At the Earths' core, the heat is more than 60 times higher than that of water being boiled. The remarkable heat produces pressures that exists only several miles below us, and these pressures consist of big amounts of energy. Superheated fluids in the kind of magma, of which we see the power and energy whenever there is a volcanic eruption, await our tapping. These fluids also ooze to the surface as steam and emerge from vents. We can create our own openings, and we can develop our own containment chambers for the magma and convert most this energy into electrical energy to light and heat our houses. In the creation of such a geothermal power plant, a hole would be excavated in a location where there is a good source of lava or other heated fluid. Piping would be installed down into the source, and the fluids forced to the surface to create the needed steam. The steam would turn a turbine, which would create the electricity.
There are criticisms of tapping into geothermal energy which hinder its being exploited on the large scale which it must be. Opponents state that research and study to find a suitable site is too pricey and would take up an excessive amount of time. Coupled with that is the high cost needed to build a geothermal power plant, and there is no promise of the plant turning a profit. Some geothermal sites, once exploited, may prove to produce an insufficient quantity of steam for the power plant to be practical or reliable. And we hear from the ecologists who worry that bringing up lava can create potentially hazardous materials along with it.
However, the terrific benefits of geothermal energy would obviate these concerns if only we would explore it more. The truth that geothermal energy is simply the energy of the Earth itself means it does not produce any pollutants. Geothermal energy is exceptionally efficient -- the efforts needed to funnel it are minimal after a site is discovered and a plant is set up. Geothermal plants, moreover, do not have to be as extensive as electrical plants, giant dams, or atomic energy centers -- the environment would thus be less disrupted. And, needless to say, it is an alternative type of energy -- exploiting it would mean we end up being that much less dependent on oil and coal. Possibly most importantly of all-- we are never going to run out of geothermal energy, and it is not a product that would constantly end up being more pricey in terms of real dollars as the years pass, because it is ubiquitous. Geothermal energy would be, in the end, very low-cost, after investigation and power plant building costs are recouped.