WASHINGTON — The Interior Department plans to make available 190 million acres of federal land in a dozen Western states — including 10 areas in Colorado — for development of geothermal energy projects. The move could produce enough electricity for 5 million homes.
Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne said Wednesday that under a leasing program, as many as 270 communities could benefit from direct use of geothermal energy, generated from intense heat deep within the Earth: “Geothermal energy is replenished, is a renewable resource that generates electricity with minimal carbon emissions . . . (and) reduces the need for conventional energy sources.”
Kempthorne announced completion of an environmental review of the proposed leasing program, which will include federal forest and rangelands. National parks such as Yellowstone, renowned for its geothermal geysers, remain off limits to leasing, he said. The Associated Press
