Project to pour water into volcano to make power

Physorg.com ^ | 1/14/2012 | Jeff Barnard

[aimhigh]

Geothermal energy developers plan to pump 24 million gallons of water into the side of a dormant volcano in Central Oregon this summer to demonstrate new technology they hope will give a boost to a green energy sector that has yet to live up to its promise.

[aimhigh]

Earthquake potential, since the process used is similar to fracking.

[SatinDoll]

YIKES!!

This could be explosive.

[hinckley buzzard]

"a dormant volcano." These wise guys think they are soo smart...wait until Mother Nature decides to slap them upside the head.

[ClearCase_guy]

The small-scale unit is available for home use and can allow anyone live totally "off the grid".

[dfwgator]

"....liquid hot magma."

[null and void]

What could possibly go wrong???

[Repeal The 17th]

[Sacajaweau]

I have a feeling they are in for a big surprise...like noxious gases escaping, but not through the natual outlet. Bet thewy kill everything within 100 miles.

[combat_boots]

Crater Lake must be from the prototype version then.

[Never A Dull Moment]

Why do I have a very bad feeling about that idea?

........lolol......idiots....

[Publius]

The Newberry Caldera has a history of exhaustive eruptions, which is why there is no cone. Every time it erupts, the magma chamber exhausts itself, empties, and the resulting cone collapses into the magma chamber. Its eruptions have been the largest and most spectacular in central Oregon. But it's been several thousand years since the last eruption. It's sleeping -- for now.

It's an interesting experiment they're proposing, and it's probably safe. That area of central Oregon hasn't had an eruption in a very long time.

[Paladin2]

As long as the level of injection is quite near the surface there seems to be limited risk.

Injecting below the center of the mass of the magma chamber would be problematic.

[Publius]

Crater Lake came from the plinean eruption of Mt. Mazama some 7000 years ago. It's asleep for now.

[tumblindice]

It can’t be any more dangerous than, say, slipping an enema to a sleeping, sluggish bulldog. Here, hold my beer ...

[Paladin2]

Hey, I have one of those prototypes somewhere around here, left over from a (now) 20 something year old’s elementary education.

[ClearCase_guy]

Pining for the fjords.

[Navy Patriot]

It's not nice to fool Mother Nature.

I suspect they'll get steam where they don't expect it, with hydrogen sulfide and chlorine in larger amounts than they expect and assorted earthquakes where they don't want 'em.

[cripplecreek]

[pabianice]

U-huh. And just how much electric power — generated from coal-fired plants — will it take to pump all that water up the side of the mountain? I can’t believe how stupid Greeniacs are.

[RetiredTexasVet]

Damn, you beat me to it! Hand pumps?