130 
of Technology, the Western Governors Association, 
and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, in-
dicate that the Nation’s geothermal resources are 
widely distributed, vast in size, and barely tapped. 
(5) Sustained and expanded research, develop-
ment, demonstration, and commercial application 
programs are needed to locate and characterize geo-
thermal resources, and to develop the technologies 
that will enable their widespread commercial devel-
opment. 
(6) Federal support is critical to reduce the fi-
nancial risk associated with developing new geo-
thermal technologies, thereby encouraging the pri-
vate sector investment necessary to make geothermal 
resources commercially viable as a source of electric 
power and for other applications. 
SEC. 4203. DEFINITIONS. 
For purposes of this subtitle: 
(1) ENGINEERED.—When referring to enhanced 
geothermal systems, the term ‘‘engineered’’ means 
subjected to intervention, including intervention to 
address one or more of the following issues: 
(A) Lack of effective permeability or poros-
ity or open fracture connectivity within the res-
ervoir. 
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131 
(B) Insufficient contained geofluid in the 
reservoir. 
(C) A low average geothermal gradient, 
which necessitates deeper drilling. 
(2) ENHANCED GEOTHERMAL SYSTEMS.—The 
term ‘‘enhanced geothermal systems’’ means geo-
thermal reservoir systems that are engineered, as op-
posed to occurring naturally. 
(3) GEOFLUID.—The term ‘‘geofluid’’ means 
any fluid used to extract thermal energy from the 
Earth which is transported to the surface for direct 
use or electric power generation, except that such 
term shall not include oil or natural gas. 
(4) GEOPRESSURED
RESOURCES.—The term 
‘‘geopressured resources’’ mean geothermal deposits 
found in sedimentary rocks under higher than nor-
mal pressure and saturated with gas or methane. 
(5) GEOTHERMAL.—The term ‘‘geothermal’’ re-
fers to heat energy stored in the Earth’s crust that 
can be accessed for direct use or electric power gen-
eration. 
(6) 
HYDROTHERMAL.—The 
term 
‘‘hydro-
thermal’’ refers to naturally occurring subsurface 
reservoirs of hot water or steam. 
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132 
(7) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of Energy. 
(8) SYSTEMS APPROACH.—The term ‘‘systems 
approach’’ means an approach to solving problems 
or designing systems that attempts to optimize the 
performance of the overall system, rather than a 
particular component of the system. 
SEC. 4204. HYDROTHERMAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOP-
MENT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall support pro-
grams of research, development, demonstration, and com-
mercial application to expand the use of geothermal en-
ergy production from hydrothermal systems, including the 
programs described in subsection (b). 
(b) PROGRAMS.— 
(1) ADVANCED
HYDROTHERMAL
RESOURCE 
TOOLS.—The Secretary, in consultation with other 
appropriate agencies, shall support a program to de-
velop advanced geophysical, geochemical, and geo-
logic tools to assist in locating hidden hydrothermal 
resources, and to increase the reliability of site char-
acterization before, during, and after initial drilling. 
The program shall develop new prospecting tech-
niques to assist in prioritization of targets for char-
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acterization. The program shall include a field com-
ponent. 
(2) INDUSTRY COUPLED EXPLORATORY DRILL-
ING.—The Secretary shall support a program of 
cost-shared field demonstration programs, to be pur-
sued, simultaneously and independently, in collabo-
ration with industry partners, for the demonstration 
of technologies and techniques of siting and explor-
atory drilling for undiscovered resources in a variety 
of geologic settings. The program shall include in-
centives to encourage the use of advanced tech-
nologies and techniques. 
SEC. 4205. GENERAL GEOTHERMAL SYSTEMS RESEARCH 
AND DEVELOPMENT. 
(a) SUBSURFACE COMPONENTS AND SYSTEMS.—The 
Secretary shall support a program of research, develop-
ment, demonstration, and commercial application of com-
ponents and systems capable of withstanding extreme geo-
thermal environments and necessary to cost-effectively de-
velop, produce, and monitor geothermal reservoirs and 
produce geothermal energy. These components and sys-
tems shall include advanced casing systems (expandable 
tubular casing, low-clearance casing designs, and others), 
high-temperature cements, high-temperature submersible 
pumps, and high-temperature packers, as well as tech-
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