Lake Kivu
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World / Democratic Republic of the Congo / Kivu / Sud-Kivu
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Lake Kivu is one of the Great Lakes of Africa. It lies on the border between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda, and is in the Albertine (western) Rift, a part of the Great Rift Valley. Lake Kivu empties into the Ruzizi River, which flows southwards into Lake Tanganyika. It is thus one of the sources of the Congo River system. The lake covers a total surface area of some 2,700 km2 (1,040 sq mi) and stands at a height of 1,460 metres (4,790 ft) above sea level. Its deepest depth is 480m.
Until recently only a local brewery was extracting methane for their needs. Now the government has contacted with a company for large-scale extraction and generation of 25 megawatts and more with excess power to be sold to adjacent nations.
Lake Kivu is one of three known exploding lakes, along with Cameroonian Lake Nyos and Lake Monoun, that experience violent lake overturns. Analysis of Lake Kivu's geological history indicates sporadic massive biological extinction on millennial timescales. The trigger for lake overturns in Lake Kivu's case is unknown but volcanic activity is suspected. The gaseous chemical composition of exploding lakes is unique to each lake; in Lake Kivu's case, methane and carbon dioxide due to lake water interaction with a volcano. The amount of methane is estimated to be 65 cubic kilometers (if burnt over one year, it would give an average power of about 100 gigawatts for the whole period). There is also an estimated 256 cubic kilometers of carbon dioxide. The methane is reported to be produced by microbial reduction of the volcanic CO2.[3] The risk from a possible Lake Kivu overturn is catastrophic, dwarfing other documented lake overturns at Lakes Nyos and Monoun, because of the approximately two million people living in the lake basin.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Kivu#Chemistry
Until recently only a local brewery was extracting methane for their needs. Now the government has contacted with a company for large-scale extraction and generation of 25 megawatts and more with excess power to be sold to adjacent nations.
Lake Kivu is one of three known exploding lakes, along with Cameroonian Lake Nyos and Lake Monoun, that experience violent lake overturns. Analysis of Lake Kivu's geological history indicates sporadic massive biological extinction on millennial timescales. The trigger for lake overturns in Lake Kivu's case is unknown but volcanic activity is suspected. The gaseous chemical composition of exploding lakes is unique to each lake; in Lake Kivu's case, methane and carbon dioxide due to lake water interaction with a volcano. The amount of methane is estimated to be 65 cubic kilometers (if burnt over one year, it would give an average power of about 100 gigawatts for the whole period). There is also an estimated 256 cubic kilometers of carbon dioxide. The methane is reported to be produced by microbial reduction of the volcanic CO2.[3] The risk from a possible Lake Kivu overturn is catastrophic, dwarfing other documented lake overturns at Lakes Nyos and Monoun, because of the approximately two million people living in the lake basin.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Kivu#Chemistry
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Kivu
Nearby cities:
Coordinates: 1°59'55"S 29°7'2"E
- Lake Tanganyika 150 km
- Lake Edward 215 km
- Lake Burigi 229 km
- Lake Victoria 389 km
- Lake Rukwa 657 km
- Lake Mweru Wantipa 719 km
- Lake Mweru 727 km
- Lake Upemba 791 km
- Lake Bangweulu 986 km
- Lake Nzilo 1024 km
- Île Iwawa 8.4 km
- Ile Shushu 13 km
- Idjwi 14 km
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