Superheated molten rock could provide renewable energy. Due to Iceland’s layer with 130 volcanoes underneath, it has huge potential for using geothermal energy. A drilling rig named Thor will soon penetrate the area around a magma chamber. In this chamber the molten rock heats up water that has seeped through the seafloor. The water is has up tp 1000°C and is saturated with corrosive chemicals. The water’s heat can be turned into usable energy. It is a huge engineering challenge, though. Existing geothermal projects around the world need waters heated to less than 300°C. As a supercritical water it can generate up to ten times more power than conventional geothermal sources.
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