The Drill Down: Warm Up with Geothermal

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Geothermal Technologies Office

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December 21, 2022

The Drill Down: Warm Up with Geothermal

Estimated read time: 5 minutes 

The Drill Down

Director’s Note: Happy Holidays!  

The two things that light up my world: geothermal energy and the energy in the Geothermal Technologies Office (GTO) during this time of year. As we wrap up 2022, GTO has much to celebrate.

Last week, we announced the selection of two projects that will receive GTO funding to demonstrate drilling innovations, help reduce the costs of geothermal energy, and expand interest in geothermal power. Congratulations to the selectees and thank you to the wonderful GTO staff for getting this announcement across the finish line.

Another huge highlight for our office: GTO’s inaugural booth at the American Geophysical Union (AGU) conference last week! Our Communications Team hosted GTO’s booth and engaged one-on-one with stakeholders from across the world to spread the word about what the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is doing to advance geothermal technologies. If you want to hear more about how GTO heated up AGU, read about the experience in the announcements section.

And before you dig into our December edition of The Drill Down, register for our next GTO Quarterly Webinar taking place on January 26 at 2 p.m. ET. As always, we can’t wait to engage with you. Wishing you and yours a happy and safe end to 2022 and see you in 2023! 😊

                                                                                                        Lauren Boyd

GTO Acting Office Director

 

Trivia: Is GTO investing in downhole sensors?

Share The Drill Down with your friends and colleagues. If this newsletter was forwarded to you, please subscribe. If you have feedback or questions, reach out to us at DOE.Geothermal@ee.doe.gov.


Announcements

GTO Announces New Projects to Reduce Drilling Costs  

As mentioned in the director’s note, GTO selected two projects totaling over $15 million to reduce project timelines and costs for developing geothermal energy through at least a 25% improvement in geothermal drilling rates. By leveraging experience from oil and gas as well as laboratory research and industry and academic expertise, the new demonstration projects can dramatically reduce drilling costs and help make geothermal cost competitive with other energy sources.

GTO’s Experience at the AGU Fall Conference

AGU

GTO has returned from the 2022 AGU conference in Chicago, Illinois! With an average annual attendance of over 20,000 people, AGU presented our office with a unique opportunity to share the vast and varied possibilities within the geothermal industry. As our Communications Team spoke with attendees from universities, start-ups, international research centers, and more, they handed out our new Geothermal 101 and program area materials, including punny geothermal stickers, lenticular bookmarks, and initiative-specific postcards.

FY23 Base Annual Appropriations TCF Submissions Now Open

We need your help to commercialize promising energy technologies and intellectual property (IP) coming out of our national labs. This year’s Technology Commercialization Fund (TCF) Base Annual Appropriations National Laboratory Call, Core Laboratory Infrastructure for Market Readiness (CLIMR), is now accepting submissions. DOE hopes to select national labs and their private partners for six major topics: Market Needs Assessment, Curation of IP, Matchmaking, Technology Specific Partnerships, Streamlining Laboratory Processes, and Increasing External Partnerships.

Apply for DOE Clean Energy on Mine Land Technical Assistance

DOE’s Clean Energy Demonstrations is now offering technical assistance to inform decision-making on topics related to developing clean energy projects on mine land, including geothermal projects. This effort will provide no-cost technical assistance that informs the development of successful, impactful, and replicable projects that align with Clean Energy on Mine Land (CEML) Program priorities, including local job creation and economic development, greenhouse gas emission reduction, and the development of lower-cost electricity generation.

Introducing DOE’s Grid Deployment Office

DOE’s new Grid Deployment Office (GDO) works to provide electricity to everyone, everywhere. By maintaining and investing in critical generation facilities, GDO supports resource adequacy; and through the Building a Better Grid Initiative, GDO is expanding renewables, increasing electrification, improving transmission, and expanding distribution systems to support grid resilience. Subscribe to GDO’s email updates now.


Upcoming Events

GTO Quarterly Webinar 

Join GTO’s virtual Quarterly Webinar on January 26 at 2 p.m. ET to hear about 2022 accomplishments, office updates, events, and ongoing programs. You are encouraged to submit questions to DOE.Geothermal@ee.doe.gov prior to the webinar. Register to attend. 

webinar

In Case You Missed It

Fit Check: GTO's New Website

agu

GTO is delighted to show off the first tier of webpage renovations! The GTO Communications Team streamlined and updated content across the most highly visited pages, with more to come. Please surf through and let us know what you think!

GTO and NSF Announce New Internship Program to Support Growth of Geothermal Energy Workforce

GTO and the National Science Foundation (NSF) have teamed up to create a new internship opportunity under NSF’s INTERN program that will support 10 to 20 six-month research internships per year to work in the geothermal industry on projects that advance geothermal technologies.

NSF

Blog Spotlight

UND

On November 5, 2022, the Geothermal Vision team from the College of Engineering and Mines at the University of North Dakota (UND) celebrated their second-place win in the 2022 Geothermal Collegiate Competition (GCC) by hosting a community engagement event. The event was held in New Town, North Dakota, on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation, home to the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation (MHA Nation), and focused on raising awareness about geothermal use, including district energy generation.

Check out GTO’s blog about the team’s project and community event and keep an eye out for updates on the next Geothermal Collegiate Competition, scheduled for spring 2023.


Geothermal Energy Around the Web

Getting to the Bottom of Drilling Costs. Bloomberg Law, Bizwest, The Denver Post, and Hart Energy are all excited about GTO’s newly announced Drilling Demonstrations projects! (Some articles are paywalled.)

What Lies Beneath? Efficient Heating and Cooling. Listen as Kathy Hannun, Co-Founder and President of Dandelion Energy, discusses how geothermal heat pumps take advantage of stable subsurface temperatures to produce highly efficient and low-cost heating and cooling systems for building.  

Switching the District Heating of Szeged to Geothermal. The largest geothermal district heating overhaul resides in Szeged, Hungary. Once complete, the district heating will be 60% less polluting, its energy supply will be localized, and its operation will be more economical.

CATF Publishes Interactive Map of Superhot Rock Projects. Visit the Clean Air Task Force’s web-based interactive map that highlights superhot rock projects and shows the estimated depth to reach a temperature of 450 degrees Celsius across the world.


AnswerWe are! Downhole sensors, also known as geophones, help researchers and industry professionals track the changes in the subsurface during enhanced geothermal systems stimulation. They collect high-resolution, real-time micro-seismic data to inform how a geothermal reservoir is developing.

Did we miss your event or an interesting media piece? Please reach out to us at DOE.Geothermal@ee.doe.gov