NASA Suggests Yellowstone Geo Thermal Power Plant

Yellowstone National Park is one of the most famous tourist destinations and nature reserves in the world.

And it's also the perfect place for.... geothermal power plants?

Let's have a look at the weird reason why NASA is all for building a power plant in our favorite national park.

NASA has proposed a plan to use geothermal power to generate electricity from the magma chamber beneath Yellowstone National Park:

Drill down.

Drill up to 10 kilometers into the volcano and pump high-pressure water down.

Extract heat.

The science video below explains the idea in more detail.

The water would circulate and return at a temperature of around 350°C (662°F), slowly extracting heat from the volcano.

Generate power.

The hot water would be used to power a geothermal energy plant, generating electricity at a competitive price.

The claim is that the plan could potentially reduce the risk of a catastrophic eruption.

But geologists are saying that Yellowstone is not in any danger of erupting any time soon. So why bother?

It would, however, provide electricity for the surrounding area for tens of thousands of years.

There are some challenges to consider:

Cost: The project would cost an estimated $3.46 billion

Time: It would take many years to know if the plan was successful, and even longer to cool the caldera completely

Thermal features: Drilling could disturb the thermal features of Yellowstone, which are unique geologic and cultural treasures.

Hydro dams have also been suggested for the rivers in Yellowstone.

There is also coal, natural gas, oil, and much more that could be harvested within the borders of Yellowstone.

But, so far, nobody wants to touch the area.