For a source of energy that doesn't contribute to climate change, humans are going to have to dig deep. Dr. Rebecca Pearce and the Cascade Institute at Royal Roads University are digging ultradeep.
Pearce is the research lead on the institute's Ultradeep Geothermal Program, which is tackling climate change by examining the technical, financial, social and political challenges facing implementation of geothermal electricity and heat production.
The goal, Pearce says, is to accelerate the development of ultradeep geothermal energy, which creates heat-exchange reservoirs in hot, dry rock more than five kilometres below Earth's surface, with resulting steam moving turbines to produce electricity. She notes geothermal power plants could be built nearly anywhere on Earth, would have a tiny surface footprint and provide an essentially inexhaustible supply of net-zero power.
"Once you figure out how to extract the heat and how to get down economically to five kilometres, then you can put them anywhere, and then you have this resource of both heat and electricity," says Pearce, who has long had a fascination with the Earth and is passionate about addressing the climate crisis.
Pearce notes that work is being done around the globe to advance geothermal energy development but Canada lags behind because of lack of investment due to concerns about risk.
She and the Cascade Institute team are looking to expand beyond the hard science behind geothermal energy to develop de-risking strategies to encourage investment, examine potential government incentives and activate this nascent industry.
Early philanthropic support of the Ultradeep Geothermal Research Program was critical to its launch. In early 2024, the program received over $3 million in funding from the Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment, Founders Pledge's Climate Change Fund and Rethink Charity Foundation's RC Forward Climate Change Fund donors to establish Cascade Institute as a Canadian research hub.
Says Pearce: "The funding enables us to hire highly specialized, very brilliant people who are involved in geothermal and energy systems transformation, and you have this location and this mandate to bridge between industry, academics and policy."
Indeed, researchers will provide timely research and analysis to guide technology companies, investors and public sector agencies. The hope, Pearce says, is to have multiple demonstration projects running within five years.
To learn more, visit cascadeinstitute.org.
Article reprinted from Royal Roads University Foundation Annual Report 2023-2024.
