The Potential for Superhot Rock Energy in the United States

The document argues that superhot rock energy could be a ubiquitous, low-land-footprint renewable source capable of replacing fossil fuel generation. Preliminary modeling suggests that approximately 20% of U.S. land area has superhot rock potential at depths below 8 miles, with just 1% of this resource potentially providing 4.3 terawatts of energy capacity. The report highlights that the U.S. oil and gas sector's subsurface expertise could accelerate commercialization, and that mature plants could eventually offer electricity as low as $25-40 per MWh.

• Preliminary modeling indicates that superhot rock energy potential exists across approximately 20% of the United States' land area, which is more than 750 thousand square miles, at depths below roughly 8 miles (12.5 km).
• The scale of the resource is such that utilizing only 1% of the U.S. superhot rock endowment could provide 4.3 terawatts of energy capacity, generating nearly 36,000 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity. This amount could eliminate over 1600 megatonnes of carbon emissions if used to replace coal and gas, representing nearly half of the U.S. Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) goal.

APA

Clean Air Task Force (2024). The Potential for Superhot Rock Energy in the United States. https://www.catf.us/superhot-rock/heat-mapping/us/

Chicago

Clean Air Task Force. The Potential for Superhot Rock Energy in the United States. 2024. https://www.catf.us/superhot-rock/heat-mapping/us/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Clean Air Task Force |title=The Potential for Superhot Rock Energy in the United States |date=21 March 2024 |url=https://www.catf.us/superhot-rock/heat-mapping/us/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{cleanairtaskforce2024potential, author = {{Clean Air Task Force}}, title = {{The Potential for Superhot Rock Energy in the United States}}, institution = {Clean Air Task Force}, year = {2024}, month = mar, url = {https://www.catf.us/superhot-rock/heat-mapping/us/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }