Turning
“Killer Lakes” Into Life-Changing Energy
Sitting in the middle of a serene lake, in a homemade wooden dugout canoe with lights from the lanterns flickering while fishing at
night for herring, is how many villagers make their living in Central
Africa. All the while, way down in the
depths, lay a killer waiting to erupt and destroy everything in its path. However, this “so-called” killer is also full
of promise for millions of people needing it for life-changing energy.
There are three exploding lakes, otherwise known as
“Killer Lakes”, in the world and they are all located in Africa. Two of the smaller killer lakes are located
in West Africa in Cameroon (Lake Nyos & Lake Monoun) and have already
erupted in the late 80s. Lake Kivu is located in Central Africa on the borders
of Rwanda & Democratic Republic of Congo and is 3000 times bigger and has
350 times as much gas as Lake Nyos. Lake Kivu is at risk for eruption anytime
within the next 100 years, all it will take is an earthquake, landslide or huge
thunderstorm to stir up the bottom of the lake. Carbon Dioxide has been seeping
into Lake Kivu for centuries from the volcanic rock beneath the lake. The bacterium at the bottom of the lake has
been feeding off this carbon dioxide turning some of it into Methane for
centuries as well. Over the past century
the saturation of these gases has increased & in the past 30 years the
saturation levels of these two gases have increased to 40%, creating a very unstable environment putting
the people, animals and the eco-system itself at risk. Think of the lake as a soda can, once shaken
up and the top has been opened it spews everywhere. Now think about it on a larger scale and you
are looking at CO2 suffocating millions of people and animals and the methane
gas igniting and burning everything in its wake. This limnic eruption could
basically cause the annihilation of animals, plants and thousands of villages surrounding
its shores.
More than two million people live off the shores
surrounding Lake Kivu and are hoping for many more centuries of being able to
keep their culture alive. Very few
people and businesses have electricity because it is very expensive. This area
of Africa has very few energy sources, causes them to use diesel fuel, which
can be quite expensive as well.
ContourGlobal has chosen to step in and create the KivuWatt project,
which will turn the methane gas in the lake into useable energy for the people
of Rwanda.
The KivuWatt project will create a safer place for the
people living on the shores of Lake Kivu.
ContourGlobal, a New York based company, will head the project and plan
to use four barges placed out about eight miles from shore to extract the
gas. The barges will use risers, which
are like giant straws, to extract the gases from around 1000 feet deep. The methane will be extracted and siphoned to
shore where the power plant is located and the carbon dioxide will be re-injected
into the lake to avoid releasing greenhouse gases. Kivu’s fisherman hopes
extracting the methane will be beneficial to them because they look forward to
having electricity for the first time and they also hope it makes the lake
safer too for generations to come.
Extracting this methane will give the people at Lake Kivu over 400 years
of electricity.
However, the Rwandan government team that is monitoring
the project is worried it might change the chemistry of the lake and have a severe impact on the fish living in the lake causing ecological & economic
problems for surrounding Rwandan villages.
Aster, N. (2011,
November 23). KivuWatt: Powering Rwanda & averting disaster.
Retrieved June 25, 2012, from Triple Pundit:
http://www.triplepundit.com/2011/11/kivuwatt-power-rwanda-lake-kivu-methane/
Boiko-Weyrauch, A.,
& Hugh-Jones, R. (2012, February 13). Lake Kivu gas: Turning an
explosion risk into a power source. Retrieved June 25, 2012, from BBC News
Magazine: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16394635
Glass, D. (2007,
November 27). Exploding Lakes. Retrieved June 25, 2012, from Indiana
Public Media: http://indianapublicmedia.org/amomentofscience/exploding-lakes/
McKie, R. (2009,
July 25). Poisonous gas from African lake poses threat to millions.
Retrieved June 25, 2012, from The Observer:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jul/26/africa-lake-kivu-co2-gas
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