The challenges posed by fluctuating energy prices and the costs of power consumption during a period of economic instability have many organizations, including the United States government, exploring opportunities in renewable energy sourcing. While some alternatives seem impractical, certain emerging industries, such as geothermal energy production, seem primed to provide both innovative and profitable opportunities for the near future.

Due to recent advancements, geothermal power is gaining ground within the renewable energy sector.

According to a December report from the Geothermal Energy Association (GEA), 144 new geothermal plants are currently under development in the U.S., with the potential to provide an additional 7,000 megawatts (MW) of energy over the next few years. This increase brings the industry closer to the prospect of 10 gigawatts (GW) of geothermal power a year, enough to meet the energy needs of 10 million people while retaining significant growth potential for further development.

The geothermal industry grew through the economic recession, adding 750 direct new jobs and 2,827 construction-related jobs in 2009 thanks to a total of $800 million in new geothermal technology investments. Six additional plants also came online last year, increasing power capacity by 6 percent.

Part of the appeal of geothermal energy production, which uses wells to pump hot underground steam and water to the surface to drive electricity-generating turbines, is its relative efficiency in land usage. Coal and nuclear power plants use less land over their lifetimes than most renewable energy sources, including solar and wind technologies, but geothermal compares favorably in terms of territory requirements.

"Out of the renewable technologies, geothermal is a very compact way to generate energy. But it is one that's often missed in the discussion of renewables," Robert McDonald, a researcher at the Nature Conservancy's Emerging Strategies Division, told the New York Times.

Unlike solar and wind power technologies, geothermal systems can also generate continuous baseload power that is not dependent on external factors such as wind currents or sunlight, making them theoretically more stable in producing an uninterrupted supply of electricity.

New technological advances are driving much of the current growth in the geothermal market.

"Geothermal companies are developing new technologies that allow lower-temperature water in the earth's core to be turned into geothermal energy," the Wall Street Journal's Environmental Capital blog notes. "That makes development possible in more place[s], putting states such as Texas, Mississippi and Louisiana on the map in addition to traditional geothermal heartlands such as California."

Concern over the quantities of water being pumped to power geothermal turbines, which is a major issue in the more arid regions of the U.S., is being addressed through new binary cycle designs that apply air cooling to condense and recycle water drawn from underground reservoirs, reducing water depletion, the Times reports.

Another significant advance involves the engineered geothermal system (EGS), which, unlike conventional geothermal technology that taps into natural hot water deposits, heats the water itself by circulating it through underground rock. Because it relies on common types of subterranean rocks, this process raises the possibility of implementing continuous geothermal energy generation nearly anywhere on Earth, New Scientist reports.

According to New Scientist, this technology may benefit from traditional drilling endeavors, as the "search for fossil fuels is spurring the development of faster, cheaper ways to drill very deep wells into very hot rocks, just the sort of technology that is needed to ensure that EGS becomes economically viable."

Technological innovation is likely to continue expanding the geothermal energy market, as research and development (R&D) efforts in geothermal tech are growing at a rapid pace. According to a separate report from the GEA, the U.S. Department of Energy in November pledged $338 million in funding for geothermal R&D.

"Geothermal's potential, thanks to advanced technologies, could be huge," Environmental Capital reports. "The U.S. Geological Survey notes about 6,000 megawatts of discovered geothermal supplies (that's like six nuclear power plants), with undiscovered potential between 8,000 and 73,000 megawatts. New technology could — theoretically — open the door to a whopping 800,000 megawatts."

As geothermal energy production approaches a pivotal point in its development and implementation, we can expect to see many more opportunities arising for manufacturers, engineers and the scientific community in the business of "mining heat."

Resources

Geothermal Energy on Launch Trajectory in 2009
Geothermal Energy Association, Dec. 14, 2009

Geothermal Advocates Tout Plants' Smaller Environmental Footprint
by Phil Taylor
The New York Times, Jan. 21, 2010

Boiling Point: High Hopes for Geothermal Energy
by Paul Glader
Environmental Capital Blog (The Wall Street Journal), Jan. 14, 2010

Who Needs Coal When You Can Mine Earth's Deep Heat?
by Rachel Nowak
New Scientist, July 17, 2008

New Report Examines R&D Needs in Geothermal Exploration and Drilling
Geothermal Energy Association, Dec. 11, 2009