Good things are happening! Accessing mental health care just got easier, a free tax-filing program is sweeping the nation, new union-busting safeguards are reaping results, and scientists look to the earth’s core to cool the planet.

Journey To The Center Of The Earth

Advances in next-generation geothermal energy have policymakers and investors excited about the tech’s promise of ​“clean, firm” power directly from within the earth’s crust — though barriers remain before it can be widely adopted. 

Clean, firm power — renewable energy that is not subject to the unreliability of cloudy or windless days — is especially important for cities, industrial centers, and data centers that need the sort of reliable energy that until now has largely come from fossil fuels. (Batteries have proved to be another important innovation, allowing the grid to store energy amid variable renewable energy inputs.)

Geothermal energy relies on a virtually unlimited and constant supply of heat coming from the earth’s core — and uses the heat to generate electricity without emissions. But in 2023, just 0.4 percent of total electricity generation in the U.S. came from geothermal sources. Wind power accounted for more than 10 percent, while hydropower generated nearly 6 percent and solar energy accounted for about 4 percent.