Feb 25 2011
A mishap near an Icelandic volcano made a team of scientists abandon their experiments on geothermal energy, but soon it also led them to an alternate source of geothermal energy.
A team of scientists were drilling into the Krafla caldera to determine if the supercritical water could be tapped into as a source of power.
By the time the team had drilled 6,900 of the 15000 feet planned, the task was cut short as magma gushed into the well. Peter Schiffmann, professor of geology at UC Davis and a member of the research team stated that since they drilled into magma , it could be a geothermal well of high-quality.
The dry steam produced by the magma during the test was 400° Celsius (750° F), which can generate an estimated power of 25MW enough to power about 30,000 homes as against 5-8MW produced by a standard geothermal well. The geological test of the well and its outcome has been published in the February issue of the journal “Geology”.
Geothermal energy is the source of home heating and one-third of Iceland’s electricity.
Source: http://www.ucdavis.edu