What:
The Supercritical Geothermal Research and Development Act (H.R. 8665) would amend the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 to direct research, development, demonstration and commercial application activities in support of supercritical geothermal and closed-loop geothermal systems in supercritical various conditions. The bill reauthorizes and expands the Frontier Observatory for Research in Geothermal Energy (FORGE) to include grants and testing of supercritical geothermal technologies. The bill establishes a Next-Generation Geothermal Center of Excellence to advance public private partnerships for enhanced geothermal energy technologies and directs the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Department of Interior (DOI) to improve discovery of the location of abundant geothermal resources.
Why it matters:
Super Hot Rock technology can unlock geothermal energy in a much wider range of geographic areas beyond the western U.S. These types of enhanced geothermal systems can reach deeper, supercritical environments, referred to as super hot rock energy. These systems require deep drilling technologies to gain access to dry rock at temperatures above 400°C. Deploying supercritical geothermal resources at scale can provide 24/7 clean reliable power to the grid and decarbonize high temperature industrial processes.
What’s next:
The supercritical R&D program at DOE would pioneer new materials and techniques that can withstand high temperature environments. Successfully developing these breakthrough technologies would offer the U.S. a competitive advantage in next generation geothermal technology that can be exported globally.
ORIGINAL SPONSOR
Rep. Frank D. Lucas
COSPONSOR
Rep. Andrea Salinas
SUPPORT
ClearPath Action
CONGRESS.GOV LINK:
H.R. 8665
PRINTABLE SUMMARY:
Printable summary of H.R. 8665