January 16. According to a report by Futurism, the first thing people think of when they mention Ethiopia is dusty deserts, crowded streets or steep cliffs. However, few people know that Ethiopia is also one of the most active volcanoes on the planet. This is related to its geographical location - the Great Rift Valley in Africa is just passing through Ethiopia.

The Great Rift Valley of East Africa is the result of the movement of the crust blocks. The land on both sides of the Great Rift Valley is roughly separated from each other by the speed of nail growth. Cracks in the earth caused the underground magma to break through the pressure and emerge from the earth's surface. More than 60 volcanoes have been discovered in Ethiopia. Many of them have had large eruptions in the past, leaving huge craters. Some of the volcanoes are still active today. Bubbling mud pits, geothermal hot springs and many steam vents can be seen.

(Steam emerges from the rocks of the Arutou. Photo: William Hutchison)

Locals use volcanic steam to wash clothes and bathe, but these resources have greater development value. The ground surface of the surface activity is surging with heat, and the temperature may be as high as 300 to 400 degrees Celsius. By drilling down, it is possible to use these high-temperature steam to drive large turbines and generate large amounts of electricity. If this scheme is feasible, it will bring great benefits to the local people. With 77% of the population in Ethiopia not using electricity, it is one of the countries that have the most electricity shortage in Africa.

Surveys by geophysicists show that a volcano can generate 1 billion watts of electricity, which has caused the development of geothermal energy to receive increasing attention. Gigawatts are equivalent to the power generation capacity of millions of solar panels or 500 wind turbines. The total energy available for a volcano is estimated to be around 10 GW.

As early as 20 years ago, Ethiopians began a geothermal power pilot project in the Arutu volcanic area. Now that the power plant infrastructure has been upgraded, it is expected that the power generation will increase tenfold from 7 MW to 70 MW. On the whole, geothermal development seems to be the best solution for low-carbon renewable energy in Ethiopia, allowing geothermal power to drive the entire power industry and helping local people get out of poverty.

One of the main problems is that unlike Iceland's more developed geothermal countries, people know very little about Ethiopia's volcanoes. Even the last eruption of most volcanoes was unknown at any time. Avoiding volcanic eruptions is the primary prerequisite for geothermal power generation.

In recent years, the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) has been funding RiftVolc, a survey organization jointly organized by universities in the United Kingdom and Ethiopia, to study these issues. Researchers focus on hazard prevention and methods for developing and detecting volcanoes so that volcanic energy can be safely and sustainably developed and utilized.

In the past three years, scientific research teams have been deploying inspection equipment on the ground and conducting observations. However, the most important breakthrough comes from a completely different approach - the researchers' analysis of satellite images in the office.

With the help of satellite radar technology, researchers have made exciting discoveries about the research of Arrudova. It was observed that the surface of the volcano was expanding and deflated. A good metaphor is that the volcano is "breathing": people discovered that the volcano first expanded for several months in a row, which was "inhalation", and the subsequent "exhalation" process led to the slow subsidence of the volcano for many years. People are not entirely sure what caused these ups and downs, but enough evidence suggests that magma, underground hot water or gas should be flowing five kilometers below the surface.

In a paper published shortly before, researchers used satellite remote sensing images to make more detailed observations on the steam emissions of the Arutopos. As a result, it was found that the location of the steam overflow often coincided with known fault lines and fissures on the volcano.

Researchers have been monitoring volcanic vents for several consecutive years and have been surprised to find that most vents have stable temperatures. Only a small number of vents in the eastern region have measurable changes in temperature, and this change is not consistent with the volcano's "breathing" frequency. This made scientists feel surprised that they originally expected that the temperature change of vents would be consistent with the rise and fall of the high-temperature liquid inside the volcano.

(The picture shows a geothermal well of the Arutu volcano. Photo: William Hutchison)

Until the rain factors were taken into consideration later, the problem came into its own. The original vents that changed in temperature were only a delayed reaction to the surrounding rainfall. The researchers finally concluded that the vents near the center of the volcano will not be disturbed by rainfall, so they can maintain a constant temperature and can better reflect the temperature of underground thermal storage. This discovery is of great significance to volcanic drilling and power station construction. Of course, the impact is far more than that.

This is the first time that humans have been monitoring geothermal resources from a space perspective. Since satellite data is freely available to the public, this may provide a cheap and low-risk research tool for exploration of geothermal resources.

In addition to Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda also have abundant volcanic resources. This new technology can be used to explore and monitor the geothermal resources to be developed throughout the Great Rift Valley in East Africa and even around the world. As you zoom out of the map and look around the world, the future landscape looks promising.

IP Casing Protection Probe

Ip Casing Protection Probe,Flat Probe,Scratch Resistant Needle,Test Plug

Guangdong Yuwei Instrument Equipment Manufacturing Co., Ltd , https://www.yuweiinstrument.com