The following is a post from the Canada West Forum website.

Geothermal Opportunities is the third installment of the Canada West Forum Society’s series of online energy forums. The series began with Powering the Future, an overview of energy in British Columbia, and continued with Harnessing Wind Energy.

Geothermal Opportunities will be followed by forums that examine solar power and energy conservation, which may be the most important subject in this series. The International Energy Agency called conservation the “first fuel.”

Journalist Markham Hislop makes the point that we must encourage electrification. That results in greater consumption of electricity. People who advocate for conservation do not want to lower consumption; they want to discourage waste and ensure that energy is used more efficiently. It’s about consuming less energy through better habits, state-of-the-art technology, and energy efficient designs.

Geothermal energy is dependable, low-carbon, and abundant—yet it plays only a minor role in most energy systems.

So the question is hard to avoid: are we overlooking geothermal? And if we are, what must change—technology, investment, or policy—to elevate it into a central pillar of the low-carbon transition?

Our geothermal forum was moderated by Guy Dauncey, a tireless advocate for a sustainable future. Guy is the author of several books and co-chair of West Coast Climate Action Network, a cooperative of climate action groups, organizations, businesses, and initiatives in British Columbia.

Forum panelists included:

Geothermal energy is poised to grow in importance across British Columbia and the American West Coast. Large hydropower projects carry significant environmental costs, while wind and solar are inherently intermittent. By contrast, geothermal delivers steady, around-the-clock power and can be dispatched when needed—making it a uniquely reliable complement to other low-carbon sources.