Bavaria is experiencing a boom in geothermal energy. While only a few claims had been staked in 2003, by the end of 2006, there were already about 75 exploration and exploitation permits for searching for hydrothermal sources of geothermal energy and exploiting them for district heating and/or generating electricity. The search for geothermal sources in the Molasse [a group of Miocene sedimentary deposits in the Alpine region] has turned out to be substantially more complex than originally suspected. The numerous technical, economic, and legal questions are only really coming into focus now that projects are to be implemented