# How AI Is Unlocking Geothermal Power at Scale with Joel Edwards

- Show: [Hardware to Save a Planet](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/hardware-to-save-a-planet)
- Published: 2026-02-19
- Length: 51m
- Episode: 96
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/hardware-to-save-a-planet/2026-02-19-how-ai-is-unlocking-geothermal-power-at-scale-with-joel-edwards
- Listen: https://podcasts.fame.so/e/489m16r8-how-ai-is-unlocking-geothermal-power-at-scale-with-joel-edwards

## Summary

Joel Edwards, CTO and co-founder of Zanskar, explains how the company uses AI and geoscience to locate hidden conventional geothermal reservoirs, reducing exploration costs by up to 90%. Edwards details Zanskar's 'flywheel' process of training physics-constrained models on satellite and field data to predict hotspot locations, avoiding the high subsurface risk that stalled the industry after oil majors exited in the 1980s. He highlights the success of their Lightning Dock project in New Mexico, where AI-driven reservoir modeling identified a highly productive well that maxed out the plant's capacity, and outlines Zanskar's goal to reach one gigawatt of installed capacity within ten years.

## Chapters

- [0:47](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/hardware-to-save-a-planet/2026-02-19-how-ai-is-unlocking-geothermal-power-at-scale-with-joel-edwards#t=47) Introduction and Geothermal History
- [2:48](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/hardware-to-save-a-planet/2026-02-19-how-ai-is-unlocking-geothermal-power-at-scale-with-joel-edwards#t=168) The Rise and Fall of Early Geothermal
- [8:41](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/hardware-to-save-a-planet/2026-02-19-how-ai-is-unlocking-geothermal-power-at-scale-with-joel-edwards#t=521) The 'Needle in a Haystack' Exploration Problem
- [13:22](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/hardware-to-save-a-planet/2026-02-19-how-ai-is-unlocking-geothermal-power-at-scale-with-joel-edwards#t=802) Conventional vs. Enhanced Geothermal Systems
- [20:24](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/hardware-to-save-a-planet/2026-02-19-how-ai-is-unlocking-geothermal-power-at-scale-with-joel-edwards#t=1224) Zanskar's AI Geospatial Flywheel
- [29:08](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/hardware-to-save-a-planet/2026-02-19-how-ai-is-unlocking-geothermal-power-at-scale-with-joel-edwards#t=1748) Reducing Exploration Costs and Finding Hotspots
- [31:55](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/hardware-to-save-a-planet/2026-02-19-how-ai-is-unlocking-geothermal-power-at-scale-with-joel-edwards#t=1915) Permitting, Interconnection, and Scaling
- [35:02](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/hardware-to-save-a-planet/2026-02-19-how-ai-is-unlocking-geothermal-power-at-scale-with-joel-edwards#t=2102) Lightning Dock Case Study and AI Reservoir Modeling
- [39:24](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/hardware-to-save-a-planet/2026-02-19-how-ai-is-unlocking-geothermal-power-at-scale-with-joel-edwards#t=2364) Business Model, Supply Chain, and Future Vision

## Topics

- [Energy & climate tech](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/energy-and-climate-tech)
- [AI & machine learning](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/ai-and-machine-learning)
- [Sourcing & supply chain](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/sourcing-and-supply-chain)
- [Scaling production](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/scaling-production)

## Most relevant to

early-stage companies

## Mentioned

- Zanskar (company)
- Chevron (company)
- Hunt (company)
- Phillips (company)
- Unical (company)
- The Geysers (product)
- Rhodium Group (company)
- UC Santa Cruz (other)
- McGinnis Hills (product)
- Big Blind (product)
- Pumpernickel (product)
- Lightning Dock (product)
- Furbo (company)
- Alex Net (other)
- NASA (company)
- MIT (other)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [How geothermal gets built](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2025-05-29-how-geothermal-gets-built) (Catalyst)
- [HIBT Lab! Quaise Energy: Carlos Araque](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2022-08-04-hibt-lab-quaise-energy-carlos-araque) (How I Built This)
- [Could geothermal become a major zero-emissions player?](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2022-09-09-could-geothermal-become-a-major-zero-emissions-player) (Catalyst)
- [Digging deep for super hot geothermal](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2026-03-05-digging-deep-for-super-hot-geothermal) (Catalyst)
- [Inside a $300 million bet on AI for physical R&D](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2025-11-06-inside-a-300-million-bet-on-ai-for-physical-r-d) (Catalyst)

## Citing this page

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