Meta announced a new partnership this week in the hopes that geothermal energy can help it reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. Meta and startup Sage Geosystems struck up a deal to develop new geothermal power plants. If they make it to the finish line, the plants would provide carbon pollution-free energy that Meta needs for new data centers in the US.
The company has struggled to keep its carbon pollution down since it pledged in 2020 to reach net zero emissions by the end of the decade, its latest sustainability report published yesterday shows. The race to develop more powerful AI tools has raised the stakes, triggering the development of new energy-hungry data centers. So, Meta is putting its faith in next-generation geothermal tech to unlock a new source of clean energy. Meta is putting its faith in next-generation geothermal tech to unlock a new source of clean energy The announcement came out of a Department of Energy (DOE) workshop on Monday, showing the Biden administration’s hopes that geothermal energy can also help the US meet its climate goals under the Paris agreement.
“Every new next-generation geothermal project helps prove out these technologies and raise awareness about geothermal’s opportunities to provide firm, flexible power nationwide,” Lauren Boyd, director of the DOE’s Geothermal Technologies Office, said in an email to The Verge. The US hardly uses any geothermal energy today, which made up less than half a percent of the nation’s electricity mix last year. Typical geothermal plants take advantage of the heat that’s generated within our planet, drawing up hot fluids from natural reservoirs to produce steam that turns turbines. But relying on those natural reservoirs limits where you can build a geothermal plant.
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