Producing electricity from death lake

The toxic gas in Kivu death lake in Rwanda threatens the lives of two million people, but can also generate electricity for the whole country for hundreds of years.

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Kivu is one of the three ' spray pools ' in the world. Located quite close to a volcano called Nyurangongo, it contains billions of tons of toxic gas in the water. According to scientific calculations, the amount of methane in the lake is about 65 km ³ , while the amount of CO ₂ gas is up to 256 km ³ . With that amount of gas, Lake Kivu deserves the title of " giant time bomb ".

Panoramic view of Lake Kivu when viewed from the air. Photo: NASA.

The Rwanda government has just built Kibuye power plant on the shores of Lake Kivu. The plant draws methane from the lake bottom to fuel three large generators, MSNBC reported.

Currently the plant produces 3.6 MW of electricity, enough to meet more than 4% of the country's demand. The government hopes the plant will meet one-third of the country's electricity demand within the next two years. The ultimate goal of the government is to turn Kivu into a fuel source for the country's largest electricity production.

Currently the power plant operates normally. But people still fear the risk of toxic gas eruption from the lake bottom in the context of increasing air temperature. The higher the air temperature, the greater the risk of gas injection of the lake.

People live around Lake Kivu in Rwanda.

The upper water layer of Lake Kivu is much warmer than the bottom water layer. When methane and CO ₂ enter the lake, they dissolve into the water and settle to the bottom. The difference in temperature and gas density between the two layers of water makes the gas unable to escape to the surface.

But when the air temperature rises, the temperature of the water layer at the bottom of the lake also increases, making it easier for gas to escape to the upper water layer. If the temperature rise continues, at some point all the gas will escape from the water.

This phenomenon happened in Lake Nyos in Cameroon on August 15, 1984, causing 1,700 people to die.

Lake Kivu is much wider than Lake Nyos. Therefore, if the gas sprayed out of the lake, its consequences would be far more formidable than the disaster in Cameroon. To prevent the risk of eruption, the Cameroonian government has put pipes down to the bottom of the lake to draw air. This measure makes the gas unable to accumulate in large quantities.

Rwanda's power plant is a ' most nominated ' project. Its pipeline system not only prevents the risk of eruption of toxic gas, but also provides people in the area of ​​abundant gas.