“Geothermal leases under this Act shall not be issued for lands administered in accordance with (1) the Act of August 25, 1916 (39 Stat. 535), as amended or supplemented, (2) for lands within a national recreation area, (3) for lands in a fish hatchery administered by the Secretary, wildlife refuge, wildlife range, game range, wildlife management area, waterfowl production area, or for lands acquired or reserved for the protection and conservation of fish and wildlife that are threatened with extinction, (4) for tribally or individually owned Indian trust or restricted lands, within or without the boundaries of Indian reservations.” (The Act of August 25, 1916 was the act to establish the National Park Service.)
As previously stated, there is enough heat beneath Yellowstone to power the entire North American continent on a continual basis. Subsurface heat under Yellowstone makes it the hottest area in the United States, and indeed, in the entire continent of North America, but by law it may not be extracted.
Yellowstone National Park is off limits to geothermal drilling. Too bad because there is enough energy below Yellowstone to provide free electrical energy to every American once the infrastructure is in place and any surplus energy could be sold to Canada and Mexico to pay down our national debt.
The cost of electricity is already exorbitant in many areas of the United States. These costs will only increase as the demand for energy becomes even greater. In some cities, air conditioning is already a necessity. For example, Phoenix. During the summer of 2023, Phoenix had 31 consecutive days of 110 degrees, or higher. On July 20 the temperature hit 119 degrees and again on July 25. Overnight lows were often in the mid-90s. Without air conditioning the city would have been uninhabitable.
In California, monthly residential electric bills have been as high as $800 or more, and that's for a relatively modest dwelling. The same is true in many other parts of the country.
Based on numerous geologic studies, we know that at a depth of three thousand five hundred meters, the average temperature of the rock below Yellowstone is 250 degrees Celsius, or 482 degrees Fahrenheit. At a depth of five thousand five hundred meters, the average temperature is 300 degrees Celsius, or 572 degrees Fahrenheit. However, there are areas within the park where temperatures reach 350 degrees Celsius at depths of one thousand meters, or even much less. One such place is the Norris Geyser Basin. The Carnegie Institute of Washington, D.C. made test wells in 1929 in this basin to determine subsurface temperatures. One test hole was abandoned at 265 feet when the temperature reached 401 degrees Fahrenheit and the steam pressure threatened to destroy the drilling rig. Thus the ground temperature gradient at this point is an astonishing 123 degrees Fahrenheit per 100 feet.
The heat below Yellowstone is constant and unending. It will be there for the next ten thousand years. It’s a super reliable clean source of energy. All we have to do is have the courage and willingness to tap into it. In the United States we have literally tens of thousands of people who are experts at this. They’ve been fracking for oil for decades. We just need to put them to work doing geothermal drilling. Drilling injection wells. Drilling production wells
To adapt to a changing climate, Yellowstone needs to be developed immediately.
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