Geothermal energy is under-exploited, especially in developing countries. This is most probably because of the high investing costs that come with geothermal power plants and ground source heat pumps. However, as fuel prices rise and fears about global warming increase, geothermal energy is gaining in popularity. There are now 30 000 ground source heat pump installations in Canada alone (Petrolpump, n.d.; Natural Resources Canada, n.d.). There is also a test geothermal power plant of 100MWe under construction in Meager Mountain, B.C. Geothermal power could be the energy of the future.

               Scientists have also begun to experiment with different forms of geothermal energy. For example, they have begun to inject water into dry rocks at great depths where high temperatures are found (as seen in Planete Energy, n.d. and Petrolpump, n.d.). Two wells are built in the rock. In the first, high pressured water is injected, creating fractures in the rock. The water is heated as it passes through, and is pumped into the second well, which brings the heated water back to the surface. Finally, there is a constant flow: Cold water is injected, and hot water is pumped up. This project has been under experimentation since 2002 in Soultz-sous-Forêts, France, as well as in Australia, Germany, and Switzerland, where the temperature of the rocks is greater than 200 degrees Celsius (Planete Energy, Petrolpump).