Geothermal Revolution Reshapes America's Energy Future

Innovative technologies and major investments are driving a quiet transformation in how we heat and cool our homes and buildings.

Published on Feb. 22, 2026

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A geothermal revolution is unfolding across the United States, with both advanced 'enhanced geothermal' techniques and simpler geoexchange systems like the Riverie high-rise in Brooklyn gaining momentum. Backed by tech giants like Bill Gates and Google, enhanced geothermal aims to make this alternative energy source viable anywhere by accessing the Earth's core heat. Meanwhile, geoexchange systems like the Riverie tap into the Earth's natural insulation to provide heating and cooling. Together, these approaches could reshape the domestic energy industry by providing clean, baseload energy solutions and improving energy security.

Why it matters

As demand for energy skyrockets due to the AI boom, innovative geothermal technologies offer a path to carbon-free, reliable power that can be deployed in both urban and rural areas. The geothermal revolution has bipartisan support and could provide enough energy to power 65 million homes by 2050, helping to address climate change and strengthen energy independence.

The details

Enhanced geothermal startups are borrowing advanced drilling techniques from fields like hydraulic fracturing and nuclear fusion to access the Earth's core heat, making this alternative energy source viable across the country. Meanwhile, geoexchange systems like the Riverie high-rise in Brooklyn use boreholes to tap into the Earth's natural insulation, providing heating and cooling while reducing carbon emissions by 53% compared to traditional buildings.

  • Last month, residents started moving into The Riverie, the biggest high-rise geoexchange system in the country.
  • According to projections from the U.S. Department of Energy, enhanced geothermal projects could provide about 90 gigawatts of carbon-free energy in the U.S. by 2050.

The players

The Riverie

A high-rise apartment building in Brooklyn that uses a geoexchange system with 320 boreholes to provide heating and cooling.

Fervo Energy

A Houston-based enhanced geothermal startup backed by Bill Gates and Google.

Drew Nelson

Vice president of Project InnerSpace, a company working on enhanced geothermal technologies.

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What they’re saying

“The U.S. has a number of different superpowers and putting holes in the ground and taking things out of those holes is one of them — and doing so more economically and more efficiently than basically any other place on Earth.”

— Drew Nelson, Vice President, Project InnerSpace (Cipher News)

What’s next

According to projections, enhanced geothermal projects could provide about 90 gigawatts of carbon-free energy in the U.S. by 2050, enough to power at least 65 million homes.

The takeaway

The geothermal revolution, with both advanced enhanced geothermal and simpler geoexchange systems, is poised to reshape America's energy landscape by providing clean, reliable, and widely accessible power to meet the demands of the AI era while also addressing climate change and strengthening energy security.