The Power Beneath Our Feet

Scientists reveal the true potential of superhot rock geothermal energy in the fight against climate change

- ROBYN WHITE

THE CONCEPT HAS BEEN around for years, an always-accessible, clean, carbon-free renewable energy extracted from the earth. But new research has found that just 1 percent of the U.S.' potential for superhot rock geothermal energy could provide the equivalent of 21 billion barrels of oil, or enough energy to power New York City 687 times.

According to scientists, we're closer than ever to the commercialization of superhot rock geothermal energy, and researchers at the Clean Air Task Force (CATF) and the University of Twente in the Netherlands have now pinpointed how much and exactly where it can be extracted.