The U.S. Department of Energy has announced more than than $99 million (£74 million) for 21 projects selected to advance geothermal energy development across the United States.
This move comes as somewhat of a surprise, following Trump’s aversion to renewable energy and the majority of US states following suit due to reduced governmental funding and policy support.
Geothermal energy is considered a renewable energy source as it relies on the earth’s heat – unlike coal or oil, heat cannot be ‘used up’. The US is still the 2nd worst global polluter due to its heavy reliance on coal and oil – geothermal could help to reduce this.
The projects will advance geothermal development in two key areas. Five will conduct field-scale enhanced geothermal systems tests, while the remaining 16 will conduct exploration drilling to identify next-generation geothermal resources.
In an effort to give industry, researchers and other stakeholders access to information from the field tests, data generated from the projects will be publicly available to access.
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