Geothermal Energy

Why Is Geothermal Energy a Good Idea for the United States? 

Geothermal offers firm, flexible, carbon-free electricity generation that can help the United States address the challenges of climate change and provide reliable, resilient, secure, and affordable grid power.  

Geothermal heating and cooling technologies offer clean, efficient temperature control solutions for buildings, campuses, and even entire communities. Widespread adoption of these technologies helps to decarbonize the building and electricity sectors, reduce energy costs for families, stabilize the grid, and boost community resilience.  

Geothermal electricity is baseload power with a high capacity factor, meaning that geothermal power plants can operate at maximum capacity nearly all of the time. That high capacity factor also means geothermal power generation can balance intermittent sources of energy like wind and solar, making it a critical part of the national renewable energy mix.   

Expanding the use of geothermal electricity generation can create U.S. jobs and leverages the same skills as oil and gas, creating an opportunity for those workers to transition to clean energy. The same is true of geothermal heat pumps, where installation and maintenance require skills already present in traditional heating and cooling professions.  

The Geothermal Technologies Office’s Enhanced Geothermal Shot™ Analysis indicates the potential for at least 90 gigawatts of geothermal electricity-generating capacity by 2050, including in states east of the Mississippi where no geothermal power generation currently exists. That’s the equivalent of powering more than 65 million American homes.  

The GeoVision analysis indicates potential for more than 17,000 district heating systems and 28 million geothermal heat pumps by 2050.  

Because of the benefits of using geothermal energy, DOE funds research, development, and demonstration in order to: 

• Advance the commercial viability of enhanced geothermal systems (human-made geothermal energy). 
• Innovate technologies to expand electricity generation using naturally occurring geothermal resources and value-added opportunities like lithium extraction.  
• Improve the efficiency and expand the utility of low-temperature (<300° F) geothermal systems, such as geothermal heat pumps and district heating and cooling systems.  
• Address nontechnical barriers to geothermal deployment through environmental and resource assessments, data stewardship, and analytical tools. 
• Support federal agencies in adopting geothermal heat pumps through acquisition guidance and financing options, making efficient geothermal technology accessible across federal facilities.