| Abstract |
The Environmental Concerns of Geothermal Development in Ethiopia will fluctuate u. ..... ~J ..... uu.J.l~ primarily on the location and geological setting of the geothermal prospect. In Ethiopia the .lV ... .... o..lVl of the high enthalpy geothermal fields with which this paper is mainly concerned are concentrated the Main Ethiopian Rift (MER) and the Afar Depression of Ethiopia (AIDE). In the MER Geological setting of the geothermal fields is near volcanic centres which act as heat sources in the AIDE it is along axial ranges, incipient spreading zones which also act as heat sources. are also some geothermal fields associated with volcanic centres in southern Afar. Additionally these, there will be further variation depending on the types of volcanic centres and axial ranges. Discussing about Environmental Concerns of Geothermal Development in Ethiopia, this p mainly refers to those geothermal projects where exploration for geothermal development has conducted to some degree and with which exploration this author has been involved. Foremost these explored geothermal areas are the Aluto-Langano Geothermal project, the T~.J. Geothermal project where exploration up to deep drilling has been conducted and in the case of Aluto-Iangano Geothermal project a pilot geothermal power plant of 8.2MWe gross was installed, although not operational at present due to some technical troubles which are now under study and in the process of remedial. Then the other geothermal fields referred to are Northern Lake Abaya Geothermal Field, Corbetti Caldera Geothermal Field, Gedamssa Caldera Geothermal field and a number of fields in the Southern Afar Project. The environmental considerations look into the environmental laws of Ethiopia, the physical environment, the biological environment and the human environment. Considering the initial environment, the high enthalpy geothermal development areas are remotely located and often barren, presently their neighborhood is typically devoid of settlements and also lacking in recreational or tourist facilities. Any Geothermal Development however should conform to the Environmental Policy of Ethiopia issued in 1997 as well as the Proclamation on the Establishment of Environmental Protection Organs, Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Proclamation and Environmental Pollution Control Proclamation all issued in 2002. |