There are over 103 new geothermal plants either under construction or planned for the US over the next few years.
An article in the Chicago Tribune this week looks at the enormous potential of geothermal energy, laying right beneath our feet:
The renewable energy laboratory estimates that if all the heat trapped up to 2 miles under the U.S. were tapped, it could generate enough electricity to meet all of the country's power needs for 30,000 years. "It's ubiquitous," said Karl Gawell, executive director of the Geothermal Energy Association, a Washington-based trade group. "It's a huge resource. But it's a largely untapped resource."
Currently, geothermal sources supply enough energy, 2,800 megawatts, to run 2.8 million American homes. It is estimated that geothermal sources could produce enough energy to power over 100 million households over the next 50 years.
Currently, only Nevada, Utah and California have active geothermal stations.
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