water through it to extract heat. We specifically target low-permeability rock (< 50 millidarcies), temperatures of 170°C, and avoid natural faults and fractures. As a result, our method opens up vast new areas for geothermal development. In the U.S. Lower 48 alone, conservative estimates are 13 terawatts of geothermal potential down to 6 km (20,000 feet). Depths to reach 180C Anderson, Parker, et al. 5. A two-well pair provides almost continuous electricity for 24 hours. Can the supply of a few MW be made fully dispatchable for days or weeks at a time? Yes. Geothermal power generation is available regardless of weather conditions. Like all geothermal systems, Sage's technology experiences gradual thermal decline, about 10% over 5 years, as heat is extracted from the rock. What makes Sage different is our ability to refracture the same well into untouched hot rock every five years, restoring heat flow without having to drill a new well(s). 6. The fracture network is always operated between frac opening and frac extension pressure, and in each well, the fracture network is inflated for 12 hours before flow is reversed into the other well. You quote water loss is less than 2%. Is this loss per cycle? Yes, the < 2% water loss is per cycle as measured in the field and is primarily due to evaporation and leak-off into the formation. For geothermal power generation, we expect water losses to be even lower because the system operates as a closed-loop cycle with minimal evaporation. This is a major advantage over traditional EGS systems, where water losses are reported between 10-30%. Cindy Taff, CEO and co-founder of Sage. Sage 7. How does your cost per MWh compare with other next-generation geothermal methods, and with solar PV plus grid battery storage (BESS)? How does your mechanical energy storage cost per MWh compare with grid battery storage (BESS)? Pressure geothermal is expected to deliver significantly lower costs per MWh than other next-generation geothermal approaches. Closed-loop systems face higher drilling costs due to complex directional drilling and longer wellbores. EGS technologies lose efficiency from high parasitic pumping loads, venting pressure at surface, and 10-30% water losses. When paired with solar, Sage's energy storage delivers a blended LCOE of $60-70/MWh for 24/7 generation, comparable with solar plus batteries without tax credits. Sage's mechanical storage is not intended to compete with lithium-ion for < 5-hour durations, but will outperform batteries for durations > 5 hours. 8. What advantages does the Sage method have over other methods such as twin-well EGS (Enhanced Geothermal Systems) or closed-loop systems? Compared to EGS, Sage's approach avoids the need for sophisticated high-temperature directional drilling technologies as the wellbore alignment and spacing are not critical, and it doesn't require connecting two wells with a fracture network. It also minimizes water loss (< 2% per cycle) and delivers 25-50% more net power output, resulting in a lower cost per MWh. Compared to closed-loop systems, Sage can access a large heat transfer area in less than a day through fracturing, versus months of precision drilling required to construct long well loops. This reduces both drilling risk and cost. 9. What is the commercial stage/position of Sage's various technologies? Sage's energy storage technology has reached Technology Readiness Level (TRL-8), with a 3MW commercial facility built, tested, and ready to start operations in Q4 2025 after the grid interconnection is complete. Sage's geothermal power generation is at a TRL-7, with its first commercial plant planned for 2026/2027 as part of Phase I for a Meta data center east of the Rockies. 10. Do you foresee Sage applications of individual well-pairs (a few MW) providing a bridge to other massive energy supplies? And what is the potential, and cost, of many well-pairs scaled to the needs of data centers or electrical grids (hundreds of MW)? Sage's geothermal technology is scalable by drilling multiple wells from a single pad, much like unconventional oil and gas. For projects > 100 MW, such as Meta, we anticipate costs between $60-100/MWh, depending on the location and therefore the geothermal resource depth. Sage's unique subsurface approach, which relies on fractures connected to a single wellbore, will increase our access to superhot geothermal resources as compared to EGS and Closed Loop, as wellbore alignment and spacing are not critical, eliminating the need for sophisticated high-temperature directional drilling equipment. Deeper and hotter geothermal can deliver a 10-fold increase in net power generation, which enables further cost reductions 11. I've heard that Sage can buy electricity when production is plentiful, convert it to pressure similar to conventional pumped storage hydropower and later sell it back to the grid when needed. Is this system operational, and will it be cheaper than grid-scale batteries whose cost is falling? Sage has completed its first commercial 3MW energy storage system at the San Miguel Electric Cooperative in Christine, Texas, with operations starting in Q4 2025 once grid interconnection is complete. While it's not intended to compete with lithium-ion batteries for short durations (< 5 hours), it outperforms them for longer durations, where battery costs and performance decline. 12. I understand Sage has built a proprietary sCO2 turbine, intended to be an alternative to ORC turbines used widely today in geothermal applications. Can you explain the advantage, when the technology will be available, and the cost? Sage has successfully designed, built, and load-tested a 3MW prototype supercritical CO2 (sCO2) turbine. Compared to conventional Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) systems, sCO2 turbines are smaller, more cost-effective to build, and deliver up to 50% more net power due to higher efficiency: 15-20% versus 8-12% for ORC. We plan to deploy this technology in the field in 2027-2028 as part of Meta Phase II.
Zawya
23-07-2025
- Science
- Zawya
Kenya harnesses geothermal power to capture carbon from the air
In the scrublands of central Kenya, technicians monitor four large metallic tanks where steam heated by the Earth's crust is used to pull carbon dioxide from the air in an effort to limit global warming. Sitting astride the Great Rift Valley, a tectonic scar running around 7,000km down Eastern Africa, Kenya generates almost half its energy from geothermal plants, which spew out an abundance of excess heat and cheap energy. That makes it well-positioned to pioneer the use of Direct Air Carbon Capture, said Hannah Wanjau, an engineer at Octavia Carbon, which designed and built the machines. DACC is an energy-intensive process that sucks air across a chemical filter, which, when saturated with the greenhouse gas, is heated in a vacuum to release the CO₂, which can be bottled or stored underground. East Africa's most developed economy also benefits from a surfeit of scientists and engineers thanks to the government's focus on and investment in universal education. Daunting task Octavia harnesses Kenya's excess geothermal steam to operate its machinery cost-effectively, while basalt rock formations are conducive to storing the carbon dioxide safely for long periods, said Wanjau. "We've already seen the effects of climate change, so we want something that's going to work very fast, and remove huge amounts of CO₂," she said. Each of Octavia's prototype machines captures about 10 tonnes of CO₂ per year, akin to around 1,000 trees, which it can trade as carbon credits sought by businesses and governments to offset their harmful emissions. The scale of the task is daunting, however. Around seven to nine billion tons of CO₂ will need to be removed from the atmosphere every year by the middle of this century if the world is to prevent global temperatures exceeding a 1.5°C rise above pre-industrial levels, according to a report co-authored by researchers at the University of Oxford. Action to date has fallen far short of the deep emissions cuts that would achieve the goal set out by world leaders at the 2015 Paris climate accord. Last year was the first to breach 1.5 °C of warming. "Critics would be right to point out that what we currently do is a drop in the ocean," said Octavia Carbon's co-founder Martin Freimüller, who plans to commission a 1,000-tonne per year plant by next year. "But the point is that scaling from 1,000 tonnes (of carbon dioxide) to a billion tonnes, still starts with 1,000 tonnes." 'Greenwashing Greenpeace and other environmental campaign groups say the carbon capture industry is used by oil and gas companies as a form of 'greenwashing' to justify slowing the transition from fossil fuels to clean energy solutions. However, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says that while reducing the use of fossil fuels remains a top priority, carbon capture will be necessary to reduce residual emissions from sectors that are hard to decarbonise, like cement and steel production. Octavia has struck a deal with Cella Mineral Storage, a New York-registered start-up, which means Kenya could become the second country in the world, after Iceland, to inject air-captured CO₂ below ground early next year. Octavia has already contracted some $3m of carbon credits, roughly half of which has been prepaid, for around 40% of the lifetime capacity of the planned DACC plant, Freimüller said. "The world often thinks about Africa still as a hapless victim of climate change," he said, referring to the increasing intensity of the floods and droughts affecting the continent. Octavia Carbon wants to show the world that Africa can also help fix the problem, he said. "Technology made in Kenya and developed in Kenya, for the use of the world." All rights reserved. © 2022. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (
National Post
22-07-2025
- Science
- National Post
Quaise Energy Achieves Drilling Milestone with Millimeter Wave Technology
Article content Article content HOUSTON — Quaise Energy, a leading developer of grid-scale superhot geothermal energy, today announced it has successfully drilled to a depth of 100 meters using its proprietary millimeter wave technology at its field site in Central Texas. This achievement sets a record for millimeter wave drilling and marks a major step forward in unlocking the Earth's vast geothermal energy as a scalable, baseload energy source. Article content Quaise's millimeter wave drilling system, developed after more than a decade of research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), harnesses a powerful gyrotron to ablate rock for the first time without any downhole hardware. Unlike conventional drill bits, which struggle with hard, hot, rocks like granite and basalt, millimeter wave technology allows access to superhot rock—around 752 degrees Fahrenheit (400℃)—typically found deep within the Earth's subsurface. Article content Accessing hotter rock deeper underground enables Quaise geothermal plants to generate many times more energy than traditional geothermal – opening up grid-scale projects that can match the power output of major fossil fuel plants. Article content 'The Earth holds an enormous reservoir of clean energy — energy that could fundamentally change how we power our world if we can reach it,' said Carlos Araque, CEO and President of Quaise Energy. 'Quaise has now demonstrated that millimeter wave technology can do what no other technology can do: drill perfectly clean holes through some of the hardest rocks on Earth in record time. This milestone brings us closer to making geothermal energy a practical solution to power communities virtually anywhere.' Article content Prior to 2025, millimeter wave drilling had only been demonstrated in the laboratory, with MIT's early system drilling a hole just a few centimeters deep. While 100 meters is only a fraction of the commercial depth needed for the company's first power plants, the granite drilled during the field test is the same type of hard rock that blankets the basement layer of the Earth's crust. Drilling efficiently through the basement layer is the only way to unlock superhot geothermal worldwide. Article content The company plans to build on this achievement with an upcoming gyrotron using 10x more power. Quaise further expects to complete a pilot power plant in the Western U.S. as early as 2028. Article content 'Our progress this year has exceeded all expectations,' added Araque. 'We're drilling faster and deeper at this point than anyone believed possible, proving that millimeter wave technology is the only tool capable of reaching the superhot rock needed for next-generation geothermal power. We are opening up a path to a new energy frontier.' Article content About Quaise Energy Article content Quaise Energy is unlocking the Earth's deep heat to deliver clean, reliable, always-on energy at scale – almost anywhere in the world. As both a technology innovator and project developer, Quaise builds and operates solutions that harness superhot geothermal energy far below the surface, enabling power generation that can rival the output of today's most efficient fossil fuel and nuclear plants. Founded at MIT, Quaise's mission is to make superhot geothermal a backbone of the modern energy system, offering affordable, zero-carbon power and true energy independence for communities and nations everywhere. Article content X Article content | Article content Article content Article content Article content Article content Contacts Article content Media Article content Article content Diane Hughes Article content Article content
