With growing concern over rising energy costs and the environmental impacts of supplying our energy needs, there is a great need to find economical and environmentally sound energy alternatives. However, amidst the push to expand renewable energies, one option that is rarely discussed is geothermal energy. One reason that geothermal is often overlooked is because of the lack of understanding how the technology works and a view that it is new and unproven. Actually, people have used geothermal energy for over 10,000 years with the first recorded use when Paleo-Indians settled around hot springs and used them as a source for warmth, cleansing, and healing. More advanced geothermal technology, such as geothermal heat pumps, have been used to heat and cool buildings since the late 1940s and today more than 50,000 units are installed in the United States every year4.