Geothermal plants pack large energy-producing potential into relatively small footprints, giving the technology an advantage when siting facilities in sensitive landscapes. Photo courtesy of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

As the geothermal industry seeks approval for hundreds of new projects in the West, it brings with it a promise most wind and solar developers have been unable to make: more power using less land.

Geothermal plants use wells to pump searing hot steam and water to the surface in order to drive turbines that generate electricity.

But unlike wind and solar farms that threaten to carve up vast areas of public lands -- potentially compromising sensitive species and disrupting picturesque landscapes -- most of the geothermal energy footprint is hidden miles underground.

"Out of the renewable technologies, geothermal is a very compact way to generate energy," said Robert McDonald, a scientist with the Nature Conservancy's Emerging Strategies Division. "But it is one that's often missed in the discussion of renewables."

A McDonald-led study released last summer found that future geothermal developments will be less than half as land-intensive as solar thermal plants and about one-tenth as land-intensive as wind farms. Go to story #1