Courtesy International Continental Scientific Drilling Program |
Harnessing the power of Iceland’s volcanoes to provide energy to British homes is one of those ideas that resurfaces every few years, but sounds too good – or whacky – to be true.
However, interest from a clutch of international companies in a geothermal project in northern Iceland suggests the idea is not just achievable but commercially viable too.
Scientists working on the Krafla Magma Testbed plan to drill more than 2km below the Earth’s crust into a molten magma lake, starting a process they say could see the UK receiving energy from Iceland’s volcanoes within 20 years.