Old Reliable: Consider Warming up to Geothermal Energy (Motley Fool)
Every year travelers from around the world shoot over to Yellowstone National Park to see the famous geyser. Hot water and steam from deep within the earth flow up to the surface. Like clockwork, every two hours the pressure builds to the point of explosion. Old Faithful shoots thousands of gallons of boiling hot water more than 100 feet into the air! Tourists never go home disappointed because the geyser always lives up to its name. First documented in the 1870's, Old Faithful hasn't missed a day of work since.
Compared to a coal or nuclear plant, nearly every city in the world would rather have a geothermal plant in its backyard. Worldwide, the installed geothermal base is estimated to be 11,400 MWe.
That's enough electricity to power about 12 million households, but just a fraction of the overall demand. Utility-scale geothermal facilities can be found in more than 20 countries. El Salvador, Iceland, and the Philippines rely on it for 25% of their electricity usage.
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