Highlights
- The Bureau of Land Management held a lease sale for new geothermal energy parcels in California.
- It's a growing source of renewable energy that often involves drilling to tap pockets of steam and hot water rising from the center of the Earth, which then spin turbines to generate electricity.
- The bidders are banking on the idea that new tools and technology will help them harness more of Earth's natural heat as a source of clean electricity.
For the first time in nearly a decade, federal officials on Tuesday auctioned off leases for new geothermal energy projects in California and all 13 parcels offered received bids.
Dozens of buyers participated in the Bureau of Land Management s online sale of 10-year leases on 23,000 acres in Imperial, Lassen and Modoc counties. Geothermal is a growing source of energy that can produce clean electricity 24 hours a day, unlike wind and solar power.
Typically the technology involves drilling wells into pockets of steam and hot water rising from the center of the Earth, which then spin turbines to generate power.
Many experts see an expanded role for geothermal in addressing climate change, and say it could be key in meeting California's clean energy goals, including reaching carbon neutrality by 2045. California is already home to the world's largest geothermal field the Geysers in Sonoma and Lake counties as well as a major field in the Salton Sea area.
