Geothermal Energy: What is its Future?

With the many renewable energy sources that can be tapped into, one that has not gotten a lot of attention like wind or solar is geothermal.  Wind and solar are more widely known and promulgated and consequently geothermal does not receive as much attention in society.  Nevertheless, it should receive more attention given the fact that it is renewable and can provide opportunities for research into what its capacity can be for the future as well as today.  The first step in increasing the notoriety of geothermal is to define what exactly it is.

Geothermal energy is the process of extracting energy from the Earth where "below the Earth's crust, there is a layer of hot and molten rock called magma. Heat is continually produced there mostly from the decay of naturally radioactive materials such as uranium and potassium." In fact, geothermal energy "within 10,000 meters of Earth's surface contains more energy than all the oil and natural gas resources of the world." Clearly, geothermal energy is a promising resource, which is both abundant and renewable since it won't run out or be in a diminished capacity like oil and natural gas. Yet the problem with geothermal is that it can only work in certain parts of the U.S. such as out in the western part of the U.S. which is a "seismically active" area in terms of volcanic and earthquake activity. As a result, it appears geothermal energy can be part of the energy portfolio, but certainly cannot be the panacea to replace the U.S. reliance on fossil fuels since it can only work in certain regions of the U.S. effectively.

Nevertheless, particularly for the western part of the U.S., geothermal energy is worth looking into since it is abundant, clean, and renewable.   The good news is that investment in geothermal is beginning. In particular, Senators Widen and Crapo have introduced a bill that "raises an existing investment tax credit from 10 percent to 30 percent through 2016, bringing it to the level of renewable tax credits for the solar and fuel cell industries." As a result, one of the reasons geothermal has not gotten a lot of attention is that the level of investment in it has not been as substantial as solar or wind power. By increasing the investment tax credit, geothermal should get more serious attention over the coming years and its future should look brighter.

As with any new renewable energy source, the cost has to be relatively low in order to compete and hopefully displace fossil fuels like oil and natural gas in the future.  Geothermal energy certainly has the capability to replace fossil fuels and the increase in the investment tax credit is a good start.  Hopefully, Congress decreases the tax credits for oil and gas and continues to increase them for renewable sources like geothermal.