The Drill Down – Digging into the Depths of Clean Energy
Estimated read time: 6 minutes
 Director’s Note: It may be the dog days of summer, but the Geothermal Technologies Office (GTO) is not slowing down! We are taking care of our current portfolios, gearing up for some exciting announcements and report releases, and in the throes of FY24 planning, just to name a few activities. And the media engagements! Geothermal continues to be a trending renewable, with rapidly increasing interest and support.
Our Quarterly Webinar on August 3, 2023, was a major success with our highest attendance rate yet! It’s so rewarding to see the connections and conversations multiply amongst our community, thanks to our amazing stakeholders. I’d also like to give Sandia National Laboratories’ Paul C. Schwering a shoutout for presenting on the GTO-supported BRIDGE initiative and the public data ‘bonanza.’ He did an INCREDIBLE job. Check out the slides on our presentations page if you missed it.
I also recently had the honor of attending the Fervo Energy Technology Day and hearing from stakeholders about the momentous strides in enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) and geothermal technical progress. I am not alone when I say that I’m pretty pumped to see what’s next for Fervo (beyond this news which is hot off the press).
And looking quickly ahead, we are six weeks out from the start of the Geothermal Rising Conference (GRC) and GTO is excited to see you there!
Dig into this issue and enjoy!
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Sincerely,
Lauren Boyd
GTO Acting Office Director
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Trivia Question: What are some of the minerals that can be found in brines from geothermal electricity production?
GTO's Latest
Funding Selections: FY22 AMMTO-GTO Lithium Extraction and Conversion from Geothermal Brines
GTO and the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Advanced Materials and Manufacturing (AMMTO) selected 10 projects to receive $10.9M to advance innovative technologies to extract and refine battery-grade lithium from geothermal brines across the country. These 10 projects across nine states will spur development of domestic lithium supply and refinement capacity for the lithium battery supply chain to meet the Administration’s goal of 50% electric vehicle adoption by 2030, which is part of the larger mission to decarbonize the U.S. energy grid and achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. Congrats to the selectees!
 Fervo VP of strategy Sarah Jewett addresses the group at Fervo Energy Tech Day. Credit: Tim Latimer, Fervo Energy
Fervo Energy Announces Breakthrough in Geothermal Energy
Fervo Energy recently presented findings from the company’s successful 30-day well test at its full-scale commercial EGS pilot in Nevada. Fervo has received GTO research funding for work on zonal isolation and through DOE’s Frontier Observatory for Research in Geothermal Energy (FORGE). As part of its FORGE R&D award, Fervo broke ground on its first greenfield development in southwest Utah, directly adjacent to FORGE, earlier this year.
GTO’s Acting Director Lauren Boyd, GTO's Douglas Blankenship, and DOE Special Advisor Jeff Marootian joined Fervo Energy and its research and industry partners for the inaugural Fervo Energy Technology Day in Houston to discuss the well test and its potential impacts on geothermal energy.
Read more about the findings: Bloomberg, Canary Media, CNBC, Popular Science, and EnGadget.
DOE Releases New Report on Anniversary of Inflation Reduction Act
Today, on the one-year anniversary of the Inflation Reduction Act, DOE’s Office of Policy published a new report, “Investing in American Energy: Significant Impacts of the Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law on the U.S. Energy Economy and Emissions Reductions,” which demonstrates how these two pieces of historic legislation are projected to rapidly reduce emissions, bolster our national security, and save American households and businesses billions of dollars on energy bills by 2030. Also today, DOE is releasing county-level data on energy employment in the United States, finding that energy jobs grew in nearly every county in 2022.
Biden-Harris Administration Opens Applications for States and Territories to Implement $8.5 Billion Home Energy Rebates
DOE is accepting applications for state and territory implementation of the $8.5 billion Home Energy Rebate programs. The two Home Energy Rebate programs, introduced and funded by President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, are flagship investments that pledge to cut energy costs and increase efficiency in American homes by making home energy upgrades more affordable. The published Administrative and Legal Requirements Document offers full federal guidance and instructions for states and territories to apply for their part of the Home Energy Rebate programs.
 Park Middle School in Nebraska. Credit: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Efficient and Healthy Schools Campaign Honors 17 School Districts for Upgrading Facility Health and Sustainability
DOE’s Efficient and Healthy Schools Campaign celebrated the achievements of 17 K-12 schools and districts that implemented exemplary projects to improve the energy and environmental performance of their school’s facilities. Schools were honored for upgrading facilities with technologies and practices that create healthy and more sustainable learning environments for students and staff and slash their facilities’ energy needs, carbon emissions, and utility bills.
Read about the schools, including Park Middle School in Nebraska where school leadership replaced the conventional air handling units with water source heat pumps and installed a geothermal wellfield.
Final Critical Materials Assessment Released
Last month, DOE’s AMMTO released the 2023 Critical Materials Assessment, which evaluated materials for their centrality to global clean energy technology supply chains. Based on the results of the Assessment, DOE has determined the 2023 DOE Critical Materials List of energy-specific critical and near-critical materials through 2035. In addition to informing DOE priorities, the DOE Critical Materials List will inform eligibility for tax credits under the Inflation Reduction Act 48C.
GTO’s Q3 Quarterly Webinar
View the slides and transcript from GTO’s latest Quarterly Webinar to hear about 2023 Q3 DOE and GTO news, funding opportunities, and project updates. Amidst the many announcements, GTO’s Jonathan Payne highlighted the ongoing work at FORGE, and our guest speaker, Paul C. Schwering from Sandia National Laboratories, shared an overview of GTO’s hidden systems project: Basin & Range Investigations for Developing Geothermal Energy (BRIDGE). GTO’s Alexis McKittrick also highlighted the 10 projects selected for the FY22 AMMTO-GTO Lithium Extraction and Conversion from Geothermal Brines.
Want tips for hosting your next webinar? Our host from GTO’s Q2 Quarterly Webinar—2022-23 American Association for the Advancement of Science & Technology Policy Fellow Sudeep Kanungo—discusses five takeaways from hosting the webinar in a recent blog.
Midwestern Governors Association (MGA) Geothermal Webinar
On July 18, 2023, MGA released a webinar detailing the untapped potential of geothermal energy in the midwestern region of the United States. Watch the webinar to hear from three special guests with diverse experiences and perspectives during the webinar: Dr. Andrew Stumpf from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Kathy Hannun from Dandelion Energy, and GTO’s very own Arlene Anderson.
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