geothermal energy

Mega search engine Google.com, today announced an investment of $10.25 million in advancing the development of green technologies. Google is supporting a technology called, Enhanced Geothermal Systems, to help meet its goal of providing enough green energy to power a city the size of San Francisco. Through Google’s philanthropic entity Google.org, an initiative dubbed “Renewable Energy Cheaper than Coal” has been laid out to make this goal a reality.

This past Tuesday, the Oregon Institute of Technology outlined a plan to build a $7.6 million geothermal power plant on campus. The plant will become the sole power source for the school in a few years, making Oregon Tech the only university to be powered completely by geothermal energy.

Solar, wind, ocean, geothermal energy: All good stuff, but it’s likely that there are still more clean energy possibilities out there yet to be discovered and even further from being commercialized.

"Costa Rica is a country rich with renewable energy. In fact, it gets about 99% of all its electrical energy from clean sources, and it’s aiming to be the first country to become carbon neutral (more about that below). Some of Costa Rica’s energy sources include geothermal energy, the burning of sugarcane waste and other biomass, solar and wind energy. However, the largest source of energy is hydroelectricity — its hydroelectric dams provide more than 82% of the country’s electricity."

The amount of new geothermal power now under development in the United States will roughly double U.S. geothermal capacity - enough to meet the needs of six million households.

North America is at the top of the list for potential. Iceland is leading the way in innovation and r&d, as this veteran environmental journalist's recent trip to the small country makes clear.