Deep Heat

Courtesy Geodynamics

Eight kinds of beer and freshly shucked oysters make the Innamincka Hotel an oasis for travelers on Australia's remote Strzelecki Track. But keeping food and drink cold in the Outback isn't cheap. Every three weeks a diesel tanker must make a 1,600-km round trip from Port Augusta, South Australia, to keep the generators running.

Not, perhaps, for much longer. By Christmas, the dozen or so residents of Innamincka, about 1,100 km north of Adelaide, have been promised a miracle: free electricity for decades to come. If all goes to plan, the beer will soon...

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