Anne Murrell from Geothermal UK highlighted the UK's "amazing geothermal opportunity" at the UK Mining Conference 2026 in Cornwall.
Speaking today at the Falmouth event, she said: "If we think about our energy challenges and needs, they are affordable heat, energy security, decarbonisation of our energy system, and I can't understand why we are not looking down more to solve those challenges.
"The energy beneath our feet is available 24/7. We can extract the heat from the surface and store that energy in the ground, which is building resilience into our system."
Other than the drilling itself, she said it was a low-emission form of energy, using the Earth as a battery.
"Prices [of gas and electricity] are only going in one direction," she added, while geothermal energy is low cost.
The country could look to the example of Germany, or Paris in France, where geothermal energy has been deployed by some time.
Earlier this year, geothermal energy was produced from the United Downs site for the first time.
Murrell also pointed out that bananas are grown in Cornwall's Eden Project using geothermal heat.
But she said the UK should make much more of this energy source.
"25% of all homes in the UK are built above old coal mines," she said. "Mines fill with water when you stop pumping it out, and this tepid water can be a great source of energy," she said.
"Momentum is growing, and the industry is growing," she said.
"We are joining the dots of all our existing knowledge to drive geothermal energy forward."
A geothermal forum was held at the event, with panel discussions focusing on deep geothermal, investment in geothermal, minewater geothermal and how critical minerals and geothermal can work together.
"All the solutions are already there, it's a question of getting the right experts together," Murrell said.
This includes experts from other industries, including oil and gas and mining.
The forum also highlighted the opportunity to create skilled, green jobs from the geothermal sector.
Geothermal UK is a platform that aims to bring various companies and industries together.
