The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), along with Australia and Iceland, recently signed the charter of the International Partnership for Geothermal Technology (IPGT), signaling the commitment of the three countries to aggressively foster and promote cutting edge geothermal technologies to promote energy security and address global climate change. According to the partnership, this framework will bring international collaboration on policy and the technical aspects of enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) such as deep drilling and geothermal energy conversion.

"Enhanced geothermal systems have the potential to be the world's only ever-present form of baseload renewable energy," DOE Acting Assistant Secretary Katharine Fredriksen said. "This international collaborative will bind the U.S., Australia and Iceland to work together to accelerate the development of geothermal energy, bringing this clean, domestic and natural energy to the market in the near-term to confront the serious challenges of climate change and energy security."

DOE reports that it will work with Australia's Ministry of Resources, Energy and Tourism and Iceland's Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism to identify and encourage research, development and deployment projects critical to widespread deployment of EGS and deep drilling technologies, exchange best practices and support education and training programs. The IPGT will foster close working relationships among the international partners to support an accelerated evolution of geothermal technology through knowledge gained from projects in different countries and geologic settings.

In addition to establishing the IPGT, ministerial representatives of Australia, Iceland and the U.S. held a two day workshop bringing together experts from government, industry and academia to discuss research, development and deployment priorities for geothermal energy. The IPGT is open to expansion and in the future may include members from other countries with commitments to emerging geothermal energy technologies.

CleanEdge

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