Yellowstone volcano eruption: How NASA plans to protect Earth from a supervolcanic end - TomoNews
- 7 years ago
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, U.S.A — NASA plans to stop the Yellowstone caldera from erupting by pumping it full of water and siphoning geothermal energy from it.
According to the BBC, the space agency has developed a plan to drill underneath Yellowstone and pump it's magma chamber full of water, extracting the heat. Cooling the magma rock would occur at a rate of 1 meter per year, meaning it could take thousands of years to eliminate the risk of eruption.
The cost of NASA's plan is estimated to be US$3.5 billion, the BBC reports. The space agency expects the clean energy derived from heat extraction would offset this via lower power costs and the creation of geothermal plants in the area.
According to the BBC, the space agency has developed a plan to drill underneath Yellowstone and pump it's magma chamber full of water, extracting the heat. Cooling the magma rock would occur at a rate of 1 meter per year, meaning it could take thousands of years to eliminate the risk of eruption.
The cost of NASA's plan is estimated to be US$3.5 billion, the BBC reports. The space agency expects the clean energy derived from heat extraction would offset this via lower power costs and the creation of geothermal plants in the area.