Geothermal energy is heat contained within in the earth. Australia has great potential for geothermal energy to be used for electricity generation and for direct use applications. Electricity can be generated using temperatures as low as 100°C, although higher temperatures than this may be required for larger scale production. For direct use applications, temperatures of 30°C and above can be used in industry, agriculture and for heating and cooling of residential buildings

Geoscience Australia estimates that by exploiting just 1% of the geothermal heat resource within the top 5 kms of the Earth’s crust we could provide 26,000 times our annual energy consumption.