Geothermal Technologies Program
 

The Heat 

Beneath our Feet 

Geothermal energy is the heat 

contained within the earth— a 

sizable, nationwide energy resource 

that has been left virtually untapped. 

Geothermal energy is a clean, reliable 

and renewable resource that can be 

used as a direct source of heat and to 

generate baseload electric power. 

Geothermal energy offers a number of 

advantages over traditional fossil fuelbased sources. The heat source requires 

no purchase of fuel and is reliable and 

secure. Little or no greenhouse gases 

are emitted by geothermal energy 

use. The development and application 

of new and advanced geothermal 

technologies will enable geothermal 

energy to become a major contributor 

to the United States energy supply 

portfolio. 

The Geothermal 

Technologies Program 

The U.S. Department of Energy’s 

(DOE) Geothermal Technologies 

Program (GTP) conducts research, 

development, and demonstration 

to establish Enhanced Geothermal 

Systems (EGS) as a major contributor 

for baseload electricity generation. 

While GTP’s mission reflects the 

longer-term goal of cost-competitive 

power production, demonstrating EGS 

The Milgro Nurseries greenhouse near New Castle, Utah, is one of the approximately 40 

greenhouses nationwide that benefit from the direct use of geothermal energy 

technical readiness in the near-term 

is essential. Research projects are 

performed under cost-shared awards 

to private companies and academic 

institutions via competitive solicitations 

and through work with the national 

laboratories. 

The Promise of Enhanced 

Geothermal Systems 

The EGS energy potential in the U.S. 

is enormous. EGS reservoirs are 

created by drilling wells into hot rocks, 

fracturing the rock, and circulating 

a fluid through the fractured rock to 

extract the heat (Figure 1). This means 

of “heat mining” mimics naturallyoccurring, conventional hydrothermal 

reservoirs. DOE will be conducting 

multiple system demonstrations in 

different regions of the country to 

reduce risk and uncertainty in EGS 

with the goal of having 50,000 MW of 

geothermal energy online by 2030. 

Near-Term Advancement 

of Hydrothermal 

As of March 2009, the United States 

was the largest geothermal electricity 

producer in the world with installed 

hydrothermal power capacity over 3,000 

MW. Research efforts in EGS technology 

will support near-term scale-up of 

traditional hydrothermal capacity, as 

many hydrothermal tools and techniques 

are also used in EGS development. 

Low-Temperature Geothermal 

Energy Production 

Low-temperature geothermal resources 

with fluids that are not hot enough to 

boil water also present an enormous 

opportunity for geothermal power 

generation. These systems employ binary 

cycle technology to generate electricity. 

Figure 1. Enhanced Geothermal System 

Fluid is circulated through an injection well 

(blue) and pumped up to a power plant through 

a production well (red). 
________________________________ 

Geothermal Technologies Program
 

Geothermal power plant at The Geysers near Santa Rosa in northern California, the world’s 

largest electricity-generating geothermal development 

Advances in binary cycle technology 

have lowered the temperature 

requirement for geothermal electricity 

production. The Chena Hot Springs 

Resort in Alaska generates electricity 

from water with temperatures as low as 

74°C. In addition, 40 billion barrels of 

water, much of it hot enough to generate 

electricity with binary cycle units, is coproduced every year with oil and gas1

. 

National Geothermal Data System 

Much of the risk of geothermal 

energy development is associated 

with exploring for and confirming the 

available geothermal resource. GTP 

will help mitigate this upfront risk by 

sponsoring a National Geothermal Data 

System. The data system will serve as a 

central repository for geothermal data as 

well as a link to distributed data sources. 

Assessing and categorizing the nation’s 

geothermal resources and consolidating 

all geothermal data in a publicly 

accessible data system will stimulate 

public interest, market acceptance, and 

in turn the growth of the geothermal 

industry. 

Direct Use and Ground 

Source Heat Pumps 

Another opportunity to utilize heat 

from the earth is through direct 

use and ground source heating and 

cooling. Working with EERE Building 

Technologies Program, GTP is seeking 

to accelerate the deployment of highly 

efficient ground source heat pumps for 

commercial and residential applications. 

Education and Collaboration 

A trained and motivated workforce 

is essential to maximizing the full 

potential of geothermal energy. To that 

end, GTP will establish education and 

workforce development projects to 

meet the needs of a growing geothermal 

industry through geothermal research 

and education, university curriculum 

development, and co-sponsored 

internship programs. 

Collaborating with other industries and 

governments has yielded great advances 

for geothermal energy. As a founding 

member of the International Partnership 

for Geothermal Technology, the United 

States plans to increase technology 

transfer and expand international market 

penetration. In addition, the DOE’s 

National Laboratories provide research 

and development assistance to the GTP. 

The GTP Geothermal Research & 

Development Strategy 

The GTP strategy is to use current 

technologies and resources to develop 

the advanced technologies and 

knowledge required for deployment of 

EGS. This will require a systematic, 

sustained R&D effort and field 

demonstrations in a variety of geologic 

environments. 

GTP funding opportunities for 

research, development, and 

demonstration of geothermal 

technologies can be found on our Web 

site listed below. Questions regarding 

GTP activities should be directed to 

geothermal@ee.doe.gov. 

For More Information 

Contact the EERE Information Center 

1-877-EERE-INF or 1-877-337-3463 or 

visit www.geothermal.energy.gov 

1

 Richard B. Wanty, 1997, USGS Research on Saline 

Waters Co-Produced with Energy Resources. U.S. 

Geological Survey. 

Prepared by NREL, a national laboratory of the U.S. Department 

of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, 

operated by the Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC. 

DOE/GO-102009-2557 • May 2009 

Printed with a renewable-source ink on paper containing at least 

50% wastepaper, including 10% post consumer waste.