Meta and Google are digging deep to power their energy-hungry data centers, exploring new drilling techniques that will allow them to tap into vast amounts of geothermal power right beneath our feet.
As The New York Times reported, big tech companies are facing an energy crunch, as the AI boom is fueling skyrocketing demand for cheap, abundant electricity. While some tech giants have turned to wind and solar power to meet soaring energy needs, they can't generate electricity in certain weather conditions.
However, geothermal energy can essentially run 24/7 since heat from the Earth's core is always available, making it an ideal solution.
Meta is taking it one step further with a plan to harness up to 150 megawatts of heat energy — enough to power around 70,000 homes — using an innovative method to tap into this inexhaustible power source.
Per The Times, it has partnered with geothermal startup Sage Geosystems to harvest the heat to produce clean electricity, using fracking techniques similar to the oil and gas industries.
However, instead of extracting dirty, polluting fuels, Sage will be drilling for renewable thermal energy. As fractures are created deep below the Earth, water is pumped underground and heats up as it passes through small cracks. The hot water is then pumped back up to power turbines that produce pollution-free electricity.
According to a Sage press release, the project "would be the first use of next-generation geothermal power east of the Rocky Mountains" — although the company didn't disclose an exact location. Sage and Meta expect the first phase of the groundbreaking project to launch in 2027.
Google has also started tapping into geothermal power by teaming up with Fervo Energy, another geothermal startup, to construct Project Red — a 5 MW pilot project in northern Nevada helping to decarbonize Google's data centers.
Google recently announced it has expanded the partnership to bring an additional 115 MW of geothermal power to Nevada's grid, contributing to its goal of running its data centers and offices on 100% green energy by 2030.
While geothermal accounts for less than 1% of America's energy mix, that's expected to increase drastically as green technologies advance.
Iceland, which has capitalized on geothermal at a large scale for decades with its volcanic activity under large parts of the country, has continued to innovate in the area in recent years, but proximity to a volcano is not necessary to harness the Earth's power.
A Department of Energy report found that geothermal energy production could reach 90,000 gigawatts or more by 2050, unlocking plenty of cheap, clean energy for businesses and households.
"Geothermal has such enormous potential," Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said at an energy conference in March.
"We're going to need every tool in the arsenal," Michelle Solomon, a senior policy analyst at the nonprofit Energy Innovation, told The Times. "In the near term, enhanced geothermal might play a relatively small role, but I feel very optimistic about where the technology is going."
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