Comment by jvanderbot
1 day ago
Hey man, shaving a few petawatts off that time bomb would be great.
Geothermal power -> some % saved for atmospheric carbon extraction makes it a carbon negative endeavor.
Relieve the US energy woes somewhat.
Use the carbon to make methane for his rockets.
And make some diesel fuel too, while he's at it (though he'll have to stock up on soybeans - great for his eventual presidential run)
Bonus if they accidentally make it explode and wipe the planet out. Simulation, restart.
Obligatory reminder that Yellowstone is at literally zero risk of exploding in the next couple thousand years.
How do we know that?
This paper describes "eruptible magma" to be at least 50% melted. https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2021JB02... (with silicic magma in granite, so at least vaguely the same situation as Yellowstone). Recent observations show that the Yellowstone magma chamber is like 10% melted, maybe almost 30% in some places. https://www.usgs.gov/observatories/yvo/news/new-views-how-ma... That's not enough.
From the first link, again:
> These recent studies demonstrated for example, that silicic supereruptions with volume exceeding 1,000 km3 of eruptible magma can be generated in less than 5,000–10,000 years (which we call “Yellowstone” type), to longer than 500,000 years
And geology is not a context where "less than 5,000" realistically includes, like 5, or even 100.
If you're sincerely curious, Soup Emporium has an excellent review of the available literature on the topic, as of 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypn3Fe_PLts