Opinion: Yellowstone Needs Saving and Horizontal Drilling May Be the Answer

Dr. Jacob R. Borden, Trine University
Yellowstone caldera horizontal drilling

Energy and petroleum engineers can protect the natural beauty of Yellowstone while at the same time protecting us from Yellowstone. Silex Spring (pictured) is located at Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. (Source: Mike Ver Sprill/Shutterstock.com)

There are grand challenges in engineering: energy, water, climate, health and information. I’d like to suggest a specific challenge, one that the energy E&P community is primed to resolve, and that is the Yellowstone Caldera. The Yellowstone Caldera has as much potential to supply carbon-free geothermal energy to millions of homes for generations as it has the potential to destroy humanity. And the clock is ticking.

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