We at the Energy Blog are big fans of geothermal energy, which is produced when water runs across hot rocks beneath the earth’s surface. The Geysers, the largest single producing geothermal energy field in the world, is in California, not far from the Bay Area, where the Energy Blog’s newspapers are located. (Check out our video of the place, hot rocks, splattering mud and all.)

Well, it looks like Google is getting on the geothermal bandwagon, according to a Wall Street Journal blogger. The company has

invested $10.25 million in a pair of companies working on “enhanced geothermal systems.”This is a newer approach to geothermal, running water through hot rocks to get steam for electricity. The WSJ tells us that Google has already led to $30 million in wind and solar investments.

Google’s two new bets, Alta Rock Energy and Potter Drilling, are working to figure out a way to tap the earth’s heat even in areas where geothermal fields don’t naturally exist. Google also announced a $490,000 grant to the Southern Methodist University Geothermal Lab for research targeted at understanding the distribution of geothermal resources and the improved geothermal mapping of North America.

Geothermal experts, is this a viable plan? (Photo: WorldIslandInfo on Creative Commons on flickr.)