The Future is Here: Geothermal and Critical Materials

With a focus on the future of energy, this year’s opening panel at the Yale Clean Energy Conference began with a discussion of First-of-a-kind (FOAK) technologies. As wind and solar face increasing opposition, the conference highlighted the growing role and importance of less established green generation. At the center of these conversations were enhanced geothermal and critical material dependence. 

Speaking to the importance of geothermal, the panel featured Brightcore Energy President, Mike Richter, and Fervo Energy Chief of Staff, Nour Ghadanfar. However, while both companies rely on geothermal energy, they focus on two distinct segments of the market. 

Brightcore assists with full building decarbonization for commercial and industrial clients by offering a suite of technologies such as energy efficient measures, solar panels, and most importantly, heat pumps. As Richter notes “it’s generally estimated that 55% of a building’s emissions come from HVAC systems”. While heat pumps have been around for a long time, Brightcore’s customized solutions and capacity to retrofit existing buildings are driving a set of bespoke projects. The capacity for retrofitting is especially important in regions with a large historic building stock like the Northeast. For example, Brightcore is currently leading the drilling of Yale’s Science Hill borefield, which is needed for the future construction of a central thermal utilities plant. The borefield will be composed of 212 wells and is 60% smaller than what would be standard for a field of its heat yield—what would normally require a rugby field of surface area becomes a bowling lane.  

At a larger scale, Fervo constructs centralized enhanced geothermal plants to generate electricity. Building off technology from the shale revolution, Fervo employs multi-directional drilling and fiber optic cables to extract more heat consistently than traditional geothermal systems across a wider geography. With a fully operational demo plant constructed in partnership with Google in Neveda and an additional 400 MW in Utah in the pipeline over the next three years, demand for this net-zero baseload generation is strong. However, like many energy technologies, geothermal relies on critical materials to scale. This is where Nth Cycle comes in. 

Allie Wiegel, Chief of Staff at Nth Cycle, discussed how the company uses small scale modular systems that can extract metals from a variety of feedstocks via a patented electro-chemical process. These extractive modules are known as “Oysters”. Nth cycle focuses on addressing the critical materials challenge undermining clean energy deployment. These critical materials—like graphite, cobalt, copper, graphite, etc.—are concentrated in a few countries around the world, yet China dominates the processing of these primary materials. Additionally, current refining facilities are extremely large, capital-intensive, carbon-intensive, and often inflexible. This is where Nth cycle offers a solution— “Oysters” are small, adaptable to many feedstocks, and don’t rely on high heat from fossil fuels.  

Regardless of the specific solution, panelists revealed three takeaways for developing First-of-a-kind (FOAK) technologies. 

1. Success hinges on your ability to build strong partnerships and educate stakeholders. All three panelists referred to education as a core component of their work. Developing FOAKs means convincing local communities, utilities, regulators, investors, etc. that your project is worth the risk. As Richter notes, “people don’t ask for solutions to problems which they don’t know exist,” and partnerships are more of “a marriage” than a one-off collaboration. FOAKs often require multiple iterations with consistent communication between partners, and these strong partnerships are then often leveraged to scale. 

2. Workforce development is a long-term, required investment. As novel projects, expertise in these technologies may be limited. As Ghadanfar shared, “roughly 60% of Fervo formerly worked in oil and gas” and the need for this expertise informed the company’s re-location to Houston. Moreover, it can take “five years to become a master driller,” noted Richter, indicating that workforce development requires a multi-year investment, which in turn requires strong local partnerships to source and train local talent.  

3. Deploying FOAKs means working fast without a playbook. Part of the allure of working with FOAK technologies, noted panelists, was the speed at which decisions are made. Working in small teams to solve emerging issues means action can occur quickly without an established pathway for success. While challenging, this is what all the panelists enjoy most about their work.  

The panel also discussed common challenges to scaling. Regulation, price, and trade volatility all interact to undermine confidence and heighten risk of materially intensive projects. Time horizons are often tight, and the implications of delays can undermine foundational partnerships. However, despite these challenges companies like Fervo, Brightcore, and Nth Cycle are leading the charge and making it a little easier for the next generation of clean technologies.