cer at Nevis Renewable Energy International. They perch on two continental plate boundaries, where giant slabs of the Earth's crust grind slowly past each other, and hot molten magma rises to shallow depths, warming the surrounding rocks to create a heat reservoir. Seawater seeps through crevices and pores in the magma-baked rocks, absorbing heat along the way. The hot water then buoys upward to shallower depths, where it can be extracted by drilling geothermal wells. As the rising fluid boils, it produces steam that can be used to rotate power-plant turbines to generate electricity. And the region is in dire need of cheap energy. Countries often spend 15 percent or more of their total GDP on electricity, impeding development and perpetuating poverty. Only a few Caribbean countries have natural gas reserves, which makes the region heavily dependent on imported diesel — whose prices saw a threefold spike over the past decade. Blackouts and brownouts are normal. To boost the likelihood of drilling a productive geothermal well, Ryan and other University of Auckland researchers have employed an array of techniques to create a map of the rocks below the surface of Montserrat in the eastern Caribbean. Last year, the Iceland Drilling Co. drilled Montserrat's first two geothermal wells, which preliminary tests suggest could generate more power than the population needs.
and creating an interpretation of the geothermal system," Ryan says. But Ryan notes that geothermal energy "is not going to solve the whole of the world's energy problems." For one, not all regions have high geothermal potential. There are safety concerns, too: Hot water from geothermal sources can harbor trace amounts of toxic chemicals like mercury and arsenic, which evaporate into the air as the water cools. Today, geothermal plants can be found in roughly 25 countries. Now researchers are looking at island nations, where the ocean can channel the heat energy to shallower depths. Indonesia and the Philippines already rely on geothermal electricity. Researchers are also investigating the Northern Mariana Islands' geothermal energy potential. A predominantly geothermal energy-powered Caribbean might still be some years away. But the future "is very bright," said Gunnar Örn Gunnarsson, chief operating officer at Reykjavik Geothermal. There's "a high probability that a good portion of all energy needs on the islands could come from geothermal resources." Which means these laid-back islands could lead the way to a fossil-fuel-free future. ¤
"It's formalizing how you put together different kinds of information … and trying to see those all fit together in three dimensions
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