Tectonic movement is tearing Africa apart, and along the fracture line (photo below), the earth’s molten rock comes close enough to the surface to create steam that can be captured by economically feasible wells. The steam can then be used to drive turbines that generate electricity.
On the human scale, that energy is limitless, but there are technical challenges and economic costs involved in capturing it. However, with some of the world’s most accessible geothermal energy within its borders, Kenya already gets nearly 40% of its electricity from this source.
Geothermal has advantages over other non-fossil energy technologies. It doesn’t require the sun to shine, or the wind to blow, or melting snow or rainfall to fill reservoirs. It doesn’t require massive scale, and can be brought online quickly. That makes it nearly ideal for developing economies like Kenya’s.
But, like everything else, it’s not a panacea, nor a solution by itself to the world’s need to move away from fossil fuels.
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