It has been an exciting month since the Krafla Magma Testbed (KMT) Symposium brought together esteemed members of the scientific community focused on the Krafla volcano and analogous environments.
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The KMT Symposium will take place in Munich, Germany, on April 10-12, under the theme Together, toward a greener and safer future.
An open call for abstracts has been issued, calling for geoscientific and geoenergy engineering research contributions on the Krafla volcano-geothermal system and comparable systems, including but not limited to geology, geophysics, petrology, rheology/rock physics, geochemistry, and geoengineering.
Submit your abstract now and take part in the conversation on Krafla Magma Testbed.
See more information here: https://kmt.is/the-krafla-magma-testbed-symposium/
Krafla Magma Testbed was at COP28! The project was represented by GEORG – Geothermal Research Cluster, the coordinator of the KMT Project Office, and the team was a part of the Icelandic business delegation at COP. The participation of the Icelandic delegation was coordinated by Green by Iceland and the KMT team extends its sincerest thanks to the Green by Iceland team for their outstanding work.
During this visit, the KMT team was able to meet with collaborators and parties interested in the project, and it is safe to say that the momentum of KMT is growing rapidly.
A highlight of the visit to Dubai started with the Action Summit on December 3. The KMT team had the privilege to attend this inspiring event at the Museum of the Future, organized by Arctic Circle, Nia Tero, and Emerson Collective. Discussions reflected on actions needed in the global fight against climate change and saw the participation of esteemed speakers such as Dr. Thani Al Zeyoudi, UAE Minister of State for Foreign Trade; Espen Barth Eide, Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs; Hillary Clinton, former US Secretary of State; Laurene Powell Jobs, Founder and Chair of Emerson Collective; and Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, President of COP28.
The dialogue was moving and expressed the great urgency of our situation.
The KMT team was left feeling affirmed in its resolve to promote the ground-breaking venture that the Krafla Magma Testbed is. It holds enormous potential in the production of sustainable energy, and the discussions around the energy transition and energy production that took place at COP28 inspired the team greatly.
In a week-long series of meetings held in Iceland from June 5-9, 2023, the GEOTHERMICA and KMT initiatives brought together international partners to discuss potential collaborations in the field of geothermal energy. The meeting of the two consortia took place at the Hotel Kverna, located just outside Reykjavik in Skógar, offering a perfect setting for dialogue and exploration.
The week commenced with the KMT group arriving in Reykjavik on June 6, followed by a comprehensive agenda starting on June 7. Participants delved into discussions on the future of geothermal energy and the KMT project’s role in advancing this renewable resource.
A notable highlight of the meetings was a strategic session held on June 8, where both initiatives were presented to key stakeholders and funding agencies from the United States and Europe. The GEOTHERMICA Initiative, with partners from the US Department of Energy (DoE), Iceland (Rannis & OS), Ireland (GSI), the Netherlands (RVO), Germany (PtJ), and Switzerland (DETEC), seized the opportunity to introduce the KMT project to potential collaborators.
The morning session allowed for an open dialogue on possible collaborations between GEOTHERMICA and KMT. While no funding commitments were expected at this early stage, the engagement and interest expressed by partners were considered a significant success. The dialogue aimed to lay the groundwork for future support and collaboration between the initiatives.
On April 27, 2022, the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences invited the KMT team to Potsdam for a two-and-a-half-day hybrid workshop with GFZ teams. The workshop was highly fruitful and featured a diverse set of experts passionate about opportunities within the KMT project. The discussions reflected on one hand the increasing interest of the international geoscientific community in this highly ambitious project, and on the other hand, the commitment of the KMT leadership to push forward its implementation on the ground.
A geoscience workshop was held on April 12th, 2023, organized in cooperation with Géosciences Environment Toulouse. It took place as a hybrid event, with discussions taking place both in person and online.
The workshop program covered both a basic introduction to the KMT project, and more in-depth presentations on the geoscientific conditions at Krafla. The ensuing discussions were enlightening and underlined the great scientific interest in KMT and its implications for geoscientific developments.
On October 14, 2021, the KMT project was presented to the attendees of the 2021 Arctic Circle Assembly in a session titled “Krafla Magma Testbed – Bringing the World to a New Age in Energy Generation”. Speakers included leading KMT scientists and Þórdís Kolbrún R. Gylfadóttir, Minister of Tourism, Industry, and Innovation of Iceland. The session was successful and reflected growing interest in the KMT project from policymakers, and, importantly, showcased the strong support for the project from the Government of Iceland.
An engineering and technology workshop was held in Reykjavík, Iceland, on 12-13 November 2018. Þórdís Kolbrún R. Gylfadóttir, Minister of Tourism, Industry and Innovation, delivered the opening speech, followed by introductory presentations from key members of the KMT scientific and engineering teams and project office members. The afternoon of the first day was reserved for open mic and panel discussions, which provided enlightening and productive insights into the main challenges KMT is trying to solve and the vision of the international multilevel cooperation around it.
The second day also started with presentations before moving on to workshops in the afternoon. The outcomes of the workshop were presented to all attendees before the conclusion of the program, generating constructive conversation.
The event was co-organized by DEEPEGS Deep Drilling Research Group and the Iceland Deep Drilling Project (IDDP) and demonstrated the significant scientific interest in the KMT project.
KMT reached an important, symbolic milestone in October 2018. Representatives of thirteen research institutions, industry actors, and governmental agencies in Iceland signed a letter of intent, declaring their “emphatic wish to promote the establishment and development of an international centre for geothermal– and volcanological research”. This letter of intent reflects the wide-spread societal support for the project and sets the scene for fruitful cross-agency cooperation on the road to realising KMT. A complete list of signatories can be found below.
Georg – Geothermal Research Cluster
Landsvirkjun, the National Power Company of Iceland
The University of Iceland
The University of Akureyri
Reykjavík University
Orkustofnun, National Energy Authority of Iceland
Rannís, Icelandic Centre for Research
EIMUR
Iceland Meteorological Office
ISOR
Icelandic Institute of Natural History
Skútustaðahreppur municipality
Northeast Iceland Development Agency
