Reasons to Love Google, Yet Again

Google to Invest in Geothermal

By Tom Zeller Jr.

Efforts at mapping geothermal potential in North America at Southern Methodist University are receiving financial support from Google. (Photo: Southern Methodist University)

Google.org, the public-spirited division of Google.com, charged with addressing “climate change, poverty and emerging disease,” is using the backdrop of the National Clean Energy Summit here in Las Vegas to announce a new round of clean energy financing.

In a nutshell, the company is investing an arguably modest sum — a little over $10 million — in the development of Enhanced Geothermal Systems, or EGS. The technology differs from “traditional” geothermal in that rather than exploiting existing wells of earthbound steam and hot water, EGS drills deep — miles down — to access layers of heated granite that exist underfoot everywhere on the planet. Water can be circulated downward for heating, and then upward to drive turbines and generate electricity.

See rest of the article at the New York Times Here

And here's a video about what geothermal energy is: