Government officials greenlight massive plan to harness near-limitless energy: 'A prime location'

Utah has agreed to lease public lands for large-scale geothermal energy production, according to the Salt Lake Tribune.

The 10-year lease includes over 50,000 acres in Beaver, Iron, and Sevier counties. The agreement will generate $5.6 million in funds split between county, state, and federal governments.

There's good reason to expect the exploration and development of these lands to be successful. The federally funded Frontier Observatory for Research in Geothermal Energy has already shown that commercial-scale application of geothermal power is viable in the area.

The region will host one other geothermal plant, Cape Station, which begins operation next year and will feed 400 megawatts of power to Southern California. Another plant producing 20 megawatts was approved last month.

Geothermal energy taps into the heat in the earth to boil water, create steam, and spin turbines to make electricity.

Utah's geography is particularly amenable to this technology since its thermal resources are easy to access with little drilling required. Iceland similarly benefits from a unique geography that allows for the wide adoption of geothermal energy.

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Solar and wind power tend to get the most attention when it comes to decarbonizing the electrical grid, but geothermal can play a productive role as well. Reports suggest the untapped potential for geothermal power in America is massive.

Fossil fuels still play an outsized role in electrical generation. This pollutes the atmosphere, which exacerbates extreme weather patterns, melts polar ice caps, and heats ocean ecosystems. Any technology that can effectively displace these dirty sources of energy can help to avoid such side effects.

Local lawmakers have been eager to get clean energy projects like this underway.

"Utah is a prime location to invest and develop in geothermal energy," Utah Rep. Celeste Maloy said, per the Salt Lake Tribune. "Sadly, bureaucratic red tape regularly delays such projects."