Scientists are planning a “CAT scan” of a British Columbia volcano to help harness the underground heat that turns rock into magma for renewable energy.
“Canadians are often surprised to know there’s volcanoes in the country,” said Steve Grasby, a geologist with Natural Resources Canada. “But there are active volcanoes.”
Grasby and his colleagues are headed about 24 kilometres west of Whistler, B.C., to Mount Cayley, part of the same mountain chain as well-known volcanic peaks such Mount St. Helens in Washington State.
Cayley’s last lava flow was back in the 1700s, but plenty of heat remains. At nearby Mount Meager, a well drilled in the 1970s showed temperatures of 250 C at 1.5 kilometres depth….