Photo courtesy of Destination Rotorua Marketing Current geothermal resources come from depth of 3 km, with a temperature up to 330 C. Current research is aimed at 4 km and 400 C. A large research and development effort is under way in New Zealand, aimed at harnessing a natural geothermal energy source of more than 10,000 MW that sits beneath the country’s Taupo Volcanic Zone.The program’s overall objectives include analyzing how the fluid and rock interact below four kilometers; discovering what factors cause permeability; examining what issues might affect well productivity; and estimating the potential for sustainable, deep geothermal resource