§17193 General geothermal systems research and development

Summary

The Secretary of Energy must fund and run research and demonstration programs to make parts and systems that can survive geothermal conditions and to develop, produce, and monitor geothermal reservoirs and energy. The Secretary must also fund work to prevent or reduce harm from geothermal projects, study possible environmental effects (including induced earthquakes, water use, and impacts on groundwater and local hydrology), and compare those effects and benefits to the greenhouse gas reductions from geothermal energy. The Secretary must consult with other federal agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency, as much as practical. The Secretary must also fund research on reservoir thermal energy storage and on running geothermal plants more flexibly. The Department must start an effort with the Office of Fossil Energy, the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, and industry to adapt advanced oil-and-gas technologies for geothermal use, prioritizing tools that most cut cost and speed drilling and improve well construction. The Department must give financial help to projects that show how to coproduce critical minerals from geothermal brines; awards must make mineral removal cheaper, raise recovery rates, reduce water use and other environmental harms, and show a path to commercial use. The Secretary must look for joint programs with other energy systems, and, working with the Interior Department, set up a voluntary, industry-wide geothermal drilling data repository that works with countries that use a lot of geothermal energy and is integrated with the National Geothermal Data System.