Experts tap into one of America’s most dangerous volcanoes to power nearby homes: ‘One of the largest and most hazardous’
A startup in Oregon is constructing a geothermal facility on Newberry Volcano, “one of the largest and most hazardous active volcanoes in the United States,” that will operate at record-breaking temperatures, as reported by the Washington Post.
Mazama Energy has drilled wells reaching 629 degrees Fahrenheit. The company aims to push past 750 degrees, entering “superhot rock” territory.
Geothermal provides less than 1% of electricity worldwide right now. The International Energy Agency says accessing superhot rock could increase that figure to 8% by 2050. Theoretically, this technology has the capacity to generate 150 times the planet’s total electricity consumption.
The Newberry project uses “enhanced geothermal energy,” which means Mazama transports its own water to the volcano. The process involves breaking rock apart and adding water to create steam, using techniques adapted from the fracking industry.
Traditional geothermal wells operate around 400 degrees. Wells at superhot temperatures can produce up to 10 times as much energy. This reduces how many expensive drilling operations are needed.
“We believe this is the most direct path to driving down the cost of geothermal and making it possible across the globe,” said Terra Rogers, program director for superhot rock geothermal at the Clean Air Task Force.
At 705 degrees under pressure, water becomes “supercritical.” It retains the thermal energy of a liquid but moves as freely as a gas. The combination makes electricity generation more efficient.
Extreme heat destroys conventional drilling tools because their electronic parts fail at high temperatures. Mazama used a continuous flow of liquid carbon dioxide as a coolant for their rigs, which enabled them to drill down two miles.
Mazama plans to begin selling electricity to homes and businesses next year. Initial output will be 15 megawatts, with plans to scale up to 200 megawatts. The larger amount could supply power for an entire small city.
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