A team of international scientists working at the Krafla Magma Testbed (KMT) in Iceland are exploring how energy extracted directly from magma could be used for next-gen geothermal systems.

Geothermal energy is a largely unexplored renewable resource. With 99.9% of our planet being at a temperature greater than 100°C, scientists are investigating how we unlock this almost unlimited resource of magmatic heat.

While there are geothermal systems that tap into hot water deep underground to generate electricity, scientists have now been wondering whether these systems could make use of magma’s extreme temperature.

In 2009, it was discovered that Krafla, an active volcano in north-east Iceland that last erupted in the mid-1980s, hosts a geothermal system that consists of a highly evolved magma chamber, spanning thousands of years.

While magma is usually located very deep underground, the magma here is surprisingly shallow at only 2.1km depth.

As a result the KMT, the world’s first open access...