The top pros and cons of geothermal energy

There are many considerations that come with geothermal power. Even as a renewable energy Ultra Geothermal source, it is important to weigh the pros and cons of geothermal energy to better understand how it can fit into the greater energy mix.

On the pros side, geothermal energy is a reliable source of power that has a small land footprint compared to other renewable sources; it can be harnessed at both large and small scales, the industry is expanding, and its infrastructure is long-lasting. On the cons side, geothermal power plants can only be built in certain locations, they are often expensive to build at first and can cause surface instability and earthquakes.

Below, we’ll explore these pros and cons in further detail.

Here are five important advantages of geothermal energy:

Reliable source of power

Small land footprint

Usable for large and small-scale installations

The geothermal energy industry is expanding

Geothermal infrastructure has longevity

Geothermal energy is a very reliable source of power
One of the most significant advantages of geothermal energy is that geothermal power is a very predictable and reliable source of energy, especially in comparison to other renewable energy resources like wind energy and solar energy. While wind and solar are more intermittent sources that require energy storage in order to be used most effectively at a large scale, geothermal power plants have a generally consistent power output no matter the time of day or season. This has many positive implications, notably that geothermal power is an appropriate source for meeting baseload energy demand.

Geothermal power plants have a small land footprint
Another advantage of geothermal power plants over other large-scale wind power, solar energy, or hydroelectric installations is the relatively low footprint of a geothermal plant. This is because, unlike wind, solar, and hydropower, geothermal energy comes from within the earth, and we don’t need to build out collection setups over large swaths of land surface to harness it. For reference, National Geographic estimates that a geothermal power plant capable of producing one gigawatt-hour (GWh) of electricity would take up approximately 404 square miles of land surface, while a wind farm at the same energy output would need about 1,335 square miles, and a solar farm would need about 2,340 square miles. That’s 88 percent less space for a geothermal power plant compared to a solar farm, both sized at one GWh.

There are large-scale and small-scale applications for geothermal power
Geothermal energy isn’t just for large power plants; in fact, one of the most efficient ways to use heat from the earth is to harness it with a geothermal heat pump for a residential or commercial building. Unlike geothermal power plants, geothermal heat pumps take advantage of low-temperature geothermal reservoirs, which are available just about everywhere.

The geothermal energy industry is expanding quickly
The geothermal energy industry is relatively young, expanding with new technologies, research and development, and an influx of new projects. These enhancements to the industry are making geothermal energy more accessible, efficient, and applicable to a wider variety of use cases.

For example, a recent advancement in the geothermal energy extracting process, Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS), has made it possible to access deeper hydrothermal reservoirs. Hydrothermal reservoirs are where geothermal energy naturally occurs under the earth’s surface, and the deeper the reservoir, the less heat and steam actually make it to the surface. EGSs create more open flow channels for steam to rise by fracturing rock with high-speed water. Ultimately, this makes extracting geothermal energy from deeper reservoirs more feasible.