Australia turns geothermal to meet renewable targets

Superhot granite rock that lies just 3 miles below the surface of southern Australia could help the country meet its renewable energy targets.

Geothermal electricity produced using the heat of the rocks could provide Australia with up to 5% of its energy needs by 2020, according to the country’s Geothermal Energy Association.

According to the group, power produced using the heat from underground rocks could generate 2,200 megawatts of continuous energy by 2020, 40% of the country’s renewable energy target for that year.

An investment of around A$12 billion ($10.4 billion) is required to access and produce this energy.

However, after this initial investment geothermal energy is expected to be the cheapest source of renewable electricity.

Geoscience Australia estimates that if just 1% of Australia’s hot rocks are used to produce electricity, 26,000 times what is needed by the country will be created.

Geothermal electricity is created by pumping water 3 miles underground to be heated by dry rocks.

The hot water then returns to the surface to drive electricity generating turbines.

Google, the world’s most popular search engine, is so impressed by the potential of geothermal energy that it has invested $10 million into Geothermal energy research.