The federal government is planning to spend up to $140 million toward plans at the University of Utah to research and develop a new method for extracting geothermal energy from the earth.
The U.S. Department of Energy picked the windswept area northwest of Cedar City to expand the Frontier Observatory for Research in Geothermal Energy, or FORGE, with hopes of developing a more efficient way to use the earth's heat to meet electricity needs.
The plan involves drilling two 8,000-foot wells into the ground beneath the site. Water is sent underground into the heat of the earth and then drawn back up to the surface, where its steam can be used to move a turbine and generate electricity. The Spectrum
