Greenpeace lovers will probably jump up and down when they find out that a new energy source could soon start producing electricity from hot rocks, and by hot, we mean temperatures of up to 570 degrees Fahrenheit. This is supposed to be a new green way of producing energy, but also a solution to reduce Australia's reliance on coal.

If this proves to be a success, considering it also benefits from government support but also from important companies, Australia could be the first to put to market a solution of exploiting geothermal energy, and also in bigger quantities than it was possible from coal. Hot dry rock geothermal energy can be "extracted" from hot granite rocks located no more than 3 miles below the earth.

The South Australian desert seems to be the perfect spot in the world, where all the right elements combine: temperature, tectonics, insulating rocks.

Even if the United States, the Philippines, Iceland, New Zealand and Japan already produce commercial geothermal electricity, they rely on naturally occurring steam from underground reservoirs and springs, not on the renewable dry rock technology the Australians are developing.