Following a CNN report, there is a lot of talk about theIceland and the possibility of produce geothermal energy”unlimited” taking advantage of the magma present at approximately 2 km deep. The topic is more relevant than ever after the creation of a new volcano on the Reykjanes peninsula after approximately 800 years of inactivity with various volcanic eruptions between 2023 and 2024. To date, in fact, geothermal energy in Iceland covers 25% approximately of the country’s energy needs: this is possible thanks to the presence of magma at a relatively shallow depth, capable of generating intense geothermal fields exploitable for the production of electricity. In most cases, however, these power plants do not exploit the direct heat of the magma: this would be an operation extremely complicated, both technically and from a safety point of view. This is where the project comes into play Krafla Magma Testbed: this is an ambitious project which, however, to avoid misunderstandings, should be resized And contextualized better to understand its actual usefulness.
The Icelandic project to obtain geothermal energy from magma: how the drilling will take place
The primary objective of this ambitious group of researchers is to study magma directlywhile it is still inside the magma chamber: this would allow us to obtain an enormous amount of data which, in the future, could help us to understand and predict better volcanic eruptions. To do this you need to make one excavation approximately 2 km deepso as to arrive in the portion of soil just above the magma chamber. At that point a steel tube is inserted, cemented, and a tube is slid inside probe with various sensors which will be lowered to the actual magma chamber.
If these experiments were to be successful, the same technologies could also be used in geothermal field for energy production: a deep plant of this type would make it possible to obtain an estimated amount of energy 10 times higher compared to a conventional one, allowing for build fewer wells. Furthermore, a possible success of this project could pave the way for similar plants in other volcanic areas of the world, such as Hawaii, Kenya And Italy.
The challenges in producing geothermal energy from volcanoes
The fact that an industrial plant of this type has not yet come into operation on a large scale is mainly linked to technical difficulties: let’s talk for example about drilling materials who must be able to operate in contexts high temperatures and pressuresin addition to the fact that fluids and gases could easily alter them And corrode them. Let us also remember that volcanic areas are often seismic and that in such contexts it is possible that aeruption not only that destroy the facility but can also put in life threatening who works there.
In short, these are far from trivial challenges. But even if we hypothesize that we can find a technical solution to overcome them, it should still be kept in mind that these plants would mainly be used to produce energy at local level: we shouldn’t think of a gigantic plant capable of powering an entire nation. This misunderstanding could arise from the improper use of the term “unlimited energy“: if it is true that a magma chamber could provide more energy of what we could actually exploit (even if not unlimited), at the same time we must consider that every system has technical limits beyond which we cannot go.
Ultimately, these implants they should not be thought of as the definitive solution to global energy problems, but rather as a profit ally capable of producing zero-emission energy, significantly contributing to the energy transition.