The United States, one of the world’s energy superpowers, produces more geothermal energy than any country. Out of seven states, California generated the most by far, about 70 percent of the total, with Nevada making up most of the rest. But that still amounted to less than 1 percent of the electricity generated by the country’s utilities that year, and analysts say that, like Japan, America could potentially build a lot more geothermal power.
Indonesia is another geothermal powerhouse, generating nearly as much geothermal energy as America does. And there, geothermal is a much bigger deal for the electric grid, making up about 5 percent of the country’s total electricity generation. In Iceland, a geothermal pioneer, geothermal plants generate a solid 25 percent of electricity. (When you add hydropower to the mix, renewables cover almost 100 percent of Iceland’s electricity needs.)
The Blue Lagoon, a geothermal spa in Iceland, with a power station in the background.Andrew Testa for The New York Times
More recently though, the symbol of geothermal success has been Kenya. Its Hell’s Gate National Park, whose rugged cliffs and vast plains inspired animators working on the 1994 Disney film “The Lion King,” has been the epicenter of a renewable energy revolution. In 2021, almost half of Kenya’s electricity came from geothermal, the highest share of any country in the world. On a good day, renewable energy makes up as much as 95 percent of Kenya’s grid power.
As in Japan, tapping geothermal energy has, at times, been contentious in Kenya. Indigenous rights groups have accused geothermal developers of land grabs and other abuses. Nature conservation groups worry about the damage that drilling geothermal wells thousands of feet into the ground could bring to the lions, leopards, buffalo and other wildlife in the park, in a biologically rich part of the Great Rift Valley.
Still, with one in two people still lacking access to electricity in sub-Saharan Africa, Kenya is an example of how a country can leapfrog polluting coal, oil and gas plants by building up its renewable energy capacity instead.
Not every country has geothermal potential — you need to be in a geological hot spot. About a 10th of the earth’s land surface is categorized that way. But, emerging technology to drill deeper into the earth’s surface could soon make more places suitable.
The International Energy Agency counts geothermal energy as an important part of a global push to reduce carbon emissions to net-zero by 2050, which scientists say is necessary to slow the worst consequences of climate change, from intensifying storms to deadly drought. Adequate funding for exploration and drilling will be critical to offset upfront costs, the I.E.A. says.
“All energy sources have their negatives,” Jacques Hymans, a global energy expert at the University of Southern California, told me. “But when you compare the negatives of geothermal to other energies, it seems like a good bet.
The Blue Lagoon, a geothermal spa in Iceland, with a power station in the background.Andrew Testa for The New York Times
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