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Interest in Mount Spurr isn’t new. The state has held geothermal lease sales there since the ’80s.
But the resource has never been successfully harnessed or developed.
Step one is just locating it, said Steve Masterman, the director of the state’s Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys.
“First, you have to find the resource, he said. Understanding the geology is really a key part to that.”
The basic idea of geothermal is to harness the heat contained below the earth’s surface, in the form of steam and water. Geothermal’s a renewable resource, and like other renewables, can be used to heat homes or generate electricity.