The East African rift region has greater potential than Iceland (see
diagram). The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) estimates its
potential at 15 gigawatts, the equivalent of 15 moderate-sized nuclear power
plants. That's one and a half times the total world supply of geothermal energy
in 2010.
The Envisat Earth-monitoring satellite's data revealed something unexpected. Of the 30 volcanoes along the rift, Biggs and her colleagues found 18 were currently deforming (see "image"). These deformations – ground displacement that shows signs of unrest below – suggested that there was magma just a few kilometres below ground. "I wouldn't call it a treasure map," Biggs says, but it is something like that. Because the magma is welling up close to the surface – within about 1 kilometre – places that have a higher than average volcanic hazard are ideal for harvesting geothermal power (Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystems, vol 12, p 1). That's certainly true for Iceland. "There are actually similar patterns of deformations in volcanoes there," says Biggs.
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