Geothermal company makes big discovery using AI
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The "Big Blind" geothermal site in western Nevada. Photo: Courtesy of Zanskar
A geothermal energy company announced Thursday that it has discovered — with AI's help — the first commercially viable system of its kind in over 30 years.
Why it matters: Zanskar Geothermal and Minerals officials said the underground find, in a remote area of western Nevada, offers fresh evidence that geothermal can become an attractive option to meet soaring U.S. energy demand.
- Geothermal is the rare alternative energy source with wide bipartisan backing. Democrats are attracted to its zero-emissions footprint, while Republicans like its potential to offer round-the-clock power.
Driving the news: The Nevada formation, dubbed "Big Blind," had no surface signs of geothermal activity or any prior history of exploration.
- Zanskar scientists used computer models to locate a geothermal anomaly that indicated exceptionally high heat flow at the site.
- They fed data into Zanskar's AI prediction engine, which helped narrow down the list of options.
Zoom in: The result led to "fewer bad wells" being drilled, Joel Edwards, Zanskar's co-founder and chief technology officer, told Axios. That reduces the cost of the projects, he said.
- Carl Hoiland, the company's other co-founder and CEO, said AI technology "has allowed us to target deeper and more precisely."
- "The analogy here is really every other natural-resource industry, from oil to minerals to shale gas," he said. "They all started on what was at the surface and over time got better at going deeper."
Context: The Big Blind discovery follows Zanskar's work at two other geothermal sites — Pumpernickel in northern Nevada and Lightning Dock in New Mexico.
- Unlike Big Blind, both sites had been known to have evidence of geothermal activity, but neither had been fully examined to identify their potential.
What's next: The company plans to seek permits to develop Big Blind into a commercial venture. It hopes the site will provide power by later this decade.
The big picture: The International Energy Agency predicted that geothermal could meet up to 15% of global power demand growth through 2050 — but said greater government policy support, specialized labor, and other boosts will be necessary.
- Congress and the Trump administration strongly support geothermal energy. Energy Secretary Chris Wright in March called it "an awesome resource that's under our feet" that could provide the power needed for AI innovation.
- The giant tax and spending bill that President Trump signed into law this summer cut tax credits for many renewable energy tax incentives but preserved them for geothermal.
The bottom line: "If you sort of read the tea leaves in the public space, the perception is that naturally occurring systems are tapped out," Edwards said.
- "This is sort of showing that, actually, there's a wave of these things coming, and this is just the beginning."
