Geothermal Energy

ChatGPT generated this image to symbolize capital flight: a business traveler carrying a U.S.-flagged briefcase boards a plane marked with the EU flag, illustrating the shift of investment from America to Europe due to clean energy policy uncertainty

America Closed For Business: Bill Rolling Back IRA Provisions Will Slash Investment

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), enacted in 2022, marked a seismic shift in U.S. industrial and energy policy, promising clarity and stability to a previously fragmented clean energy landscape. It introduced comprehensive, decade-spanning incentives designed to catalyze investments across renewables, hydrogen hubs, electric vehicles, and domestic manufacturing. Almost immediately, this … [continued]

ChatGPT generated landscape artistic view of a hospital, brewery, and industrial facility connected to a moderate-depth geothermal heat network

Busting Geothermal Myths: The Promise & Limits of Deep Closed Loop & Enhanced Systems

Recently, I had the opportunity to sit down Simon Todd, PhD geologist, founder of Causeway Energies, and expert on geothermal. This is the transcript of the second half of our conversation, lightly edited. Michael Barnard [MB]: Hi, welcome back to Redefining Energy — Tech. This episode is powered by TFIE … [continued]

ChatGPT generated time-split panorama: sepia-tinted 1929 on the left (Ardnacrusha workers building the dam), glossy 2025 on the right (technicians installing grid-scale batteries and offshore cables)

Ireland’s Ardnacrusha Moment, Again: A Blueprint for Full Electrification

In recent months I’ve been assisting with strategy for a couple of emerging European NGOs on key decarbonization acceleration approaches, and one of the key participants asked me an interesting question this morning. This piece answers the question. The first NGO is Supergrid Europe, a Brussels-based organization which will be … [continued]

ChatGPT generated panoramic image of Airport Geothermal Use: A winter runway with inset showing heat storage aquifer beneath it and arrows showing seasonal heat injection and extraction.

Jane Austen, Directional Drilling & Dublin: Geothermal Lessons With Simon Todd

Recently, I had the opportunity to sit down with Simon Todd, PhD, geologist, expert in geothermal, founder of Causeway Energies, and Irishman, not necessarily in that order, to talk all aspects of geothermal. Despite being often far underground, it’s having a moment in the sun right now, hence a recent … [continued]

ChatGPT generated: A 2000:1000 cutaway illustration of geothermal piping systems, showing underground infrastructure including looping heat pumps, vertical boreholes, and district heating networks beneath a grassy surface

Geothermal’s Moment—and Its Messengers, Mirages, and Models

The geothermal series is done, and if you’ve been following along, you’ll know it’s been a mix of cautious optimism, heavy sighs, and the occasional full-body cringe at some of the more outlandish claims. Geothermal is, at long last, getting a bit of attention—but, as always, when something is “having … [continued]

ChatGPT generated panoramic dramatic conceptual graphic depicting data center racks above ground, connected to cooling loops extending deep underground, clearly illustrating the geothermal principle

Can Geothermal Cooling Tame Data Centers’ Energy Appetite?

The world is increasingly run by data centers — huge, anonymous buildings that gobble up electricity and belch heat like angry dragons. Each click, stream, or swipe piles up more data in racks upon racks of humming servers. Yet few people realize just how thirsty these data dragons really are. … [continued]