Taking geothermal energy generation quite literally to the next level, Iceland is drilling a hole to tap into the Earth’s magma, a virtually unlimited potential power source.

The Iceland Deep Drilling Project (IDDP) is drilling 5 kilometers down into the Earth’s crust using its rig named “Thor” in order to reach hot zones between tectonic plates.

Unlike conventional geothermal, their pursuits are taking them to places where 400 to 1000 degrees Celsius can be expected, far hotter than similar approaches.

“People have drilled into hard rock at this depth, but never before into a fluid system like this,” Albert Albertsson of an Icelandic geothermal-energy company involved in the project. Researchers are hoping to find “supercritical steam,” which holds more heat energy than either liquid or gas. A potential 50 megawatts of energy could be generated from this steam, powering up to 50,000 homes. Similar techniques could be employed around the world near young volcanoes and similar subduction zones.

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It sounded preposterous to many when it was proposed, but a few years (and over $300,000,000) later the underground ice wall designed to contain a vast nuclear spill is almost finished.

Groundwater from the compromised plant in Fukushima poses a serious threat to Japan and the rest of the world. Over 1,000 tanks are storing hundreds of thousands of tons of the stuff, but it continues to flow.

The 100-foot-deep, mile-line Land-Side Impermeable Wall solution is designed to keep radioactive water out of the oceans. It consists of pipes filled with brine and frozen in place, kept cool by refrigeration units consuming the equivalent of 10,000+ homes’ worth electricity.

Critics point out that a concrete and steel wall would have been simpler and more predictably effective. Many see this as a last-ditch or half-baked effort, experimental at best. Only time will tell, once the system is fully operational, whether this was the right way to try and contain this crisis.

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A recent sinkhole that suddenly appeared in the backyard of a home in Cornwall is a worrying indicator of hidden risks below seemingly ordinary streets and yards. This particular shaft, which drops 300 feet to the water (and possibly hundreds more below the waterline) looks man-made for a reason: it is really a remnant of the regional tin mining industry, simply covered, boarded up and built over when they were finished with it.

But this is just the tip of a mostly-hidden iceberg, per Subterranea: “As mines close, companies put very large blocks of timber, often old railway sleepers, across shafts and backfilled them, thinking this would be safe. Gradually all evidence of the engine houses and covered shafts disappeared from view and memory and in the past builders assumed there was nothing there. Had they consulted old maps they would have known about the shaft. The timbers rotted over the years and collapses like this often happen after long periods of rain, which they have had in this area.”

Sand, salt and chalk mines across Britain and around the world pose underground risks to everyday city dwellers, who assume their homes are built on solid foundations. Poor record keeping and time conspire to make these threats all the more impossible to anticipate without using ground-penetrating radar and other technologies in advance. Often, things remain stable for years, decades or even centuries, then give way during severe rains or floods. When buying a home in an area with a history of mining, be sure to check it out as best you can in advance.

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This low-tech, beer-stashing solution uses the Earth’s naturally colder temperature to keep up to 24 cans of beer at ready-to-drink temperatures year round, all without needing an external energy source.

Far from being a futuristic idea, this eCool design owes a debt to a long history of storing beers in below-grade cellars that are naturally cooler yet don’t freeze, keeping your drinks in a reasonable temperature range during any season.

Once you lift the lid, a simple manual hand crank brings your next beer can up to the surface and deposits it handily on a little side flap. Being fully-mechanical with no electricity for any part of the equation makes it cheaper, easier, more versatile and robust.

Digging the three-foot hole could be most easily done with a garden drill, though the creators of eCool suggest you can also just use a shovel and get your hands a bit dirty – after all, the beer will taste even better after a bit of hard work.

The post Brew Stash: Secret Underground Power-Free Beer Cooler first appeared on Gajitz.