The heat beneath our feet: the potential of Latin American geothermal power

Latin America only uses 5% of its natural heat resources, but it is still a small industry and lacks incentives

Tapping into the energy that comes from the natural heat of Earth's crust could be an efficient and affordable power source for Latin America, say experts. Technology is developing for exploring this source, which comes from the shallow ground, to hot water and hot rock found a few kilometres beneath the surface.

Geothermal power involves drilling wells to extract natural heat often associated with volcanoes or fault lines. In most cases it is drawn using water and steam - as it is in Costa Rica and in Mexico. The geothermal fluids are pumped up from the deep wells to generate electricity.