Technology:

Are Volcanoes the Energy Source of the Future? (CNBC)

Geothermal power plant in Iceland
(Courtesy Arctic Images/ Getty Images)

Conventional geothermal energy—based on technology that's been around since the 1970s—can only take an energy economy so far. If a consortium of researchers and energy companies has its way, Reykjanes—which is home to four volcanoes—could soon be ground zero for a geothermal energy revolution that could change the way countries and economies around the world view and utilize their geothermal resources.

If all goes to plan, this year the Iceland Deep Drilling Project (IDDP)—a collaboration between the National Energy Authority of Iceland, a global team of academic scientists; and the energy companies HS Energy, National Power Company and Reykjavik Energy (Alcoa and Statoil have also participated)—will begin drilling a geothermal well deep into the region's vast volcanic field in hopes of unleashing energy from superheated steam, and perhaps even the molten rock itself, lurking several thousand feet below the surface.

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