THE PATH FORWARD: UPDATED AND BRAND-NEW NATIONAL GEOTHERMAL ENERGY ASSESSMENTS FOR THE USA (Invited Presentation)

The U.S. Energy Act of 2020 mandates the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to update the 2008 geothermal resource assessment and produce maps of five geothermal resource types for the entire U.S.: 1) conventional hydrothermal, 2) enhanced geothermal systems (EGS), 3) low-temperature resources, 4) underground thermal energy storage (UTES), and 5) co-produced geothermal energy with minerals. These new mandates can be tied to the 2019 U.S. Department of Energy GeoVision Report that provides estimates of many of these resource types and a roadmap to increased geothermal energy utilization by 2050. Herein, we describe each resource type, identifying additional resources that are not listed by the Energy Act or that are substantially underestimated by GeoVision. We will summarize the status and early results of current USGS efforts, specifically: a) recent applications of machine learning for updating the Great Basin conventional and EGS assessments; b) collaboration with international partners to rapidly develop low-temperature and UTES tools and assessments; and c) the use of petroleum industry tools to examine unconventional geothermal resources in hot sedimentary basins.