Replies to post #86197 on Tesla Inc (TSLA)

[boston745]

Oil industry could help the Biden administration tap 'invisible' green energy

BOISE, Idaho — A U.S. Department of Energy report this spring made a bold prediction.

The nascent geothermal industry, it said, has a ready workforce of 300,000 engineers, hydrologists, drillers and power plant operators ready to tap right here in this country.

All that's needed are more early adopters like Tina Riley who are willing to move over from the oil and gas sector. After two decades as a geologist with ExxonMobil in Houston, she recently moved to Idaho to help run Boise's geothermal utility.

"Boise is really well known for geothermal and I wanted to become part of it," Riley says. "I really wanted to be part of the energy transition."

Geothermal energy, which in its simplest form means tapping hot water locked in granite faults sometimes thousands of feet below the surface of the earth to create heat or electricity, is often dubbed an invisible technology. It's long been seen as underutilized. But it's also a hugely expensive renewable resource to extract compared to more conventional drilling.

This is the best form of sustainable energy generation. It provides 24/7 baseline power, doesnt require batteries, and has heat as a byproduct that can be used for heating/cooling purposes. Rain, snow, night, windless, this produces power with little pollution. Especially if it can utilize retired oil wells.

https://www.npr.org/2024/05/08/1249816301/oil-industry-could-help-the-biden-administration-tap-invisible-green-energy