By Rob Klenner, President, GreeenFire Energy
GreenFire Energy was proud to participate in this year’s Climate Week, joining the Geothermal House to discuss the future of renewable energy with leaders from investment, politics, technology, and geothermal sectors. The message was clear: geothermal energy is here, and it’s time to elevate it to the next level.
Geothermal’s Moment: The Future is Now
A recurring theme was the undeniable potential of geothermal energy as a critical player in the global energy transition. Jeremy Grantham, a respected investor and environmental advocate, highlighted the urgency for investment and innovation, stating, “If we can take growing amounts of talent, and maybe one day, capital, it’s extremely likely that we’ll be able to tap into 24-hour geothermal.” His words underscored the need for more investment and innovation to unlock geothermal’s promise of clean baseload power.
Environmental advocate Steve Roest echoed this urgency with his bold remark, “Drill, baby, drill—it’s all about geothermal.” This sentiment, coming from a self-identified radical environmentalist, emphasized the growing recognition that geothermal energy will play a critical role in the energy transition. It also underscores that we stand to benefit from the body of subsurface knowledge that the oil and gas industry has built over the last 100 years.
Discussions throughout the event highlighted the need for bipartisan cooperation, expanding into emerging markets like India, and meeting the rising demand for 24/7 reliable power in sectors such as data centers and healthcare. Geothermal is a crucial piece of the global clean energy puzzle and the 3rd leg of the renewable stool–sun, wind, and rock.
Bridging Geothermal and Oil & Gas Expertise
GreenFire Energy’s President, Rob Klenner, participated in a panel discussion with Sarah Jewett from Fervo Energy and Jim Grant from Project InnerSpace that centered on how the oil and gas industry’s knowledge and talent can support the growth of geothermal energy. Rob emphasized the transferable engineering skills that can be applied to geothermal projects, saying, “There are many ways to extract hydrocarbons, and those same principles can be used to harness geothermal energy.”
The panel agreed that oil and gas expertise in subsurface knowledge, project management, and risk reduction were critical to geothermal growth. Rob also pointed out the rising demand for secure, reliable power in sectors like data centers and military bases, where geothermal can play a pivotal role.
A Call for Collaboration
The overarching takeaway from Climate Week was that collaboration is required to move renewables to a place of scale. The energy transition will take authentic, committed, cross-partisan work–the kind of work Americans are used to rolling up their sleeves and doing.
Whether it’s between engineers and policymakers or across industries and countries, collaboration will be essential to unlocking geothermal’s full potential. “It’s not just about technology; it’s about genuine collaboration,” Rob noted. We need to bring all stakeholders together to push geothermal forward. Oil and gas expertise are absolutely part of the solution.”
Missed Us at Climate Week?
If you couldn’t attend the event, you can still experience the energy! Check out our geothermal-inspired Spotify playlist and stay connected as we continue to lead the charge in bringing reliable, sustainable geothermal power to the world.
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