Imagine a world where active volcanoes provided the energy that allowed you to turn on & off your lights every day, to toast your favorite bagel or charge your phone. A world where the energy levels were teeming like they are now, except it’s fully sustainable and natural. If there’s one region on Earth that’s taking a stand and trying to do this with volcanoes, it would be the Aleutian Islands in Alaska.

Renewable energy had turned into its own era, or possibly a trend. Millions of scientists globally have been trying to solve the energy problems around the world, and many citizens have been working to use solar and wind energy throughout their homes.

In the ultimate quest for the best source of sustainable energy, active volcanoes has been proven to be very high up on the list. Energy that is harnessed from heat from our planet, also referred to as geothermal energy, is something many experts are talking about. Using an advanced method involving geysers within volcanoes, steam is created. With a turbine nearby, that steam can be converted into electricity, with almost no carbon footprint.

Another great quality of this type of sustainable energy is the fact that it’s almost invisible to humans, as it is deep underground at the Earth’s core.

Steam is also a strong candidate for a source of energy because if there is a spillage within the pipes or a leak, only water or steam will drop away, with no hazardous or chemical waste left deep underground.

Unfortunately, not all regions are filled with the things needed to use this technology, meaning that this revolutionary invention is limited to select countries and areas. An ideal quality for a region to use this energy is if something extremely hot can be found near the surface. Many of the places this technology will be installed are around active volcanoes, as an invisible layer of magma is in place underground, heating the water near it. However, places with geysers and dormant/extinct volcanoes are also candidates.

This type of energy cannot be transported, so residents must be close to the plant processing this energy, as it is placed right into the power network.

Volcanoes, even though they’re an extremely helpful & reliable source of energy, can be quite dangerous and could ruin this system in hours. If there is an eruption, it could damage the plant and would risk the energy in many peoples’ homes, which is a very important factor to consider.

Of course, there are yet more obstacles blocking this source that may seem like a dream. Capital. High amounts of capital are essential for this project, as construction workers must drill entire kilometers into the ground, pull hot water out of fractures in the ground and use a fair quantity of expensive equipment.

The Alaskan government is not letting prices be a hindrance, so they’re aiming to bring geothermal energy to Unalaska, a city located in the Aleutian Islands. At a cost of about $235 million, the Makushin Volcano will be one of the first volcanoes to have their energy out towards this geothermal project.

Whilst this may seem like an exceptional amount of money, in the long-term it works very well, it’s environmentally-friendly and very cheap.

Wind energy is a common counterpoint to this method. Why waste so much time and money to dig deep underground to geysers and volcanoes and utilize risky magma chambers located where we can’t even see them when we could just put up a wind turbine?

This point is very valid and eliminates the need for lots of regions to use this type of energy. However, in some regions - especially the Aleutian Islands - the wind is so powerful that it will damage the turbines.

This revolutionary way of collecting energy is a new idea to most, but many do not know that some of their energy is already coming from deep underground. San Fransisco, for instance, at a point gained one third of its energy from the Geysers, which is currently the largest geothermal system.

In conclusion, geothermal energy could be the next new thing everyone is investing in, the next thing that everyone is using and the next step for an eco-friendly global energy system.

IMAGE SOURCES: BBC, EnvironmentCo