Clean Air Task Force (CATF) is a premier EA-aligned environmental organization that advances technologies to mitigate climate change and reduce energy poverty and air pollution. Additional marginal funding to help our superhot rock energy program will enable international collaboration to advance clean geothermal energy around the world. 

What we do: 

CATF is a climate change advocacy organization focused on advancing the full suite of solutions needed to build a zero-carbon, high-energy world. The vast majority of solutions that we need to reach net zero are still nascent or in the process of development; CATF advocates for the policies and investments needed to accelerate the development of these technologies at the speed required to avoid the worst effects of climate change. The effectiveness of our work has been well established by Founders Pledge, Giving Green, and a host of other impact evaluators.  

A key focus of our work is supporting next generation solutions to achieve full, 24/7 decarbonization of the power sector, including advanced nuclear power, carbon capture and storage, and next-generation geothermal. Within next-generation geothermal, CATF focuses on the potential of superhot rock (SHR) geothermal, an emerging energy source with immense potential. 

CATF’s preliminary modeling suggests that just 1% of the world’s superhot rock energy potential could generate 63 terawatts of clean firm power – eight times more than the rest of the world’s electricity put together. Additionally, some of the areas with the best SHR potential are in sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia, two areas that are on track for huge energy demand growth over the coming decades. SHR could be a key tool for these areas to grow their energy supply, advance economic development, and mitigate a reliance on fossil fuel sources that would smash the world’s carbon budget. 

We take a holistic approach to developing superhot rock energy, braiding together efforts across a range of areas as we aim for five SHR demonstrations by 2028. We conduct field-wide technical research to help determine the most crucial challenges SHR faces, develop funding streams from both private and public sources to address those challenges, and bring together world-leading international experts to use those funds and share their learnings. Working across technical research, finance, and policy creates a “more than the sum of its parts” synergy that enables ecosystem-wide advancement. 

CATF’s research has emphasized that there are no scientific breakthroughs required to make SHR commercially viable, just continued technological advancements across a range of fields. With increased innovation, funding, and coordination, superhot rock is possible. 

How we would use marginal funding: 

CATF is the only organization in the world that focuses directly on superhot rock energy, so there’s always more work than we have the funding or staff capacity to take on. 

CATF seeks to enable five successful SHR demonstrations by 2028. Today, we are more than halfway to that goal, with pilot projects planned in the U.S., Iceland, and New Zealand – in large part due to the work done by CATF.  

Critical work remains to ensure that learnings from the pilots are shared so that each new pilot advances the entire field and that international actors work together to move as efficiently as possible. CATF aims to form an global alliance to accelerate SHR development by creating a space for private and public actors to share their research and establishing joint project sites where teams can test designs in a shared location and bring innovations into the field more quickly.  

CATF has deep relationships to the governments and technical experts in the countries with the strongest potential to lead on SHR and is well-poised to bring these groups together, with an initial focus on the U.S., New Zealand, Iceland, Japan, and Italy and the potential to expand to other countries with ready SHR resources and subsurface expertise. 

CATF is seeking to raise $300,000 over the coming year to establish this formal partnership and transform the global landscape of SHR development. This funding would cover the expanded staffing necessary to launch the initiative and the direct costs to bring these groups together.