Geothermal Energy

Geothermal energy – literally heat from the earth – is a clean and versatile natural resource for the world’s steadily increasing energy needs.
When the rising hot water and steam is trapped in permeable and porous rocks under a layer of impermeable rock, it can form a geothermal reservoir.
Earth’s natural geologic processes, such as those associated with geysers and hot springs, allow magma to rise relatively close to the earth’s surface. In places like the “Pacific Ring of Fire,” the magma heats vast regions of underground rock located high above the magma chambers. Often porous and fractured, the hot rock can become saturated with rainwater that has seeped underground, creating geothermal reservoirs of hot water and steam. Geothermal reservoirs vary in temperature – sometimes reaching as high as 700°F (371°C).

Geothermal heat and geothermal reservoirs are generally referred to as geothermal resources and are located in many parts of the world. In the United States, they occur primarily in the western states including California.
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