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DOE tests fracking technology to create geothermal energy
The experiment at the FORGE laboratory aims to see whether geothermal can be tapped by applying fracking techniques, potentially expanding where the resource is usable.
OilPrice reports the Department of Energy is running tests focused on using fracking technology to help generate geothermal energy. The article says the current DOE is backing the effort through its FORGE laboratory, contrasting it with a broader policy environment that has reduced support for some other renewable energy sources.
Geothermal energy described in the piece is heat generated from the decay of radioactive elements in the Earth’s mantle. It notes that the potential energy is large, citing the Union of Concerned Scientists, which estimates there is far more energy at depth than the energy contained in all of the world’s oil and gas.
The article adds that tapping geothermal is difficult because drilling to deep heat sources is technologically challenging and expensive, which has historically limited practical use to places where heat is closer to the surface, such as Iceland. It frames the DOE test as an attempt to address that constraint by creating a pathway to the heat resource using fracking methods.
The story states the test will assess whether fracking can be used to produce geothermal energy anywhere in the world, but it does not provide results in the text provided.