re: Super Volcano Going To Erupt At Yellowstone?

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What if we figured out how to channel the lava, in a controlled fashion and generated some geothermal energy out of it - perhaps we can't stop it from erupting all together, but if the eruption were managed over a decade or so, instead of happening in a week or a month...

Is it crazy to even suggest such a thing? I mean, engineering is a "thing" now, isn't it?


We might be able to do that if liquid hot magma didn't melt thru anything it touches!

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The scale of a project that could absorb or siphon off the heat from the Yellowstone volcano is probably way beyond highly impractical (given that an eruption would supposedly wipe out many of the western states and cover a large part of the continent in ash).

That aside, if there were any practical angle to attempting to channel the lava, I'd imagine it would be aimed at purposefully weakening parts of the earth in the area to allow lava to more easily burst through the surface. If there is less resistance by the crust, there would be less subsequent pressure building up beneath the crust. Less pressure might result in more frequent, but less violent blasts instead of one monstrous blast from continuously mounting pressure.

Any theoretical attempts to utilize the heat/energy would likely be limited to getting as close to the lava as the energy collecting medium would allow... I'd have no clue if that's a few hundred yards or a couple of miles from the lava vents. It wouldn't necessarily have to touch the lava where it would melt, as you suggest. Regardless, as I mentioned above, it's hard to imagine any such operation even putting a dent into the amount of heat that exists there.