Geothermal energy for baseload power

We need qa mix of green power sources. Here’s why geothermal, often overlooked, is most important.

Lots of us quit counting renewable energy sources after naming wind and solar and while those are two good ones, they’re far from alone. Hydropower, using dams to drive generators has been with us so long that we often overlook its contribution to the overall energy mix. A record 4,185 terawatt hours (TWh) in electricity was generated from hydropower in 2017, according to the 2018 Hydropower Status Report, from the International Hydropower Association.

Renewables made up 17.1 percent of all US power generation in 2017 but without hydropower that percentage drops to 9.6 percent. So, hydropower is a big deal. Can it go bigger? Probably not. Consider that most of the available rivers have been dammed already and then consider that the political climate is not in favor of more dams and then add to that the reality that climate change is responsible for a significant decline in the amount of water behind existing dams and you have a recipe for not adding significantly to the hydro power profile.

Enter geothermal

Geothermal power generation is another form of renewable energy generation and it might be the 21stcentury equivalent of hydropower. The two have in common a source that’s really close to…