A $140 million federal grant to help an outfit in Utah develop a new method of harvesting renewable energy is certainly good news.
But, compared to the potential for all kinds of endless, non-polluting energy that could be exploited in these parts, it seems but a small step.
The U.S. Department of Energy announced Thursday that it would provide that much grant money over the next five years to the University of Utah operation known as FORGE laboratory, short for Frontier Observatory for Research in Geothermal Energy, in Milford.
Geothermal energy, in broad terms, is using steam or very hot water that naturally occurs at different places on earth — often areas of high volcanic activity — to turn turbines to generate electricity.