Enhanced Geothermal Systems

Enhanced geothermal systems drill 5–10 kilometers into hot rock to create artificial reservoirs, offering a potential 100 gigawatts of baseload clean energy by 2050. However, induced seismicity risks require monitoring networks costing $2 million per site, and drilling costs exceed $10 million per well, 40% higher than the typical rival geothermal plant. This is slower to deploy than #7 Rewilding and Afforestation, which can be operational in months rather than years. Despite these barriers, pilot projects in Iceland and France achieve 30% lower life-cycle emissions than solar farms, making it a high-risk, high-reward proposition.