Geothermal energy involves extracting heat from underground and using it to generate electricity or for direct uses like heating and cooling. There are various methods to extract geothermal energy depending on the underground temperature, including dry steam, flash steam, binary cycle, and hot dry rock technology. While geothermal energy has environmental advantages over fossil fuels, development costs are high due to exploration and drilling risks. However, operating costs are low as the fuel source is constant. Geothermal energy provides baseload power and is most economically viable in locations with suitable underground temperatures near the Earth's tectonic plate boundaries.