With geothermal, the path to green energy runs underground
New York stands on the cusp of unprecedented growth. Projects such as Micron Technology’s $100 billion semiconductor manufacturing facility in the town of Clay, along with plans to triple the capacity at Globalfoundries Fab 8 campus in Malta, require massive amounts of new power. And growing energy demand is not limited to manufacturing: The rise of artificial intelligence heralds another energy hog that must be fed.
But while demand has skyrocketed, since 2004, New York’s power generation capacity shrank 13.5%, down to 36,894 megawatts from 42,647 MW.
The tenuous situation prompted the New York Independent System Operator, New York’s nonprofit grid operator, to warn of “growing risks to reliability on the grid, including: generator deactivations, extreme weather, uncertain demand trends due to electrification, and slow or delayed development of new generation resources.”
This underscores the urgent need for sustainable energy solutions that not only meet burgeoning demand but do so in a way that enhances reliability and curtails greenhouse gas emissions in compliance with New York’s climate laws.
A big part of the answer lies beneath our feet.
Thermal energy networks are an ambient temperature loop system that connects multiple buildings by using some variation of ground-source heat pumps, geothermal infrastructure, waste heat energy and utility-owned load balancing systems.
The U.S. Department of Energy recognizes geothermal as a clean-energy cousin of solar and wind. The difference is that geothermal can produce 100% reliable, renewable electricity 24 hours per day, seven days per week, regardless of weather conditions.
Geothermal systems work by moving heat energy from underground — as little as 10 feet below grade to several miles deep — to the surface. The heat energy comes in two forms, either steam or water, at temperatures ranging from 55 to 302 degrees Fahrenheit. The proverbial magic happens during the process of converting Earth’s fluids to water vapor.
Thermal energy networks can