DiscoverThe Climate QuestionWhy don’t we use more geothermal energy?
Why don’t we use more geothermal energy?

Why don’t we use more geothermal energy?

Update: 2024-10-07
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Geothermal energy is renewable, reliable and powerful. So, why is most of it untapped?

That’s what our listener, Anna in the UK, wants to know. Full disclosure, she’s a geologist and is thoroughly perplexed by the lack of uptake. Geothermal is renewable, reliable and abundant and yet, less than 1% of the world’s energy is generated from it.

Host Graihagh Jackson hears about a team in Iceland who hope to "super-charge" geothermal power by drilling directly into volcanic magma. And she travels to Germany to visit Vulcan Energy, a company which is combining geothermal with extracting one of the world's most sought-after metals: Lithium. Plus, our reporter in Indonesia tells Graihagh about local opposition to some geothermal power plants.

Got a question you’d like answered? Email: TheClimateQuestion@bbc.com or WhatsApp: +44 8000 321 721

Host: Graihagh Jackson
Reporter in Indonesia: Johanes Hutabarat
Producer: Osman Iqbal
Sound Mix: James Beard
Editor: Simon Watts

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Why don’t we use more geothermal energy?

Why don’t we use more geothermal energy?

BBC World Service