Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Skip to content
  • Feedback

    • Water Use in Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS): Geology of U.S. Stimulation Projects, Water Costs, and Alternative Water Use Policies

    Metadata Updated: January 20, 2025

    According to the Energy Information Administration (EIA) of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), geothermal energy generation in the United States is projected to more than triple by 2040 (EIA 2013). This addition, which translates to more than 5 GW of generation capacity, is anticipated because of technological advances and an increase in available sources through the continued development of enhanced geothermal systems (EGSs) and low-temperature resources (EIA 2013). Studies have shown that air emissions, water consumption, and land use for geothermal electricity generation have less of an impact than traditional fossil fuel-based electricity generation; however, the long-term sustainability of geothermal power plants can be affected by insufficient replacement of aboveground or belowground operational fluid losses resulting from normal operations (Schroeder et al. 2014). Thus, access to water is therefore critical for increased deployment of EGS technologies and, therefore, growth of the geothermal sector. This paper examines water issues relating to EGS development from a variety of perspectives. It starts by exploring the relationship between EGS site geology, stimulation protocols, and below ground water loss, which is one of the largest drivers of water consumption for EGS projects. It then examines the relative costs of different potential traditional and alternative water sources for EGS. Finally it summarizes specific state policies relevant to the use of alternative water sources for EGS, and finally explores the relationship between EGS site geology, stimulation protocols, and below ground water loss, which is one of the largest drivers of water consumption for EGS projects.

    Access & Use Information

    Public: This dataset is intended for public access and use. License: Creative Commons Attribution

    Downloads & Resources

    Dates

    Metadata Created Date January 11, 2025
    Metadata Updated Date January 20, 2025

    Metadata Source

    Harvested from OpenEI data.json

    Other Data Resources

    Additional Metadata

    Resource Type Dataset
    Metadata Created Date January 11, 2025
    Metadata Updated Date January 20, 2025
    Publisher Argonne National Laboratory
    Maintainer
    Doi 10.15121/1170247
    Identifier https://data.openei.org/submissions/6774
    Data First Published 2014-12-16T07:00:00Z
    Data Last Modified 2017-06-27T19:44:00Z
    Public Access Level public
    Bureau Code 019:20
    Metadata Context https://openei.org/data.json
    Metadata Catalog ID https://openei.org/data.json
    Schema Version https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
    Catalog Describedby https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.json
    Data Quality True
    Datagov Dedupe Retained 20250120143002
    Harvest Object Id b154eefd-d04d-4ceb-b8e8-e3c5074432bf
    Harvest Source Id 7cbf9085-0290-4e9f-bec1-91653baeddfd
    Harvest Source Title OpenEI data.json
    Homepage URL https://gdr.openei.org/submissions/464
    License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
    Old Spatial {"type":"Polygon","coordinates":-77.01416015625,38.87713590673,-77.01416015625,38.87713590673,-77.01416015625,38.87713590673,-77.01416015625,38.87713590673,-77.01416015625,38.87713590673}
    Program Code 019:006
    Projectlead Arlene Anderson
    Projectnumber FY14 AOP 4.1.0.1
    Projecttitle Water Use in Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS): Geology of U.S. Stimulation Projects, Water Costs, and Alternative Water Use Policies
    Source Datajson Identifier True
    Source Hash 3527db2a03e55bffad046807528e7281da490f833b20157df316b9463fb7bfa0
    Source Schema Version 1.1
    Spatial {"type":"Polygon","coordinates":-77.01416015625,38.87713590673,-77.01416015625,38.87713590673,-77.01416015625,38.87713590673,-77.01416015625,38.87713590673,-77.01416015625,38.87713590673}

    Didn't find what you're looking for? Suggest a dataset here.