Geothermal energy involves harnessing the heat of the Earth’s upper crust, moving it to the surface and utilizing the heat as steam, to turn generators.
Rachel Webster says a mistake of earlier geothermal work was to think too big. There are more options and greater feasibility when thinking small and distributing power locally.
An area with great geothermal potential is Victoria’s Latrobe Valley, where a vast heat source sits below the region’s seam of brown coal. This could be developed as present generating infrastructure approaches the end of its operating life.
