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A NASA plan to stop a supervolcano from erupting would also be a source of geothermal energy:
Beneath Yellowstone National Park is a giant volcano. The heat from this volcano powers all of the park's famous geysers and hot springs, so most tourists probably don't worry about having tons of hot magma under their feet. But perhaps they should: The Yellowstone supervolcano is a disaster waiting to happen.
The supervolcano erupts about every 600,000 years, and it's been about that long since the last eruption. That means the volcano could erupt any day now, and if it does it'll send enough dust and ash into the sky to blot out the sun for years, along with blowing a 25-mile-wide crater in the western U.S. That's why a group of NASA scientists and engineers are developing a plan to prevent an eruption by stealing the volcano's heat.
[...] NASA's plan is to drill a hole into the side of the volcano and pump water through it. When the water comes back out, it'll be heated to over 600 degrees, slowly cooling the volcano. The team hopes that given enough time, this process will take enough heat from the volcano to prevent it from ever erupting.
As a bonus, the scientists are proposing to use the heated water as a source of geothermal energy, potentially powering the entire Yellowstone region with heat from the volcano that wants to destroy it. A geothermal generator could produce energy at around $0.10 per kWh, competitive with other energy sources.
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Monday August 21 2017, @03:46PM (6 children)
I remember this subject coming up years ago (probably 5-10) and I suggested this very thing. The prevailing dogma at the time (not just from random internet commenters, but from actual scientists IIRC) was that there was no way humans could possibly siphon enough heat off the magma pocket to avoid a supervolcano eruption, and that it was an utterly silly idea.
I say we shouldn't even bother trying. It's been thought of before and rejected out-of-hand; we shouldn't revisit that decision.
Besides, when it erupts and blots out the sun for years, this will help reverse the effects of global warming.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 21 2017, @04:00PM
Consider the Earth is 12000 km across and the average depth of the Ocean is 4km. I could work out the volumes using spheres and heat capacities of rock and water.... but with those numbers, any you look at it, if the Earth opened a hole and blew out the tiniest fraction of its interior, it would boil off all the oceans.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Tuesday August 22 2017, @12:47AM (3 children)
The key word here is "dogma". This belief is not based on fact or evidence and hence, not scientific. Just because a problem is hard doesn't make it impossible.
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Tuesday August 22 2017, @03:48PM (2 children)
The key word here is "dogma". This belief is not based on fact or evidence and hence, not scientific. Just because a problem is hard doesn't make it impossible.
I agree, but just because something is possible doesn't mean we should try it. Once we've already made a decision, even though it's done without any real evidence or fact, we should stick to it, no matter the consequences. This idea was thought of before and laughed off. It should therefore be prohibited from being examined more seriously, at least until all the people who laughed at it are identified and publicly recant.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday August 23 2017, @01:34AM (1 child)
Oh gosh, my apologies. I read your previous post and missed the part where you "suggested this very thing" 5-10 years ago. Reading comprehension fail. For what it's worth, I've suggested similar things on the Green site in about that time frame as well. Mother nature might have a lot of power at its disposal, but given enough lead time and enough engineering you can prepare for any outburst, no matter how powerful.
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Wednesday August 23 2017, @01:57AM
Yep, that was my reasoning too, but I was roundly laughed out of the room when I made such a suggestion.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 22 2017, @05:53AM
I also suggested it a while back, got no mod points. It was doubtful humans could remove enough heat to make a difference.