Publications
Publications
- April 2021
- HBS Case Collection
GreenFire Energy, 2020: Geothermal Innovation
By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock
Abstract
In June 2020, after ten years of effort, GreenFire Energy Inc. (GreenFire) demonstrated its new geothermal electricity generation technology, ECO2G™. While conventional geothermal electricity only supplied 0.5% of US demand, the new technology promised to increase this to 25% by drilling much deeper. Moreover, it was a closed-loop system which didn’t involve fracking like conventional geothermal which made it more environmentally friendly. It also promised to be much more cost effective than conventional geothermal. Unlike other renewables, ECO2G could also provide baseload power 24 hours a day and be adjusted quickly to match demand. CEO Joseph Scherer likened it to the beginning of the oil rush. “When the oil industry first started, prospectors focused on places where oil was seeping out of the ground. Now, they drill for it in deep oceans. Same with geothermal, but geothermal is much easier to find, and there is a lot more of it!”
ECO2G offered many business opportunities beyond new geothermal wells, including repurposing old wells, recovering heat from exhausted oil wells, generating hydrogen and mineral extraction (see Exhibit 7 of case). Now Scherer and John Muir, brother of founder Mark Muir, had to choose the best way to commercialize the technology.
ECO2G offered many business opportunities beyond new geothermal wells, including repurposing old wells, recovering heat from exhausted oil wells, generating hydrogen and mineral extraction (see Exhibit 7 of case). Now Scherer and John Muir, brother of founder Mark Muir, had to choose the best way to commercialize the technology.
Keywords
Green Energy; Geothermal; Entrepreneur; Renewables; Geothermal Electricity; Green Technology; Renewable Energy; Energy Generation; Technological Innovation; Entrepreneurship; Strategy; Commercialization
Citation
Wells, John R., and Benjamin Weinstock. "GreenFire Energy, 2020: Geothermal Innovation." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 721-450, April 2021.