Meeting national energy demand and supporting industrial growth will require advances beyond today's technologies. The Geothermal and Natural Gas pillar leads Purdue research in geothermal energy production, industrial process heating and heat recovery, and effective use of natural gas resources.

The work combines fundamental and applied research across cycle and component assessment, laboratory testing, techno-economic and life-cycle analysis, advanced controls, digital twins and AI. Interdisciplinary teams work with industry and national laboratories to move knowledge from discovery toward deployment and strengthen U.S. competitiveness.

Technical Challenges with High-Impact Potential

Research Areas

Enhanced Geothermal Systems

Advance reservoir creation, permeability, extreme drilling and materials for deep-earth conditions.

Next-Generation Geothermal Resources

Explore superhot rock, supercritical systems, closed-loop systems, and improved resource location.

Power, Heat and Co-Production

Integrate power generation and the direct use of geothermal heat, including opportunities to co-produce critical minerals.

Industrial Heat Systems

Match heat sources with process-temperature needs through thermal storage, industrial heat pumps, process integration and heat recovery.

Challenges and Opportunities

Expanding geothermal energy and natural gas systems to meet U.S. grid and industrial needs presents a major opportunity. Progress depends on solving challenges in deep-earth engineering, high-temperature industrial processes, and the storage, transport and recovery of heat.
  • Create and manage reservoir permeability for enhanced geothermal systems.
  • Develop drilling methods and materials for extreme subsurface conditions.
  • Improve geothermal resource location, power generation and grid integration.
  • Align industrial process-temperature requirements with available heat sources.
  • Integrate thermal storage, industrial heat pumps and waste-heat recovery into resilient industrial processes.

Research Highlight

  • Purdue University received a U.S. Department of Energy Industrial Technologies Office project to advance high-temperature process heating with industrial heat pumps using additive manufacturing.

Energy Research Centers

CARES

Center for Advances in Resilient Energy Storage

Designs and optimizes energy-storage systems for safety, reliability, and performance.

CISTAR

Center for Innovative and Strategic Transformation of Alkane Resources

An NSF Engineering Research Center focused on transforming U.S. hydrocarbon resources into higher-value products and fuels through catalytic and systems innovation.

CIVS

Center for Innovation through Visualization and Simulation

Applies advanced visualization and simulation tools to develop innovative, energy-efficient industrial solutions.

CHPB

Center for High Performance Buildings

Advances industrial heat pumps and heat-recovery systems.