LOS ANGELES – Google Inc Tuesday said it would invest more than $10 million in a breakthrough geothermal energy technology.

Google's philanthropic arm, Google.org, said the investment would go toward so-called Enhanced Geothermal Systems. The technology circulates water through hot rocks in the ground, producing steam to power a turbine.

Conventional geothermal technology relies on finding naturally occurring pockets of steam and hot water in the ground.

Google's investment includes $6.25 million for AltaRock Energy Inc, $4 million for Potter Drilling Inc, and a $489,521 grant for Southern Methodist University's Geothermal Lab.

(Reporting by Nichola Groom, editing by Gerald E. McCormick)