Yellowstone National Park is gaining increasing attention for its geothermal activity, but not for the purposes of tourists. Recent studies show that the park may be a prime location for producing geothermal energy.

In 2006 the Massachusetts Institute of Technology studied the prospects of producing electricity from enhanced geothermal systems, and although its conclusions were conservative, they were also very promising. The Bureau of Land Management followed up on the study and last month announced that it would open up nearly 190 million acres of federal lands (not parks or wilderness areas) across the west to leases for geothermal exploration and development.

A few weeks later the Obama administration began a review of BLM leases on federal lands and has started to rescind some of them in Utah and Wyoming.

Geothermal energy shows the potential to significantly add to the nation’s store of renewable energy and would more than make up for the coal-burning power plants that need to be retired.

It is because of this potential that companies like Google have invested millions of dollars into enhanced geothermal systems. Google recently gave more than $10.25 million to three companies to develop ways to cull heat from deeply buried dry rock – similar to the sources of heat that fuel Yellowstone’s geysers. The process entails injecting water deep into the earth where it absorbs heat from the surrounding rock. When the water returns to the surface, the heat is used to generate electricity before the water is re-injected. It creates no emissions, is entirely renewable and occupies less surface area than solar or wind power.

More research must be done in order to find the best techniques for deep drilling, which must also be strictly regulated, and all efforts must be made to ensure that wildlife is minimally impacted. Given all that, we are probably at least a decade away from successfully harnessing this very clean and efficient source of energy.