Who Owns the Heat? Property Rights in Geothermal Energy

Authors

Gabriel Eckstein, Texas A&M University School of LawFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

4-2025

Journal Title

University of Illinois Law Review

ISSN

0276-9948

Abstract

Landowners can have ownership claims to oil, gas, water, and other tangible natural resources located in their subsoil. But can they also claim rights to the thermal energy found below their land? With 50,000 times more heat energy within the top 10,000 meters (around 33,000 feet) of the Earth’s surface than contained in all of the world’s oil and natural gas resources combined, geothermal energy is a tremendously promising, clean, and renewable energy resource. Yet, ambiguities in property rights related to the development and ownership of geothermal energy resources raise questions about who is entitled to benefit from that potential.

The article explores questions of ownership rights and interests in geothermal energy—an incorporeal, uncontainable, natural resource that is better defined as a characteristic of underground formations rather than as a physical or tangible thing. More broadly, it looks at the effects various theoretical approaches to ownership might have on the development of geothermal energy resources.

The underlying premise of the article is that absent clear property rules for ownership in geothermal energy, commercial and public investment in this promising, clean, renewable energy resource will remain limited. In contrast, clearly defined ownership interests could have profound implications for nearly every aspect of geothermal energy development—exploration, harvesting, conversion, and transfer of this distinct energy source—as well as for decarbonizing the economy.

First Page

491

Last Page

553

Num Pages

63

Volume Number

2025

Publisher

University of Illinois College of Law

Recommended Citation

Gabriel Eckstein, Who Owns the Heat? Property Rights in Geothermal Energy, 2025 U. Ill. L. Rev. 491 (2025).
Available at: https://scholarship.law.tamu.edu/facscholar/2200

File Type

PDF