Geothermal Energy and Volcanoes!

Geothermal Energy and Volcanoes!

On Tuesday I participated in a Faculty Directed Practicum (FDP) to Puna Geothermal Venture and Volcanoes National Park. An FDP is a field trip organized and lead by one of the professors on ship. They are designed to provide the students with a better learning experience while visiting the sites and they a required park of our curriculum for this semester.

First, we visited Volcanoes National Park. January is Volcano Awareness Month and Professor Reidinger arranged for a USGS Geologist to speak to the group about the volcanoes. He also provided us with a pamphlet that provides further information. Here is a summary of Hawaii's volcanoes

“The Island of Hawai'i is composed of five volcanoes. Through countless eruptions over hundreds of thousands of years, each one grew from the ocean floor to above sea level, where they merged to form the island we know today.
        Kohala, the oldest volcano on the island, last erupted about 60,000 years ago. Mauna Kea has erupted several times in the last 10,000 years, most recently 4,600 years ago.
        Hualalai, the island's third most active volcano, has erupted three times in the past 1,000 years, most recently in 1801. In 1929, an intense and damaging seismic swarm marked a failed eruption. Hualalai is not currently showing signs of unrest, but future eruptions are a certainty. HVO (Hawaiian Volcano Observatory) keeps a close eye on the volcano and will notify the public if any changes in status are dectected.
        Mauna Loa, the largest volcano on Earth, comprises more than half of Hawai'i Island's surface area. Since 1843, it has erupted 33 times, producing lava flows that have covered extensive areas on its flanks and reached the ocean along the south, west, and northwest coasts of the island.
        When the volcano erupts, voluminous and fast-moving flows can travel from the vent to the ocean in only hours. In 1984, during Mauna Loa's most recent eruption, lava flowed to within four miles of Hilo city limits in a matter of days.
        Mauna Loa will erupt again, quite likely during your lifetime, and is capable of disrupting lives and commerce island-wide. Therefore, its essential that Hawai'i Island residents become aware of Mauna Loa's volcanio-hazard potential and be prepared for its next eruption.
        Kilauea, one of the most active volcanoes in the world, is Hawai'i Island's youngest volcano. Over 90% of its surface is covered by lava flows less than 1,000 years old. Kilauea has been erupting essentially nonstop since 1983, and today,  eruptions continue from two active vents on the volcano.”

After viewing the volcanoes we went to hike into a lava tube. The first lava tube was all lit up and very touristy, and I was disappointed because I can all ready with my headlamp to explore and dark cave. Luckily, we found another lava tube off to the side of the main path that we chose to explore.

This one was pitch black and only myself and one other students brought light sources, so the other students huddled around us. These lava tubes can extend for miles and miles, sometimes all the way to the ocean! Parts of the tube were narrow but we kept going and decided to stop and turn around when we reached a large “room” and the ground became uneven. Before turning around, however, we turned of the lights and experienced complete darkness. Some of the students were frightened by this, but it was pretty amazing!

Then we got back on the bus and went to Puna Geothermal, a powerplant on the Big Island. For those who do not know, here is a summary of what geothermal energy is

“Geothermal energy is heat energy that comes from beneath the surface of the earth. “Geo” means earth and “thermal” refers to heat. Geothermal energy is produced from the natural heat that is stored deep below the earth's crust. In areas of volcanic activity, heat is brought to the near-surface by intrusion into the earth's crust of molten rock (lava) originating from great depth.
        In order to use this natural resource here in Hawaii, production wells are drilled far below the surface into the zone where geothermal energy can be extracted in the form of steam and hot water. This energy is being used to produce electric power on the Big Island.
        Geothermal energy has been used to produce electricity since the early 1900s and is in operation today in many parts of the world including Japan, New Zealand, Italy, France, Iceland, China and the United States. The US is the world leader in geothermal energy development and currently produces enough electricity to meet the needs of over 3 million people.”

Puna Geothermal Venture produces 25 Megawatts of power, enough to power 25,000 residents on the Big Island. It was fascinating to see this facility and talk to the engineer working there.

We then returned to the ship and began our journey to Honolulu