At Cornell University in upstate New York, researchers are testing how a deep geothermal system might work away from the tectonic boundaries and volcanoes that have long defined where energy is viable.
By harnessing the planet’s internal heat, this project is called earth source heatCould supply fossil fuel-free heat to the 2,300-acre (931 ha) campus in Ithaca to help the university become carbon neutral by 2035.
“We’re developing tools that can make geothermal work where people are, rather than forcing people to go where the rocks are hot,” said project program manager Wayne Bezner Kerr.
If successful, it could serve as a blueprint for increasing geothermal heating in New York and the cold, densely populated northeastern United States. This would be a departure as traditional geothermal systems rely on underground reservoirs of naturally hot water, which largely limits development to the west of the country.
What makes the Cornell project different is that it is an enhanced geothermal system (EGS). It works by drilling deep into hot, hard rock, fracturing it, and circulating water through the cracks to capture the heat for energy.
This approach borrows heavily from the oil and gas techniques of horizontal drilling and fracking. However, unlike oil and gas fracking, Cornell’s deep geothermal system uses very low pressure, and researchers have said they will avoid using explosives and environmentally harmful substances to break up the rock.
And in addition to geographical benefits, these technological advances also have political benefits. Even under President Donald Trump, geothermal has largely escaped the polarization that besets other clean energies like wind and solar, which is good news for the potential scale.
Untapped potential of geothermal
Geothermal can be used to generate electricity and heat and cool buildings. The United States leads the world in installed geothermal capacity, with approximately 3.7 gigawatts. Yet it remains a marginal player with output from geothermal power plants Only 0.4% of the country’s total utility-scale electricity in 2023.
But according to Drew Nelson of Project InnerSpace, a nonprofit working to scale geothermal systems, it could become a “meaningful” part of the American mix within the next 25 years.
it chimes with a 2022 analysis It found that geothermal capacity could reach 90 gigawatts by 2050.
Most of the capacity comes from advanced geothermal systems. For example, in Utah, what is being called the world’s largest next-generation geothermal facility is under construction.
Developed by Farvo Energy, a Texas-based geothermal company, the Cape Station is expected to add 500 megawatts to the grid by 2028 – enough to power about 350,000 US homes annually.
The company previously completed a pilot project in Nevada. The 3.5 MW facility supplies power to the state grid and supports Google’s data centers and cloud region in the state.
Nelson described the application of oil and gas technologies in the geothermal sector as “a revolution” over the past few years. These technologies, he said, “make existing geothermal sites more efficient as well as open up vast new areas of the country to geothermal potential.”
Technological advancements in the geothermal sector are coinciding with the growing demand for clean, reliable energy that can help the U.S. meet skyrocketing demand, Nelson said. “Those two things are coming together nicely to create a potential market for geothermal at scale,” he said.
Political support for geothermal energy
Since returning to office in 2025, President Donald Trump has rolled back billions of funds for climate and clean energy investments, ordered a halt to work on wind projects, and pushed to expand domestic oil and gas drilling. But geothermal – especially next-generation technologies – continues to receive support from the administration.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright, the former CEO of oilfield services company Liberty Energy, which has invested in Fervo Energy, has publicly supported geothermal expansion. This year, the Department of Energy (DOE) launched 15 state initiative to accelerate geothermal deployment By setting state-level targets, improving resource mapping, reducing project costs and removing regulatory barriers.
DOE also recently announced $171.5 million funding (€145 million) for advanced geothermal projects, including field testing for power generation and exploratory drilling to identify promising sites.
And while the “One Big Beautiful Act” – a sweeping tax and spending package signed into law in July 2025 – rolled back some clean energy tax credits, it preserved incentives for geothermal heating and cooling.
“You look at President Trump’s policies and President Biden’s policies, there’s not a lot of overlap in their policies, but geothermal is in that overlap,” Nelson said. He said that one reason for this is its reliability.
“No matter what your political ideology, there is a realization that we need more of this,” he told DW.
beyond power generation
Electricity isn’t the only area where geothermal could have a big impact. At Cornell, Earth Source Heat researchers are focusing on using deep geothermal energy directly to power buildings rather than converting it into electricity first.
Wayne Bezner Kerr said, “If we were to use geothermal resources to meet our heat needs, we could convert it to electricity and then use that electricity to provide us with heat.”
Cornell is developing a system to deliver heat throughout the university. On the eastern side of the campus, it has already changed its heating network from steam to hot water, which is more efficient and allows new sources such as geothermal to be more easily integrated.
In 2022, with the support of a DOE grant, Cornell drilled an exploratory borehole approximately two miles deep beneath its campus. Although the Kerrs say the geothermal project is currently on hold amid changes in federal administration and policy direction, they are hopeful they will be able to secure new funding. The ultimate objective is to demonstrate that it can produce heat reliably over a long period of time.
Community model for geothermal energy
Meanwhile, in Hinesburg, a mixed-income housing development is being built around a shared geothermal heat pump system owned and operated by the utility Vermont Gas Systems. Instead of installing individual systems, homes in the town in the northeastern state of Vermont connect to a centralized network — similar to a natural gas line but carrying hot and cold water.
That model addresses one of geothermal’s biggest hurdles: upfront cost. “The upfront capital cost is prohibitive, so we’ve never been able to do a geothermal project,” said Amy Demetrowitz, chief operating officer of Champlain Housing Trust, an affordable housing developer involved in the project.
By shifting those costs to the utility, the system makes geothermal more accessible for affordable housing and large developments. “We need to build more affordable housing and then look at how we’re doing heating and cooling,” Demetrowitz said. “We want to make sure it’s an affordable source, and we’re really committed to decarbonizing our portfolio.”
Drew Nelson pointed out that the challenge of high initial cost can be improved with greater deployment. “The more projects you do, the more the risks can be understood and quantified and the more the costs can be reduced,” he said.
Edited by: Tamsin Walker