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The Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator (IN2) is celebrating its 10th anniversary, marking a decade of supporting clean energy startups. Founded to help scale promising solutions, IN2 has provided funding and expertise to 12 cohorts, resulting in over $2 billion in follow-on capital raised by participating startups. Now, IN2 is expanding to help deploy clean energy technologies by partnering startups with companies and communities, aiming to bridge the gap between technology development and market implementation.

Groundwater-based geothermal heat pumps are an efficient and cost-effective climate control solution for most of the U.S. Darcy systems use electricity more efficiently than air-source systems and are particularly beneficial for space-constrained users. The article highlights examples from Rochester, Minnesota, and Ever-Green Energy in Minneapolis, and discusses the impact of the Inflation Reduction Act on the technology’s scalability.

St. Paul Public Schools in Minnesota are increasingly adopting geothermal heating and cooling as part of their climate action plan, aiming to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 45% by 2030. Innovative geothermal systems from Darcy Solutions requiring fewer wells, are making this technology more practical for urban schools, with successful installations already completed and underway in several schools.

Read more about the beautiful new Welcome Center at Lakewood Cemetery in Minneapolis: an all-electric, net-zero-energy building, completed in 2024. The building is heated and cooled by a groundwater-sourced geothermal system and will feature flexible spaces for community events and classes, including legacy writing workshops, art therapy, meditation courses and much more.

One of the first Darcy projects was St. Paul exploring powering Como Zoo with geothermal energy to achieve carbon neutrality. The city partnered with Xcel Energy to study replacing the zoo’s steam boiler system with a geothermal system using groundwater for heating and cooling. This system is expected to cut carbon emissions by at least half and potentially pay for itself within a decade.

Learn about the origins of Darcy Solutions and groundwater enabled geothermal. This article explores the innovative design of hte technology through interviews with Darcy’s cofounder and current Chief Scientific Officer Jimmy Randolph and other early leaders and partners regarding the technology.