December 20, 2020 Jason Czapla is walking across a former lake bed in the middle of southern California. The ground simmers at our feet as little mud volcanoes disgorge piles of hot, sulfurous muck. The Salton Sea glitters in the distance while morning temperatures approach 106 degrees Fahrenheit. Everything about this place, around a hundred miles from the Mexican border, feels like it’s about to combust. But for Czapla, a former petroleum engineer, there are few places he’d rather be. “It’s the perfect storm in terms of a renewable energy project,” says the chief engineer for Controlled Thermal Resources, wearing a white polo shirt and dark sports glasses that hide the excitement in his blue eyes. “This is the best resource in the world.”