Produced by Cory Siddall

Will we enjoy a guilt-free tomorrow using endless, clean, Geothermal Power?

In 2022 a study published in Science (vol. 377 no. 6611) found that exceeding 1.5 °C of global warming could trigger multiple tipping points, including the collapse of major ice sheets, abrupt thawing of permafrost, and coral reef die-off, with potential for cascading system effects

Two years later, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Centers for Environmental Information annual report, 2024 was the warmest year since global records began in 1850. That year the global average surface temperature was 2.32 ℉/1.29°C above the 20th-century average (57.0℉/13.9°C) and 2.63℉/1.46°C above the pre-industrial average (56.7℉/13.7°C), which NOAA defines as the period from 1850-1900. Many believe we have already passed the tipping point and are already in a position of very real danger. We may have entered an era of unsustainable environment for humans.

It is said, and often repeated, that if humans cannot change our society’s behaviour, this change in ambient temperature will lead to the end of our civilisation, massive environmental damage, and a series extinction events.

It is also proven that burning fossil fuels is a primary driver of climate change due to the release of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide.  This is simple grade school environmental science.

An alternative could be geothermal energy, a thermal energy extracted from the Earth’s crust. It combines energy from the formation of the planet and from radioactive decay. Geothermal energy has been exploited as a source of heat and/or electric power for millennia. Geothermal heating, using water from hot springs, for example, has been used for bathing since Paleolithic times and for space heating since Roman times. If you’ve ever been to to the Banff Springs Hotel you know exactly what geothermal energy is.  

Geothermal power, the generation of electricity from geothermal energy, has been used since the 20th century. Unlike wind and solar energy, geothermal plants produce power at a constant rate, without regard to weather conditions.  Dry steam, flash steam, and binary cycle power stations have been used for this purpose. As of 2010 geothermal electricity was generated in 26 countries. Geothermal resources are theoretically more than adequate to supply humanity’s energy needs.  As of 2019, worldwide geothermal power capacity amounted to 15.4 gigawatts (GW), of which 23.86 percent or 3.68 GW were in the United States.  Geothermal energy supplies a significant share of the electrical power in Iceland, El Salvador, Kenya, the Philippines and New Zealand.

That brings us to today.

Digging Geothermal: The Deep Story is a 90 minute documentary probing the issues surrounding geothermal energy.  It will engage the world’s governments, institutions, scholars, experts, industrialists, as well as the ‘man-on-the-street’, for their observations, questions and opinions, on where our world’s future lies.  It will hold claims and beliefs of particular technologies up to the lens of scrutiny and discover which claims are environmentally “dangerous” and which are “benign”.

On June 8-12, 2026 the World Geothermal Congress 2026 (WGC2026) meets in Calgary.  This global platform unites industry leaders, researchers, and visionaries as they meet to shape the vision of a future for the geothermal energy. This triennial event promises groundbreaking discussions, networking opportunities, and innovative solutions for the energy transition, and Digging Geothermal: The Deep Story intends to be at this conference to get access and collect footage, required to tell this incredible story of a simple, renewable, and readily available energy source.

Geothermal energy is both a promising and proven technology that could provide all humanity with the get-out-of-jail-free card for the climate targets which we so desperately yearn. If this is true, then civilization may yet be on the cusp of a guilt free solution to climate change.  In many aspects the technological claims of be Geothermal Energy production is one of the greatest opportunities given to our species. 

Oh, yeah, and one more thing. 

A Canadian Invention might turn the ‘whole path to better power’ thing on its head. Watch Digging Geothermal: The Deep Story to find out how!