Geothermal energy is being touted as one of the alternative energy sources that may help us get off of our dependency on foreign oil and other fossil fuels. Rather than being used in cars, though, this energy harnessed from the depths of the Earth would be used in electricity generation, reducing the need for coal and oil.

Because geothermal energy comes from the forces that make Earth what it is, it is considered renewable. Fossil fuels like coal and oil, on the other hand, are limited because they are the results of processes that turned plant life from millions of years ago into something we can use for energy. Fossil fuels will eventually run out, and we can't get more of them. The Earth's energy will be around long after fossil fuels are gone.

Geothermal energy is a popular idea also because it doesn't pollute or give off greenhouse gases. (Of course, it is worth noting that drilling is still involved, causing environmental concerns, and other processes involved in extraction may contribute pollution.) In other countries, geothermal development is well underway.

Seatle P.I. reports on the strides that AltaRock hopes it can make, now that it has funding and geothermal rights:

"These geothermal rights will provide us with a pipeline of development projects to showcase our innovative technology, and generate jobs and clean, renewable energy," said AltaRock CEO Don O'Shei in a statement.

There is hope that a demonstration system can be online by the end of next year.

On the 100th day of the administrations Recovery Act, May 27 2009, president Obama announced new recovery projects including two new investments totaling over $467 million to accelerate the development and use of geothermal and solar across the country.^[1] Obama also highlighted that there are already 17 industrial scale geothermal plants in Nevada that are expected to increase in the next few years. Alternative energies are firmly fixed in this administration's agenda and this is more evidence of continued strong support by the government.

Obama likes geothermal energy, and we all know that when Obama likes something he spends millions (or billions) of dollars on it. In early March Obama have a little less than $100M for geothermal research, and there's no reason to think his support won't continue. For such a small industry, amounts like $100M can make the difference between developing economically competitive technology, or not.