{"id":9458,"date":"2026-04-15T23:58:52","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T23:58:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/2026\/04\/15\/geothermal-energy-turns-red-hot-mit-news\/"},"modified":"2026-04-15T23:58:52","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T23:58:52","slug":"geothermal-energy-turns-red-hot-mit-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/2026\/04\/15\/geothermal-energy-turns-red-hot-mit-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Geothermal energy turns red hot &#8211; MIT News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/web.mit.edu\/feedback\" class=\"tle-search--suggested-results--feedback--link\">Suggestions or feedback?<\/a><br \/>           <button class=\"news-article--images-gallery--nav--button news-article--images-gallery--nav--button--previous\"><svg class=\"arrow--point-west--slider\" data-name=\"Group 2041\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" xmlns:xlink=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/1999\/xlink\" width=\"0\" viewbox=\"0 0 16.621 30.183\">   <defs>     <clippath id=\"clip-path\">       <path id=\"Path_494\" data-name=\"Path 494\" d=\"M0-126.293H16.621V-96.11H0Z\" transform=\"translate(0 126.293)\" \/>     <\/clippath>   <\/defs>   <g id=\"Group_112\" data-name=\"Group 112\" clip-path=\"url(#clip-path)\">     <g id=\"Group_111\" data-name=\"Group 111\" transform=\"translate(0 0)\">       <path id=\"Path_493\" data-name=\"Path 493\" d=\"M-48.055-96.11a1.522,1.522,0,0,1-1.081-.448L-62.7-110.12a1.529,1.529,0,0,1,0-2.163l13.562-13.562a1.528,1.528,0,0,1,2.162,0,1.529,1.529,0,0,1,0,2.163L-59.454-111.2l12.48,12.48a1.529,1.529,0,0,1,0,2.163,1.524,1.524,0,0,1-1.081.448\" transform=\"translate(63.146 126.293)\" \/>     <\/g>   <\/g> <\/svg> <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Previous image<\/span><\/button>           <button class=\"news-article--images-gallery--nav--button news-article--images-gallery--nav--button--next\"><span class=\"visually-hidden\">Next image<\/span><svg class=\"arrow--point-east--slider\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" xmlns:xlink=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/1999\/xlink\" width=\"0\" viewbox=\"0 0 16.621 30.183\">   <defs>     <clippath id=\"clip-path\">       <path id=\"Path_496\" data-name=\"Path 496\" d=\"M0-126.293H16.621V-96.11H0Z\" transform=\"translate(0 126.293)\"\/>     <\/clippath>   <\/defs>   <g id=\"Group_2042\" data-name=\"Group 2042\" transform=\"translate(16.621 30.183) rotate(180)\">     <g id=\"Group_115\" data-name=\"Group 115\" clip-path=\"url(#clip-path)\">       <g id=\"Group_114\" data-name=\"Group 114\" transform=\"translate(0 0)\">         <path id=\"Path_495\" data-name=\"Path 495\" d=\"M-48.055-96.11a1.522,1.522,0,0,1-1.081-.448L-62.7-110.12a1.529,1.529,0,0,1,0-2.163l13.562-13.562a1.528,1.528,0,0,1,2.162,0,1.529,1.529,0,0,1,0,2.163L-59.454-111.2l12.48,12.48a1.529,1.529,0,0,1,0,2.163,1.524,1.524,0,0,1-1.081.448\" transform=\"translate(63.146 126.293)\" \/>       <\/g>     <\/g>   <\/g> <\/svg><\/button>         <br \/>Drill deep and drill differently. That\u2019s what\u2019s needed to exploit the nearly bottomless promise of geothermal energy in the United States and around the globe, according to participants at the 2026 Spring Symposium, titled \u201cNext-generation geothermal energy for firm power.\u201d&nbsp;<br \/>Sponsored by the MIT Energy Initiative (MITEI), the March 4 event drew 120 people, including MIT faculty and students, investors, and representatives from startups, multinational energy companies, and zero-carbon advocacy groups.<br \/>\u201cThe time feels right to pull together good policy, great corporate partners, and the research and technological innovations \u2026 to make significant advances in the widespread utilization of this incredible resource,\u201d said Karen Knutson, the vice president for government affairs at MIT, in welcoming attendees.<br \/>Technology from the oil and gas industry helped usher in a first wave of geothermal energy. But chewing vertical holes through rocks in traditional ways can\u2019t deliver on the full potential of this resource. And the real treasure \u2014 geologic formations radiating heat at 374 degrees Celsius and above \u2014 lies kilometers beneath Earth\u2019s surface, far beyond the reach of most conventional drilling rigs.<br \/>Panelists explored the many innovations in accessing and circulating subsurface heat, as well as digging to unprecedented depths through extremely challenging geological conditions, discussing advanced drilling technologies, materials, and subsurface imaging.<br \/>This work is needed urgently, as demand for firm (always-on) power skyrockets in response to the electrification of industry and rise of data centers, said Pablo Due\u00f1as\u2011Mart\u00ednez, a MITEI research scientist. \u201cWe cannot get through this only with solar and wind; we need dense, deployable energy like geothermal.\u201d<br \/><strong>From \u201cminuscule\u201d to \u201calmost inexhaustible\u201d energy<\/strong><br \/>In her opening remarks, Carolyn Ruppel, MITEI\u2019s deputy director of science and technology, noted that despite decades of successful projects in places like the United States, Kenya, Iceland, Indonesia, and Turkey, geothermal still contributes only a \u201cminuscule\u201d share of global electricity. \u201cThe tremendous heat beneath our feet remains largely untouched,\u201d she said.<br \/>Citing MIT\u2019s milestone 2006 study \u201cThe Future of Geothermal Energy,\u201d keynote speaker John McLennan, a professor at the University of Utah and co\u2013principal investigator of the U.S. Department of Energy\u2019s Utah FORGE enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) field laboratory, reminded attendees that the continental crust holds enough accessible heat to supply power for generations. \u201cFor practical purposes, it\u2019s almost inexhaustible,\u201d he said.<br \/>The question now, he said, is how to access that resource economically and responsibly.<br \/>At the Utah FORGE test site, McLennan has been part of a team&nbsp;investigating one method \u2014 adapting the oil and gas industry\u2019s drilling and reservoir engineering expertise for hot, relatively impermeable rocks.<br \/>The project has drilled multiple deep wells into crystalline granitic rock, including a pair of wells that have been hydraulically stimulated and connected. In a recent circulation test, cold water was pumped down one well, flowed through fractures, and returned hot through the other.<br \/>\u201cOn a commercial basis \u2026 this hot water would be converted to electricity at the surface,\u201d McLennan said. \u201cThis has now been demonstrated at Utah FORGE.\u201d<br \/>The basic physics, in other words, work. The harder problems now are cost, repeatability, and scale.<br \/><strong>Geothermal on the grid<\/strong><br \/>Several panels highlighted the fact that next-generation geothermal is already beginning to deliver firm power.<br \/>At Lightning Dock, New Mexico, geothermal company Zanskar used a probabilistic modeling framework that simulated thousands of possible subsurface configurations to identify where to drill a new production well at an underperforming geothermal field. By thermal power delivered, the resulting well is now \u201cthe most-productive pumped geothermal well in the country,\u201d said Joel Edwards, Zanskar\u2019s co-founder and chief technology officer \u2014 powering the entire 15 megawatt (MW) Lightning Dock plant from a single well.<br \/>This data-driven approach enables the company to find and develop new resources faster and more cheaply than traditional methods, said Edwards.<br \/>Jos\u00e9 Bona, the director of next-generation geothermal at Turboden, explained how his company\u2019s technology uses specialized turbines to circulate organic fluids that conserve heat better than water, and then convert that heat efficiently into electrical power. This closed-cycle technology can utilize low- to medium-temperature heat sources. Turboden is supplying its technology both to the Lightning Dock geothermal facility in New Mexcio and to Fervo Energy\u2019s Cape Station in southwest Utah, an EGS project that will begin delivering 100 MW of baseload, clean electricity to the grid this year, aiming for 500 MW by 2028.<br \/>In Geretsried, Germany, Eavor has developed its own proprietary closed-loop system by creating a kind of underground radiator.<br \/>\u201cWe drilled to about 4.5 kilometers vertical depth, completed six horizontal multilateral pairs, and we delivered the first power to the grid in December,\u201d said Christian Besoiu, the team lead of technology development at Eavor. The project will ultimately be capable of supplying 8.2 MW of electricity to the 32,000 households in the Bavarian town of Geretsried and 64 MW of thermal energy to the district in which the town lies, prioritizing heat when needed.<br \/><strong>Beyond oil and gas technology<\/strong><br \/>Early geothermal exploration typically targeted preexisting faults using vertical wells left by oil and gas drilling. Today, companies are experimenting with rock fracturing at multiple subsurface levels and creating heat reservoirs in previously untenable formations by using propping materials.<br \/>\u201cInstead of vertical wells, we\u2019re going to horizontal wells, we\u2019re going to cased wells, we\u2019re introducing proppants [solid materials that hold open hydraulically fractured rock] \u2026 we do dozens of stages with these designs,\u201d said Koenraad Beckers, the geothermal engineering lead at ResFrac. This shale-style approach has already yielded much higher flow rates and more-reliable performance than earlier EGS.<br \/>Some current geothermal wells manage to achieve depths close to 15,000 feet&nbsp;using the oil and gas industry\u2019s polycrystalline diamond compact drill bits, which can bore through hard rock like granite at more than 100 feet per hour. But these bits and the rigs that drive them are no match for conditions six or more kilometers down \u2014 and it is at those depths that the heat on hand begins to make an overwhelming economic case for geothermal.<br \/>\u201cIf we go to around 300 to 350 degrees, your power potential increases 10 times,\u201d said Lev Ring, CEO of Sage Geosystems. \u201cAt that point, with reasonable CAPEX [capital expenditure] assumptions, levelized cost of electricity [a metric for comparing the cost of electricity across different generation technologies] is around 4 cents, and geothermal becomes cheaper than any other alternative.\u201d<br \/>But \u201cat 10 kilometers down \u2026 the largest land rigs in existence today cannot handle it,\u201d Ring added. \u201cWe need alternatives \u2014 new materials, new ways to handle pressure, maybe even welding on the rig \u2026 a whole space that has not been addressed yet.\u201d<br \/>One panel, featuring Quaise Energy, an MIT spinout with MITEI roots, spotlighted just how radically drilling might change. Co-founder Matt Houde described the company\u2019s millimeter-wave drilling approach, which uses high-frequency electromagnetic waves derived from fusion research to vaporize rock instead of grinding it, as with conventional drilling. In a recent Texas field test, the team drilled 100 meters of hard basement rock in about a month, and is now planning kilometer-scale trials aimed at reaching superhot rock temperatures around 400 C, where each well could deliver many times the power of today\u2019s geothermal projects.<br \/><strong>Innovations for deep drilling<\/strong><br \/>Moderating a panel on \u201cMIT innovations for next-generation geothermal,\u201d Andrew Inglis, the venture builder in residence with MIT Proto Ventures, whose position is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy GEODE program, framed the Institute\u2019s role in getting such hard-tech ideas out of the lab and into the field. \u201cThe way MIT thinks about tech development, uniquely from other universities, can play a very singular role in geothermal commercial liftoff,\u201d he said.<br \/>Materials researchers on that panel illustrated the point. Mat\u011bj Pe\u010d, an associate professor of geophysics in the Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, outlined work to build sensors that survive up to 900 C so that rock deformation and fracturing can be studied at supercritical conditions. Michael Short, the Class of 1941 Professor in the Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering, and C. Cem Tasan, the POSCO Associate Professor of Metallurgy in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, respectively described coatings and alloys designed to resist corrosion, fouling, and cracking in extreme environments<strong>. <\/strong>In response to audience questions after their talks, Tasan made an important point, highlighting how academics need input from industry to understand the real-world problems (e.g., corrosion of pipes by geofluids) that require engineering solutions.<br \/>Other researchers are rethinking how to detect geothermal resources: Wanju Yuan, a research scientist with the Geological Survey of Canada at Natural Resources Canada, is using satellite imagery and thermal infrared sensing to screen vast regions for subtle hot spots and structures, processing thousands of images to identify promising sites in just a few months of work. \u201cIt\u2019s a very efficient way to screen potential areas before more expensive exploration, thus reducing exploration and drilling risks,\u201d he said.<br \/><strong>Policy as backdrop, not center stage<\/strong><br \/>Policy loomed in the background of many discussions \u2014 from bipartisan support for geothermal exploration and tax incentives to issues of regulation and permitting.<br \/>For Ruppel, that was by design.<br \/>\u201cWe wanted this meeting to showcase what\u2019s technically possible and what\u2019s already happening on the ground,\u201d she said. \u201cThe policy world is starting to pay attention. Our job is to make sure that when that spotlight turns our way, next-generation geothermal is ready.\u201d<br \/>MITEI\u2019s Spring Symposium was followed by a gathering of geothermal entrepreneurs, investors, and energy industry experts co-hosted by MITEI and the Clean Air Task Force. \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/energy.mit.edu\/news\/the-need-for-geothermal-funding-is-great-and-the-time-is-now-experts-say\/\">GeoTech Summit: Accelerating geothermal technology, projects, and deal flow<\/a>\u201d explored the financing challenges and opportunities of geothermal energy today.<br \/>     <button class=\"news-article--archives--nav--button news-article--archives--nav--button--previous\"><svg class=\"arrow--point-west--slider\" data-name=\"Group 2041\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" xmlns:xlink=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/1999\/xlink\" width=\"0\" viewbox=\"0 0 16.621 30.183\">   <defs>     <clippath id=\"clip-path\">       <path id=\"Path_494\" data-name=\"Path 494\" d=\"M0-126.293H16.621V-96.11H0Z\" transform=\"translate(0 126.293)\" \/>     <\/clippath>   <\/defs>   <g id=\"Group_112\" data-name=\"Group 112\" clip-path=\"url(#clip-path)\">     <g id=\"Group_111\" data-name=\"Group 111\" transform=\"translate(0 0)\">       <path id=\"Path_493\" data-name=\"Path 493\" d=\"M-48.055-96.11a1.522,1.522,0,0,1-1.081-.448L-62.7-110.12a1.529,1.529,0,0,1,0-2.163l13.562-13.562a1.528,1.528,0,0,1,2.162,0,1.529,1.529,0,0,1,0,2.163L-59.454-111.2l12.48,12.48a1.529,1.529,0,0,1,0,2.163,1.524,1.524,0,0,1-1.081.448\" transform=\"translate(63.146 126.293)\" \/>     <\/g>   <\/g> <\/svg> <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Previous item<\/span><\/button>     <button class=\"news-article--archives--nav--button news-article--archives--nav--button--next\"><span class=\"visually-hidden\">Next item<\/span><svg class=\"arrow--point-east--slider\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" xmlns:xlink=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/1999\/xlink\" width=\"0\" viewbox=\"0 0 16.621 30.183\">   <defs>     <clippath id=\"clip-path\">       <path id=\"Path_496\" data-name=\"Path 496\" d=\"M0-126.293H16.621V-96.11H0Z\" transform=\"translate(0 126.293)\"\/>     <\/clippath>   <\/defs>   <g id=\"Group_2042\" data-name=\"Group 2042\" transform=\"translate(16.621 30.183) rotate(180)\">     <g id=\"Group_115\" data-name=\"Group 115\" clip-path=\"url(#clip-path)\">       <g id=\"Group_114\" data-name=\"Group 114\" transform=\"translate(0 0)\">         <path id=\"Path_495\" data-name=\"Path 495\" d=\"M-48.055-96.11a1.522,1.522,0,0,1-1.081-.448L-62.7-110.12a1.529,1.529,0,0,1,0-2.163l13.562-13.562a1.528,1.528,0,0,1,2.162,0,1.529,1.529,0,0,1,0,2.163L-59.454-111.2l12.48,12.48a1.529,1.529,0,0,1,0,2.163,1.524,1.524,0,0,1-1.081.448\" transform=\"translate(63.146 126.293)\" \/>       <\/g>     <\/g>   <\/g> <\/svg><\/button>   <br \/>               <a href=\"\/2026\/mit-faculty-alumni-receive-american-physical-society-honors-0415\" class=\"news-article--recent-news--full-story-link\">Read full story<\/a> \u2192             <br \/>               <a href=\"\/2026\/multitasking-quantum-sensors-can-measure-several-properties-0415\" class=\"news-article--recent-news--full-story-link\">Read full story<\/a> \u2192             <br \/>               <a href=\"\/2026\/built-to-fly-brian-robinson-0415\" class=\"news-article--recent-news--full-story-link\">Read full story<\/a> \u2192             <br \/>               <a href=\"\/2026\/human-machine-teaming-dives-underwater-0414\" class=\"news-article--recent-news--full-story-link\">Read full story<\/a> \u2192             <br \/>               <a href=\"\/2026\/flying-edge-stratosphere-0414\" class=\"news-article--recent-news--full-story-link\">Read full story<\/a> \u2192             <br \/>               <a href=\"\/2026\/qa-mit-shass-and-future-of-education-age-ai-0414\" class=\"news-article--recent-news--full-story-link\">Read full story<\/a> \u2192             <br \/>This website is managed by the MIT News Office, part of the <a href=\"http:\/\/comms.mit.edu\" target=\"_blank\">Institute Office of Communications<\/a>.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/web.mit.edu\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"mit-name\">Massachusetts Institute of Technology<\/a><br \/>77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA, USA<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/rss\/articles\/CBMib0FVX3lxTE04cV94TWlnLVJkVWhSSGxTRHF6RGRGcU1vMXlrTWN6d3A4eS1uNzZBY1FDYmlKU2lUSUFUSTUzQ21QYnRzQV9nRFJoclNSNVJzS05tTzBJYkQ2LVo2c0w3TGF0LUIzSkFFM1BQd3Vraw?oc=5\">source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Suggestions or feedback? Previous image Next image Drill deep and drill differently. That\u2019s what\u2019s needed to exploit the nearly bottomless promise of geothermal energy in the United States and around the globe, according to participants at the 2026 Spring Symposium, titled \u201cNext-generation geothermal energy for firm power.\u201d&nbsp;Sponsored by the MIT Energy Initiative (MITEI), the March [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9459,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-9458","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9458","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9458"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9458\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9459"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9458"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9458"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9458"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}