Welcome to Learning English, a daily 30-minute program from the Voice of America.

I'm Katie Weaver.

And I'm Mario Ritter, Jr.

This program is designed for English learners, so we speak a little slower and we use words and phrases,

especially written, for people learning English. On today's program, Andrew Smith and Jill Robbins,

report on geothermal energy.

Anna Mateo has a story about a popular word game.

Our education report tells about the problem of school costs in sub-Saharan Africa.

Then the lesson of the day.

But first, Indonesia and the Philippines aim to increase their use of geothermal energy to move away from highly polluting fossil fuels. However, money issues, governmental rules, and community protests have slowed the

growth of geothermal energy production. Geothermal energy uses heat from underground reservoirs of hot water to produce electricity. Environmental experts

see geothermal as a good source of clean energy because it can provide power 24 hours a day.

Geothermal power plants also require little maintenance and can last for many years.

Countries with high geothermal possibilities, such as the United States, Indonesia, and the Philippines, have areas

where volcanic activity naturally carries hot water or steam to the Earth's surface.

The hot water or steam can also be reached by drilling into the Earth's surface. The hot water or steam can also be reached by drilling into the ground.

Marit Brummer is head of the International Geothermal Association, based in Germany.

She told the Associated Press,

we're essentially standing on our own sun,

which we can get clean, reliable energy from.

In Southeast Asia, geothermal energy production

is expected to increase 10 times greater from 2020 to 2050, reaching 276 million

...