The ground beneath our feet holds so much energy that experts at the Department of Energy (DOE) think geothermal power could generate 60 gigawatts — or nearly 10% of U.S. electricity — by 2050.
Zanskar co-founder and CEO Carl Hoiland thinks that lofty number is too low, mostly because it’s discounting conventional geothermal’s potential.
The DOE’s figures assume advances in enhanced geothermal, which uses fracking techniques to access hot rock deep underground. Companies like Fervo and Sage Geosystems have been pursuing that angle, and experts agree it has tremendous potential. By contrast, conventional geothermal, which taps naturally fractured hot spots, has been stagnant, generating just 4 gigawatts in the United States, up only about a gigawatt in the last decade or so.