US to Open More Land to Geothermal Development

Articles — By forcechange on October 23, 2008 12:29 pm

Geothermal power, the oft-forgotten renewable sibling of wind and solar, got a boost when the Department of the Interior announced on Wednesday that it would be opening 190 million acres of federal land in the West to geothermal energy development.  This does not mean that all of that land (twice the size of California) will be actually developed.  Instead, it merely identifies the territories that will be open for development applications, and also lays the groundwork to streamline the application process.

Because the Western United States is so geologically active, with super heated volcanic materials just barely under many parts of the region’s surface, it is an ideal location for geothermal energy production. 

Of course, similar to oil drilling and logging operations, the construction and operation of geothermal plants will have a real impact on local environments, with added machinery, roads and industry.  Nonetheless, as long as best practices are used, the widespread benefits of increasing geothermal production should vastly outweigh the discrete costs.

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