Geothermal energy - deriving energy from the heat of magma deep below the earth's surface
Project Persephone seeks to develop renewable energy sources for promoting the prosperity of communities in equatorial mountain regions, and eventually for meeting the power requirements for projectile space launch.
The Project seeks sustainable development around high altitude stratovolcanoes near the equator, as the best sites for projectile space launch. Although siting at active volcanoes would be unacceptably hazardous, dormant volcanoes should be considered. These mountains might be economical sources of geothermal energy, when local community development has reached the stage where demand for heat and electricity has outstripped other renewable sources, and when the necessary excavation and physical plant becomes affordable.
oil drill bit
The same drilling equipment used for developing geothermal might also be used to make the beginnings of a launch-tube path upslope on the mountain, a "pilot tunnel" whose first use might be to exploit caldera lakes as natural reservoirs for small hydro power generation. Such a channel could later be widened with the use of a tunnel boring machine.
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