An Icelandic scientist plans to mine magma

I’m in one of the hottest volcanic regions in the world, northeast of Iceland, near Krafla volcano.

A short distance away I can see the edge of the crater lake, while steam vents and mud pools gush to the south.

Krafla volcano has erupted about 30 times during the past thousand years, most recently in the mid-1980s.

Björn Gumundsson leads me to a grassy hill. He manages a team of international scientists who plan to excavate the Krafla magma.

“We are standing right where we are going to drill,” he says.

The Krafla Magma Testbed (KMT) aims to enhance understanding of how magma, or molten rock, behaves underground.

This knowledge could help scientists predict the risks of volcanic eruptions and push geothermal energy to new heights, by tapping into an extremely hot and potentially limitless source of volcanic energy.

Starting in 2027, the KMT team will begin drilling the first two wells to create a unique underground magma observatory, approximately 2.1 kilometers (1.3 miles) underground.

“It’s like our moon. It will change a lot of things,” says Jan Lavallee, professor of magmatic petrology and volcanology at Ludwigs Maximilian University in Munich, who heads the KMT’s scientific committee.

Volcanic activity is usually monitored by instruments such as seismometers. But unlike lava on the surface, we don’t know much about magma underground, explains Professor Lavallee.

“We would like to prepare the magma so we can listen to the pulse of the Earth,” he adds.

Pressure and temperature sensors will be placed in the molten rock. “Those are the two main parameters that we need to examine, so we can know in advance what is happening to the magma,” he says.

An estimated 800 million people worldwide live within 100 kilometers of dangerous active volcanoes. The researchers hope their work will help save lives and money.

Iceland has 33 active volcanic systems, located on the rift where the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates break apart.

Recently, a wave of eight Explosions on the Reykjanes Peninsula The hurricane damaged infrastructure and upended life in the Grindavík community.

Mr. Guðmundsson also refers to Eyjafjallajökull, Which caused chaos in 2010 When an ash cloud caused the cancellation of more than 100,000 flights, at a cost of 3 billion pounds ($3.95 billion).

“If we had been able to predict this eruption better, we could have saved a lot of money,” he says.

KMT’s second well will develop a test bed for a new generation of geothermal power plants, exploiting the extreme temperatures of magma.

“Magma is very active. It is the source of heat that feeds the hydrothermal systems that give rise to geothermal energy. Why not go to the source?” Professor Lavallee asks.

About 25% of Iceland’s electricity and 85% of its home heating comes from geothermal sources, which tap hot fluids deep underground, producing steam to turn turbines and generate electricity.

In the valley below, the Karafla power station provides hot water and electricity to about 30,000 homes.

“The plan is to drill close to the magma itself, and maybe puncture it a little,” says Bjarne Palsson with a wry smile.

“The geothermal source is located directly above the magma body, and we think the temperature is in the range of 500 to 600 degrees Celsius,” says Palsson, executive director of geothermal development at Landsverkjön National Energy Company.

It is very difficult to locate magma underground, but in 2009 Icelandic engineers discovered it by chance.

They were planning to drill a 4.5-kilometre-deep well and extract extremely hot fluids, but drilling stopped suddenly when it encountered surprisingly shallow magma.

“We never expected to collide with magma at a depth of only 2.1 kilometers,” Palsson says.

Encountering magma is rare and has only happened here in Kenya and Hawaii.

The superheated steam rose to a record temperature of 452 degrees Celsius, while the room temperature reached an estimated 900 degrees Celsius.

The dramatic video shows smoke and steam rising. Severe heat and corrosion eventually destroyed the well.

“This well produced about 10 times more [energy] “It’s above the average well at this location,” Mr. Palsson says.

He points out that only two of these wells can provide the same energy as the power station’s 22 wells. “There is a clear change in the rules of the game.”

More than 600 geothermal power plants have been built around the world, and hundreds more are planned, amid growing demand for low-carbon energy around the clock. These wells are typically about 2.5 kilometers deep and can withstand temperatures below 350 degrees Celsius.

Private companies and research teams in several countries are also working on producing more advanced, deep geothermal energy, called ultra-hot rocks, where temperatures exceed 400 degrees Celsius at depths of 5 to 15 kilometres.

Access to deeper, hotter thermal reserves is the “holy grail,” says Rosalind Archer, dean of Griffith University and former director of the Geothermal Institute of New Zealand.

She explains that the high energy density is what is most promising, as each well can produce five to ten times more energy than standard geothermal wells.

“New Zealand, Japan and Mexico are all looking at it, but the KMT is the closest to getting a drill bit in the ground,” she says. “It’s not easy and it’s not necessarily cheap to get started.”

Drilling in this harsh environment would be technically difficult and require special materials.

Professor Lavallee is confident that it is possible. He says extreme temperatures are also found in jet engines, metallurgy and the nuclear industry.

“We have to explore new materials and alloys that are more resistant to corrosion,” says Sigrun Nanna Karlsdóttir, professor of industrial and mechanical engineering at the University of Iceland.

Inside the lab, her team of researchers tests materials to withstand extreme heat, pressure and corrosive gases. She explains that geothermal wells are usually built using carbon steel, but it quickly loses its strength when temperatures exceed 200 degrees Celsius.

“We focus on high-quality nickel alloys, as well as titanium alloys,” she says.

Drilling in volcanic magma may seem risky, but Gummundsson thinks otherwise.

“We do not believe that sticking a needle into a huge magma chamber will cause an explosive effect,” he stresses.

“This happened in 2009, and they discovered they may have done it before without knowing it. We think it’s safe.”

Professor Archer says other risks must also be taken into account when drilling into the ground, such as toxic gases and causing earthquakes. “But the geology of Iceland makes this extremely unlikely.”

The work will take years, but could lead to advanced predictions and supercharged volcanic power.

“I think the entire geothermal world is watching the KMT project,” says Professor Archer. “It has the potential to be quite transformative.”