Attorney Ben Sebree spoke to us about Geothermal Energy. He and his firm are active in legislative and regulatory matters concerning energy, oil and gas, geothermal, the water-energy nexus, competing landowner rights, eminent domain, the environment, local government, taxes, and economic development. Ben told us that geothermal energy is heat and energy which emanates from the earth’s core and is essentially inexhaustible and does not deplete even when it is used for power generation. Ben showed us how geothermal energy sources are many, many times greater than fissionable and fossil fuels, which continue to be depleted. In Texas, the available geothermal energy is about 500,000 times greater than Texas’ annual electricity generation. There is enough geothermal energy to meet the planet’s energy needs for thousands of years. Ben explained the different methods for extracting geothermal energy from the earth and using it to produce electricity and how Texas is well-placed to be on the front of a geothermal energy revolution. Texas has a lot of “hot” rock where geothermal energy can be found and Texas has the oil and gas techniques and no-how that can be used to extract such energy from beneath the surface. Ben described some existing geothermal projects including the US Department of Defense’s plan for small geothermal generates to power every Army base and make them safe from being reliant on a connection to the public power grid. Geothermal energy is something we will need to access to help meet the growing power needs of Texas, the United States and the world. Thanks to Ben for bringing us information about this new area of energy production!