Technology:

How Volcanoes Could Help Power the Planet—But Barely Do (National Geographic)

The Earth's heat offers a clean and steady source of electricity, though it doesn't come cheap

A clean alternative to fossil fuels, geothermal has potential far beyond Indonesia. It could help tame global warming by producing copious amounts of renewable energy. The United Nations estimates global reserves at about 200 gigawatts—double the total capacity of all U.S. nuclear power plants. Yet despite decades of effort, only 6.5 percent of that potential has been tapped.

Indonesia now produces the third largest amount of geothermal power, after the U.S. and the Philippines. Still, it's tapping less than 5 percent of its potential 29-gigawatt capacity.

"Its resources are so startlingly good," says GRC President Paul Brophy, president of EGS Inc., a California-based firm that recently did consulting work for Indonesia's government on the geothermal industry.

The country now aims to triple geothermal output from 1.4 to 4.9 gigawatts by 2019 and to hit 10 gigawatts by 2025 so it's trying to fast-track projects.

Read More........