sciam.com: By Eitan Haddok and David Biello:

The enhanced system at Soultz in France is the first such artificial geothermal power plant. Since the 1920s The Geysers geothermal power plant 72 miles (115 kilometers) north of San Francisco has been pumping out electricity harvested from hot rocks deep within Earth’s crust. But there are only so many natural volcanic formations to be tapped. In locations that are not blessed by easy access to this natural resource, drilling into the hot rock bed and pumping fluid through it has the potential to unleash 2,000 times the total annual consumption of energy in the U.S., according to a 2007 report from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. [ see more ]