A New Method for Geothermal Energy Is Tested in Utah

Writing in the journal Science, Warren Cornwall notes a new method of extracting energy from geothermal sources is being tested in the Escalante Desert near Milford, Utah. Dubbed FORGE (Frontier Observatory for Research in Geothermal Energy), it’s a $218 million project partially funded by the U.S. Department of Energy aimed at extracting renewable energy from hot dry rock nearly two miles underground. Most conventional geothermal power plants rely on already hot groundwater and thermal springs existing near the Earth’s surface to drive turbines.

e idea with FORGE is to pump water deep down to intensely hot dry rocks then channel that same water upward to generate electricity above ground. Sound simple? It’s not! People have been trying various methods of this process for 45 years, nearly all without success. In most cases, the water disappeared into unseen fractures and faults, never to resurface. In the worst cases, the process set o¢ earthquakes!

Advances have come thanks to the oil and gas industry’s techniques of fracking and drilling methods that allow for both horizontal and vertical drilling. e result has been “Enhanced Geothermal Systems,” or EGS. e ultimate test of EGS is now occurring in the Utah desert with FORGE. Many private sector companies are keeping an eye on it to see if EGS may become an economically viable alternative as a renewable source for electricity.