Torsten Kolind (UGV): Can Geothermal Scale Beyond Iceland?

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New Wave | Hugo Rauch | Substack

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🌊 Drilling the Future, Can Geothermal Power Everything?

From 0.01% to 8%, what it takes to unlock next-gen geothermal at scale.

We’re joined by Torsten Kolind, Co-founder of Underground Ventures, a specialist VC fund backing next-generation geothermal technologies.

In this episode, we dive into why geothermal, one of the most reliable and abundant energy sources, remains almost invisible today, and unpack what it really takes to turn a niche resource into a global energy backbone.

In our conversation, we covered:

→ Why geothermal is still ~0.014% of global energy, and what’s holding it back

→ The breakthrough behind “next-gen geothermal”

→ How oil & gas infrastructure could be repurposed to scale geothermal globally

→ Why geothermal might not compete with solar and wind, but complement them

→ The rise of companies like Fervo, and what their success unlocks

→ Europe vs US: heat vs power, and diverging market dynamics

→ Why drilling, flow control, and steam conversion are the real bottlenecks

→ The “super hot rock” opportunity, and how 400°C could 10x efficiency

→ Why Underground Ventures is betting on picks & shovels, not power plants

→ What’s still missing in the geothermal stack, and where founders should build

Let’s go underground!

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