TED Talks Daily How to power the world 24/7 — without oil | Cindy Taff
42 snips
Jan 24, 2026 Cindy Taff, a former Shell executive turned geothermal entrepreneur, applies oil-and-gas drilling expertise to unlock deep Earth heat. She discusses using horizontal drilling and fracking-style techniques to access vast geothermal resources. She explains how next‑generation geothermal can provide 24/7 clean power and complement solar and wind.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
Career Pivot From Oil To Geothermal
- Cindy Taff left Shell to start a geothermal company using oil-and-gas know-how to drill for heat instead of hydrocarbons.
- She framed the career move as part of an energy evolution toward clean, renewable power.
Earth Holds Vast Constant Heat
- Deep Earth heat is constantly available and contains roughly 50,000 times more energy than all global oil and gas reserves.
- That heat is clean, always-on, and a massive untapped energy resource.
Reuse Oilfield Drilling Tech
- The oil and gas industry developed precise deep-drilling and horizontal drilling technologies over a century and trillions of dollars.
- Those same tools can be repurposed immediately for geothermal without relearning the techniques.