VC Vinod Khosla optimistic on geothermal growth
VCs Vinod Khosla and Sean “O’Sullivan participated in a session about investing in climate tech at the SOSV Climate Tech Summit 2023. (Source: SOSV)
Carlo Cariaga
11 Oct 2023
During the SOSV Climate Tech Summit 2023, long-time VC Vinod Khosla expressed optimism on the role that geothermal will play in the energy transition movement.
During the SOSV Climate Tech Summit 2023 and in a conversation with SOSV Founder Sean O’ Sullivan, long-time venture capitalist Vinod Khosla spoke with great optimism about the growth of geothermal and its role in the transition away from fossil fuels.
“I’m fairly convinced that in the 2040s we will replace every coal and natural gas plant in the US with clean energy, probably from either fusion or geothermal,” predicted Khosla during the session.
Khosla, however, said that accessing deeper geothermal resources will be the key to its more extensive utilization. He emphasized that the successful transition to geothermal can happen only if the extreme heat – 400 to 500 degrees Celsius – can be tapped. “That means drilling to greater depths than we can drill today,” Khosla said.
“If we can do that, geothermal will become available in 100x more locations than it is today,” Khosla further added.
The SOSV Climate Tech Summit had previously put the spotlight on geothermal with a panel featuring Carlos Araque of Quaise Energy and Kathy Hannun of Dandelion Energy.
Solving “deep technology” issues
During the session, Khosla also stressed the importance of solving “deep technology” problems. These refer to technologies that “have great trajectory, not just technologies that are ready to be deployed today.” Khosla had previously identified some of these problems in a 2020 blog post. The list includes carbon capture including direct air capture, water desalination using renewable energy, and production of clean hydrogen, among a few others.
Solutions to deep-tech problems, however, will take time and patience, from investors and founders alike. “We probably have until 2030 or 2035 to develop these technologies, then [we’ll need] 15 years to exponentially scale them to get to net zero by 2050.”
To hear more of Vinod Khosla’s thoughts on the long-term potential of climate tech including geothermal, SOSV has shared the video of the session as shown here:
Source: SOSV
