United States Geothermal Support and the International Partnership for Geothermal Technology

Abstract

The geothermal industry in the United States currently enjoys an unprecedented level of support from Congress and President Obama’s Administration. The American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009 (The Recovery Act) allocated $400 million to the Department of Energy’s Geothermal Technologies Program. The allocation exemplifies the belief that geothermal energy is indispensible in improving the state of domestic energy in the U.S., as well as a commitment to grow and foster a strong geothermal industry. In addition to its domestic program, the U.S. is a member country, along with Iceland and Australia, in the International Partnership for Geothermal Technology (IPGT), an international collaboration of scientists, industry representatives, and geothermal experts. As of October, 2009, the IPGT Steering Committee narrowed the Partnership’s focus to six broad topic areas: lower-cost drilling, zonal isolation, high-temperature tools, stimulation procedures, modeling, and exploration technologies. The Steering Committee identified working group conveners for each topic, who are charged with building international working groups on the topic, developing authoritative white papers and research plans, and identifying potential areas for international collaboration. The IPGT stresses substantive, collaborative activities rather than focusing solely on information sharing in order to avoid blind alleys, limit unnecessary duplication, and accelerate the development of geothermal technologies.