No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section amends EISA §612 definitions by adding terms for (1) closed-loop geothermal systems (i.e., a wellbore or subsurface circuit containing fluid heated through contact with the borehole wall); (2) next-generation geothermal systems (i.e., enhanced geothermal systems, closed-loop systems, and specified technologies in supercritical conditions); (3) supercritical conditions (i.e., subsurface temperatures at or above the supercritical temperature of the primary fluid); and (4) supercritical geothermal (i.e., energy from subsurface geologic resources at or above supercritical temperatures). The section further revises EISA §§613-615 by (1) expanding hydrothermal R&D to include advanced tools such as machine learning algorithms; (2) requiring geothermal systems R&D coordination across the Department of Energy, enhancing the drilling data repository with public subsurface data (e.g., from fossil fuel and mining), periodic standardization and usability updates, interagency MOUs for data sharing (prioritizing heat, lithology, and strain profiles), and deep exploration boreholes deeper than 8 kilometers commissioned by the Secretary of the Interior for heat mapping; and (3) retitling and expanding the enhanced geothermal systems program to cover closed-loop systems and supercritical conditions research, development, and testing, including new research topics, designation of at least one FORGE site for next-generation testing in supercritical conditions within one year of enactment.