Environmental News
Renewed DOE Science Panel Includes ‘Geothermal Heat’ Among its Priorities
Electricity generation urged to be part of the panel’s geothermal focus
A panel tasked with providing the Department of Energy (DOE) with advice and recommendations on scientific matters related to energy has been renewed for two years, and “geothermal heat” is included in the areas of energy production the panel supports expanding. In addition, the panel’s renewal has prompted an executive with an organization dedicated to advancing geothermal energy, to say electricity generation needs to be included in geothermal policy recommendations.
In a Federal Register notice posted Aug. 18, 2026, the DOE announced the renewal of the Secretary of Energy Advisory Board (SEAB) for two years starting Aug. 26, 2026. The notice says, “SEAB has been determined to be essential to conduct business of the” DOE “and to be the in the public interest in connection with the performance of duties imposed upon the” DOE.
The U.S. “is blessed with an abundance of natural resources and is a leader in energy technologies and innovation that are critical to the economic prosperity and national security of the American people, as well as our partners and allies,” the DOE says.
In addition, “by utilizing our national assets, including our crude oil, natural gas, lease condensates, natural gas liquids, refined petroleum products, uranium, coal, biofuels, geothermal heat, the kinetic movement of flowing water, and critical minerals, we will preserve and protect our most beautiful places, reduce our dependency on foreign imports, and grow our economy—thereby enabling the reduction of our deficits and our debt,” DOE says.
Vanessa Robertson, director of policy and education for Geothermal Rising (GR), told The Driller that while GR is “encouraged to see geothermal included among the domestic energy resources” listed among SEAB’s priorities, electricity generation needs to be included in its geothermal policy recommendations.
GR “encourage(s) the board to look at geothermal’s full potential” beyond “direct-use heating and cooling” to include “conventional and next-generation electricity generation.”
“With growing electricity demand and significant advances in geothermal technology, the opportunity is no longer simply to identify the resource, but to create the conditions needed to deploy geothermal at scale,” said Robertson, who added, SEAB should consider “opportunities to expand reliable and affordable American energy.”
Robertson suggests the SEAB address “the practical barriers that determine how quickly new projects can come online: maintaining support for technology commercialization and resource development, improving permitting efficiency, modernizing transmission planning and interconnection processes, and leveraging America’s world-class drilling and subsurface workforce and expertise."
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