It's fracking marvelous: Geothermal set to Become Miracle new Energy Source

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Renewable energy faces delays, many of which are inevitable. In many cases, they need drawn-out regulatory approval, and building solar, wind and nuclear facilities takes huge sums of money.

Meanwhile, there is distribution, with some of those who build green energy projects needing to create their own grids. In others, they have to connect to existing grids, which are often overwhelmed.

And now there is another renewables source to add to the mix. New data show that geothermal energy, which has only been a small supplier of energy in the U.S., could quickly become a large one — and from an unexpected source, fracking, in which the warmth from the center of the Earth is used to drive electricity turbines.

According to the International Energy Agency, “Costs for next-generation geothermal could fall by 80 per cent by 2035,” or down to around $50 per megawatt-hour, making it competitive with other renewables.

Long delays
That may seem a long way off, but the build-outs of other alternatives are likely to take just as long. Wind energy is not favored because of the high cost of creating wind farms; solar energy is not popular because of worries about meltdowns and their effects on health; and the next generation of nuclear power is based on smaller reactors still in the early stages of testing.

Geothermal’s rise was largely unexpected, and its major impact on electricity generation will be the bridge to a much higher level of alternative energy production. If it works, its sudden emergence will be a miracle in an electricity-hungry country.