Geothermal Project Poised To Thaw Iceland's Economy

This past fall, as we were confronted by mounting evidence of the global reach of economic turmoil, Iceland's collapse figured prominently in international headlines.

Today, Iceland is poised to dramatically heat up its economy with a groundbreaking geothermal energy initiative, whose success would blaze a clean energy trail for the rest of the world to follow. Iceland's geology render it well suited to pursue geothermal energy. Nearly all of the tiny country's heat and hot water and about one fourth of its electricity needs are me this way.

Iceland is an expression of the volcanic activity that is pervasive along the mid-Atlantic ridge. It is pulled away from the North American and South American tectonic plates are constantly pushed westward as the Eurasian and African plates are pushed eastward.

Iceland's current geothermal infrastructure relies on relatively passive thermal release from steam vents and from shallower geothermal wells that provide predictable, consistent, elevated but easily managed temperatures.

The key to the current project, which has already exceeded the depth of the world's deepest active geothermal well, is to reach supercritical water. This is a very unusual physical state of water achieved when its temperature exceeds 700 degrees, but confining pressures keep it in liquid form. So potent is the energy-producing potential of supercritical water that we build coal and nuclear plants to be able to make the stuff.

The risks and rigors of drilling into the underground environment so far below the surface are numerous. The extreme temperatures push the operating limits of drilling equipment, as evidenced by past well failures and collapses. Little is known about the exact chemistry of the supercritical water they will encounter, and whether its acidic nature will pose additional challenges. 

Success is not guaranteed, but we should all watch these developments with hope and interest. To harness subterranean supercritical water would be an entirely new day in this subset of clean energy. The success of Iceland's efforts could fire up worldwide activity in an altogether new direction in geothermal energy.