Reuters: The U.S. Interior Department said Friday it raised a record $28.2 million this week from leasing federal lands to companies for developing geothermal energy resources. Geothermal energy, harnessed from steam and hot water beneath the earth that powers turbines, generates 17 percent of the electricity that comes from renewable sources in the United States. In an auction on Tuesday, the department leased 105,211 acres in Nevada for geothermal energy use. Other states with …