Next-generation geothermal is a promising yet largely untapped energy source, with significant potential to provide clean, always-on power and support the long-term transition away from fossil fuels. Achieving this potential requires field-scale testing to validate drilling performance, reservoir creation, and high-temperature technologies under conditions that individual companies cannot economically replicate on their own.
To function effectively, however, a geothermal testbed must offer participants clear and predictable rules governing intellectual property (IP) and data-sharing governance. These frameworks must protect proprietary technologies while enabling the knowledge-sharing needed to accelerate innovation and justify public and philanthropic investment.
As part of an ongoing research collaboration, Clean Air Task Force (CATF) examined how existing research test centres and collaborative R&D programs have addressed these issues and how those lessons can inform the design of future geothermal testbeds. This summary presents the principal findings of that research.
This summary report is part of the geothermal IP series by Clean Air Task Force, in collaboration with the Cascade Institute.
