A Googol of Heat Beneath Our Feet

The energy from the heat beneath the earth's surface is essentially an unlimited resource. What if it could be developed to help solve our energy challenges and fight global warming? Enhanced Geothermal Systems, or EGS, attempts to do just that. EGS produces heat and electricity by harnessing the energy from hot rock deep below the earth's surface, expanding the potential of traditional geothermal energy by orders of magnitude. EGS is a big challenge, but with the potential to power the world many times over, it demands our immediate attention. At Google we've launched an effort to advance EGS through R&D, investment, policy and information.

U.S. Geothermal Resource (3-10km depth)

 Open in Google Earth (672 KB - last updated: 8/19/08)


For more information on EGS policy solutions, please see our policy brief (PDF, 150KB).

Google.org has made the following grants and investments to help advance EGS:

  • Potter Drilling: $4 million investment in two tranches focused on developing breakthrough hard rock drilling technologies for EGS.
  • AltaRock Energy, Inc: $6.25 million investment in EGS technologies and project development to support the advancement of enhanced geothermal systems. 
  • Southern Methodist University Geothermal Lab: $489,521 grant to improve geothermal resource assessment techniques and update the Geothermal Map of North America.

For a complete list of Google.org partners, please see our Grants & Investments Page. 

3D Model and Animation of the Cooper Basin EGS Project

Video: An animation of the 50 MW Habanero EGS system, under development in Australia's Cooper Basin. The 3-D models featured are available for download below and can be viewed in Google SketchUp:

 Habanero Enhanced Geothermal System (zipped, 2.5MB)
 Deep Drill Rig (zipped, 2.7MB)
 50 MW Power Plant (zipped, 4.7MB)



Video: Intro to Enhanced Geothermal Systems