Human beings depend on energy.\u00a0 It\u2019s almost what makes us human.\u00a0 When we discovered fire, we became truly the masters of creation and the apex of the animal kingdom.\u00a0 You can imagine our cave dwelling ancestors wielding a flaming torch in the face of a cave bear or a saber-tooth tiger and living to tell the story.<\/p>\n
So, what should be our attitude about the prospect of running out of energy?\u00a0 Well, windmills and solar panels don\u2019t seem to be the future.\u00a0 Of course, if photovoltaic cells become more efficient and cost effective, maybe they will be a big part of the answer.\u00a0 But I tend to think there will be more cost-effective options.\u00a0 And this is long term.\u00a0 Short term we\u2019ll probably be using uranium fission technology to produce power but sometime in the future we\u2019ll run out of recoverable uranium and need to move on.<\/p>\n
As I\u2019ve reiterated endlessly, I think that geothermal energy will be a very important source of power in the future.\u00a0 The earth has an enormous heat source to be tapped into for our energy needs.<\/p>\n
And now, finally, results are moving beyond the research and pilot plant stages:<\/p>\n
\u201cLeading Companies in Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) or advanced variants like closed-loop or superhot rock geothermal, involve drilling wells several kilometers deep to access hot rock formations, fracturing them if needed, and circulating fluids to extract heat for electricity generation. These technologies aim to scale beyond traditional hydrothermal resources, enabling baseload, carbon-free power almost anywhere.<\/strong><\/p>\n As of October 2025, commercialization is accelerating due to oil\/gas-derived drilling innovations, major funding, and partnerships with tech giants like Google and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Based on recent developments, the companies closest to large-scale commercialization (defined here as multi-MW projects entering operation or construction by 2026\u20132028) are those with demonstrated pilots, secured financing, and firm power purchase agreements (PPAs). Below is a summary table of the top contenders, followed by details.<\/strong><\/p>\n These companies stand out for their progress toward utility-scale electricity production (tens to hundreds of MW), distinguishing them from firms focused on shallow heating\/cooling (e.g., Dandelion) or conventional geothermal (e.g., Ormat, Calpine). Progress is driven by DOE’s FORGE initiative and private investments exceeding $1B since 2020.<\/strong><\/p>\n Now it goes without saying that geothermal energy is still in its infancy and no one knows what kinds of technical problems will surface (pun intended).\u00a0 But at the same time the problems will mostly involve well understood parameters like material of constructions to deal with the pressures, temperatures and corrosion problems inherent in circulating water and steam in a bore-hole.\u00a0 But these are not mysterious or insoluble problems.\u00a0 They are the bread and butter of material scientists and engineers.\u00a0 I am also interested to see that tech companies are financing some of these ventures in order to control their electric power supply in the face of power shortages and interruptions associated with the \u201cgreen energy revolution\u201d that many of us currently suffer under.\u00a0 Imagine that!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Human beings depend on energy.\u00a0 It\u2019s almost what makes us human.\u00a0 When we discovered fire, we became truly the masters of creation and the apex<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,1263,3545],"tags":[3372,5057],"class_list":["post-35046","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-events","category-stuff-that-personally-interests-me-miscellaneous","category-science","tag-energy-research","tag-geothermal-energy"],"yoast_head":"\n\n