The hazards of geothermal energy

A seism of 3.2 on the scale of Richter occured in the area of Bâle on the 16th of January. It may have been provoked by the building of  a geothermal energy central!

In 1996 began a project called Deep Heat Mining led by the federal office of the energy. Its purpose was to provide more than 10 000 families with electricity and 3000 of them with heating. The first drilling occured in October 2006 and highly-pressurized water was injected into the rock, down to 5 kilometers. This pressure may have been at the origin of many seisms, the first of which occured on the 8th of December and the last one on the 16th of January.

            Bâle in a few years?

The project managers do not seem too worried by the seisms as M. Schwendener, member of the board of directors of the company in charge of the project, tells us that: "We had informed the authorities and the media that seisms may happen during the stimulation of the rock. The message did not go through too well... For the project to survive, we have to regain the public opinion"

I guess perhaps there is nothing to worry about... Well, for your information, the city of Bâle was completely destroyed by a seism in 1356... history about to repeat?

Source: le monde