Yellowstone National Park is located above one of the largest active volcanic systems in the world. USGS has monitored the area for many years and has published a monitoring plan for 2006-2015 which includes new instrumentation to monitor new locations, collect new types of data and upgrade the current monitoring effort.
Proposed new stream monitoring, gas sampling, GPS, tilt, seismic and strain monitoring instruments to be added to the Yellowstone volcano and earthquake monitoring network. Thick black line is the boundary of the Yellowstone Caldera. Thin black lines are roads. Gray outline is park boundary. Red regions are thermal areas. Image by USGSYellowstone earthquake monitoring will be upgraded to modern standards and five new seismograph stations will be added to increase the observation density. Five borehole strainmeters and two tiltmeters will be installed to measure crustal movements. New stream gages, and gas-measuring instruments will enable scientists to compare geophysical phenomena, such as earthquakes and ground motions, to hydrothermal events, such as anomalous water and gas discharge. In addition, USGS hopes to characterize the behavior of geyser basins to detect any precursors to hydrothermal explosions and to monitor earthquakes related to fluid movements. Finally, a secure system for real-time transmission of data will ensure that important data is not lost at critical times.
Read the entire 17-page report:
Volcano and Earthquake Monitoring Plan for the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory, 2006-2015Labels: Earthquakes, Geothermal, Volcanoes
Small geothermal energy plant. Image: Energy.gov
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Indonesia sits atop one of the best geothermal heat sources on this planet. The islands formed over a vast
subduction plate boundary where the Eurasian and Australian plates are in collision. These processes are still very active. About 200 volcanoes are distributed across the Indonesian island arc and many of the areas which surround them could host viable geothermal power plants.
To date, geothermal development in Indonesia has been minimal. A few electric generating plants have been built and a few communities tap natural steam and hot water for domestic use. Although this important geothermal energy source is perfectly located for Indonesia's growing economy and huge population, enormous amounts of fossil fuels are being imported.
In the past, legal, financial and bureaucratic problems have deterred outside investment. Chevron is one of the only outside countries to develop Indonesian geothermal plants and that was done a long time ago when the political environment was very different.
Lawmakers in Indonesia say that they are working on important legislation that will be much more friendly to outside investors who are interested in developing new geothermal projects. An article at abcnews.com details
Indonesia's geothermal history and potential future.
Landsat Image of Indonesia VolcanoesLabels: Geothermal
Geothermal energy production involves tapping the heat present in subsurface rock and soil units. It can be a simple as withdrawing warm ground water and using it as a source of heat or it can involve tapping hot subsurface waters to generate electricity. It is considered by many to be a "green" energy source that has minimal impact upon the natural environment.
San Diego Gas and Electric has signed a contract to purchase geothermal source electricity from Esmeralda Truckhaven Geothermal, LLC. Under this contract ETG will provide 20 megawatts of geothermal source electricty, beginning in 2010 and continuing through 2025. The energy will be produced at ETG's Juan Bautista de Anza Geothermal Project, located in Imperial County,
California.
Read more about this
Geothermal Source Energy Contract at primezone.com.
Labels: Geothermal
