Volcanoes as a source of geothermal energy

Warren M. Heffington, Jules M. Kline and James W. Rottman

Energy, 1977, vol. 2, issue 4, 457-459

Abstract: The thermal energy available from high-temperature magma is calculated to be 8 × 1014 kcal/km3 and an upper bound for volcanic energy of 3 × 1018 kcal/volcano is determined. Approximately one-third of the energy may be obtained between about 750 and 1150 °C (i.e. above the solidification temperature of the magma), while the remaining two-thirds is available from magma in the solid state between ambient and around 750 °C. Gas dissolved in the magma possesses about 4% of the thermal energy and a large portion of that energy is potentially available as high-temperature steam. After removal of water, the gas remaining is a low-Btu gas with a heat of combustion of about 0.3 kcal/l. Utilization of both the thermal and combustion energy is the subject of current research projects.

Date: 1977
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:energy:v:2:y:1977:i:4:p:457-459

DOI: 10.1016/0360-5442(77)90008-1

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