The Ocean Geothermal Energy Foundation is advancing geothermal technology to stop greenhouse gas and climate change worldwide.
We develop and coordinate energy systems that harness natural, high-temperature, high-pressure geothermal resources used to generate electricity and clean hydrogen. Such cogeneration improves efficiency and enables renewable energy worldwide to eradicate pollution of the atmosphere and the oceans.
Supercritical geothermal replaces gas and coal.
Cleaner for the Environment, Cheaper for the Economy
Advances in technology enable us to reach vast amounts of very hot, high-pressure geothermal resources around the world, most of it under the ocean floors in areas far from oil or gas reservoirs. Such resources come on land in a few areas, such as Iceland and the Imperial Valley, where we can experiment with supercritical resources.
Balancing Electricity Supply and Demand
Geothermal’s Reliable “Baseload” Supply
Wind and solar vary in electrical output based on weather and time of day. Geothermal resources have a consistent output that can complement or replace other energy alternatives whenever needed. Geothermal energy that is not needed to balance the grid is used to produce hydrogen by electrolysis.
No Greenhouse Gas or Other Pollution
Over 90% of hydrogen production today also produces GHG and other pollution because it uses fossil fuels. Supercritical geothermal resources produce cheap electricity that can be used in electrolysis, with additional geothermal heat, to provide pure hydrogen as a less expensive and easy-to-transport energy source.
When water is supercritical (over 705°F and 218 atmospheres) its properties change dramatically and it is better than liquid water or steam for generating electricity and for electrolysis to produce hydrogen. Also, the greater amount of heat enables cogeneration, i.e. multiple uses of the heat, directly and for the generation of electricity, for greater efficiency. Moreover, geothermal fluid is returned to the reservoir following its uses. Geothermal is a very clean form of renewable energy, using a small surface area and having little effect on the surface ecology.
In the News
April 19, 2017, SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Geothermal-energy experts are meeting in Sacramento today to plot California’s energy future, with an eye on further developing what they say is a reliable, inexhaustible source of energy.