Geothermal Sees Solid Growth Internationally, But Not in the U.S.

There’s a lot to like about geothermal, especially its lack of variability; utilities buy energy generated from the heat in the Earth’s crust as baseload, just as if it were coming from a coal or nuclear plant.  Linked above is a good article that points out that the trends here internationally are quite positive; 2013 saw 530 MW commissioned, the most in a single year since 1997.

Sadly, the renewable energy market in the U.S. is riddled with permitting issues and other elements of bureaucracy, and thus geothermal experiences extremely counter-productive boom/bust cycles.  Investors, understandably, are terrified of the uncertainty associated with all this, and are reluctant to get involved in an industry whose very underpinnings could change any minute.

Hey, here’s an idea.  Why don’t we create a stable energy policy, where everyone knows the plan for the coming years and decades?