Geothermal energy is heat stored below the earth’s surface which sometimes manifests on the earth’s surface in the form of hot springs, geysers or fumaroles. Man has utilized the resource throughout human history for bathing, washing and the heating of structures. It was first used to drive a turbine which generated electricity in the Larderello geothermal fields in Italy in 1904, where electrical production still goes on to this day. The geothermal resource is widely available and has a multitude of uses.

Today, 24 countries generate electricity with geothermal energy. Installed capacity of geothermal energy is close to 10,000 MWe, meeting the needs of 60 million people. Projections from the Geothermal Energy Association show that by 2010 geothermal energy could reach 13,500 MWe. Although this renewable resource is not available everywhere, a 1999 National Academy of Scientists study approximated that geothermal power could meet the electricity demand of about 17% of the global population, whereby 39 countries could be wholly geothermal powered.

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