Loading ...Madam Pele, the Hawaiian Volcano goddess, is historically fond of GIN for offerings. Yellowstone may have different tastes. I read now where geologists are telling NASA “don’t you DARE drill into the volcano” lest they pop a pressure cap and provoke an eruption.
One of the best plans I have read came from dissident scientist James McCanney, who proposed pumping out and draining Yellowstone lake at the caldera. The reasoning being that if a crack appeared in the caldera in an early eruption, the lake water draining into the volcano would result in a huge steam pressure eruption that would greatly amplify whatever the magma alone would do for an eruption.
That said, geothermal energy is a reality now. I have a 38 megawatt plant drilled into the Kilauea east rift zone about 10 miles from me that supplies about 20% of the island’s power here. But we have a relatively tame low-pressure volcano here. And the plant did have some start up problems about sealing the well pipes to prevent escaping volcanic gasses. My understanding is that Yellowstone is likely a much higher pressure magma chamber, and breaching it could be downright dangerous. Then there is the question of “how much heat must we remove” to prevent an eruption. I’m having visions of a heat sink big enough to cause climate change there. I doubt they could remove enough electrical power from the area… it would take multiple, multiple geothermal plants to make enough cooling… if that is even possible.
Hawaiian Electric company has had it’s eye on the geothermal power prize for decades. They could bring enough power out of the volcano here to illuminate the entire state island chain here. The problem is getting the power off the Big Island. There is a 13,000 ft deep ocean trench between here and Maui, the next nearest island. Electrical cable technology does not yet exist that can carry high voltage power under salt water that deep. Hawaiian Electric has for years funded research and testing to attempt to develop such a cable. As yet it is not viable.