Iceland produces energy from volcanoes
Scientists in Iceland have found a way to produce electricity from magma in volcanoes. Now they want to export that electricity to Europe.
MAGMA. Melted rock from Iceland’s volcanoes might turn out to be more useful than the ash clouds they have made headlines for.
In recent years, the volcanoes of Iceland have become world famous - both for their unpronounceable names and their power to ground European air traffic. With more than 200 volcanoes and 600 hot springs, this small island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean is literally overflowing with renewable energy.
As part of the Icelandic Deep Drilling Project (IDDP), a group of scientists were drilling a hole close to the Krafla volcano, when they suddenly hit magma. The project had to be cancelled, but the accident took a more fortunate turn when the researchers realised the potential of what they had found. When water is under very high pressure and temperature, it takes a form in between gas and liquid, becoming ‘supercritical’ water. With its high density and heat content, this form water can be used to produce electricity. The scientists found that supercritical water from the magma under their bore hole was capable of producing 25 MW of electricity. This is five times more than a similarly sized geothermal plant and enough to power 25 000 Icelandic houses. The technology is the same as in some large coal-fired power plants, but it has never been used with supercritical water that occurs naturally deep underground in active volcanic areas.
The discovery means that Iceland, already covering virtually all stationary energy demand through renewable geothermal and hydropower, has another vastly abundant source of renewable energy. The only problem is that they don't need it. Even with the highest electricity consumption per capita in the Nordic countries, mostly because of their power-intensive aluminium smelters, the government estimates that only one quarter of the available energy is utilised.
Iceland was one of the hardest hit countries during the financial crisis, with an almost total collapse of their banking system. Its economy, now heavily dependent on fishing exports, is in the need for new income sources to aid its recovery.
As Europe strives to reach its goal of 20 percent renewable energy by 2020, Iceland is hoping to become a part of the European electricity market. Landsvirkjun, the state energy company, is conducting a feasibility study to see if it's possible to connect the Icelandic power grid with Europe in what would be the world's longest undersea electric cable. If built, it would cost around USD 2 billion, but would deliver about 5 TWh a year - enough to power 1,25 million European homes. This could give Iceland an income of almost half a billion USD annually and kick start a new economic sector for the country – renewable energy export.
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