El Hierro - Canary Islands Volcano Threat - 4.3 Quake Largest in Recent Tremors

wow this is beginning to look more legit every day..

better hit the bunkers kids

El Hierro was formed by volcanic activity.

Like the rest of the Canary Islands chain, El Hierro is sharply mountainous and volcanic. Only one eruption has ever been recorded on the island from the Volcan de Lomo Negro vent in 1793. The eruption lasted a month.

El Hierro is a 278.5 km2 island, formed approx 1.2 million year ago[10] after three successive eruptions, the island emerged from the ocean as a triangle of basaltic dykes topped with a volcanic cone more than 2,000 metres high.[11] With continued activity resulting in the island expanding to have the largest number of volcanoes in the Canaries (over 500 cones, another 300 covered by more recent deposits), together with approximately 70 caves and volcanic galleries, including the Don Justo cave whose collection of channels is over 6km in length.[11] Landslides have reduced the size and height of the island.[11] The current highest point is situated in the middle of the island, in Malpaso, 1501 meters high.



Wow - wonder if this will be a BIG waste of $ in the long run, considering the current threat?

According to the Ministry for Industry, Tourism and Commerce, El Hierro will become the first island in the world to be energy self-sufficient. This will be achieved through a €54 million project combining a greater than 11 megawatt wind farm and two hydroelectric projects.

The project, created by the local Gorona del Viento El Hierro consortium with financial aid from the European Union, will construct five wind turbines capable of producing 11.5 megawatts of wind power to supply electricity for approximately 11,000 residents, an additional number of tourists, and three water desalination facilities. The hybrid wind/pumped hydro storage system will store surplus wind power by pumping water up 700 meters (approximately 2,300 feet) to fill the crater of an extinct volcano. When winds are calm or when demand exceeds supply, water will be released from the crater to generate 11.3 MW of electricity, filling an artificial basin created at the bottom of the extinct volcano. Water in the lower basin is then pumped back up again to the upper reservoir when there is excess wind power.

The closed-loop hybrid wind/hydro system, to be tested by the end of 2011, is expected to save approximately US$4M per year (calculated with January 2011 oil prices) currently spent on about 40,000 barrels of crude oil imported annually, and will make the island completely self-sufficient for electrical energy.

Endangered Species...

El Hierro is home to many unique species, such as the critically endangered El Hierro Giant Lizard (Gallotia simonyi), for which there is a captive breeding programme, allowing its reintroduction.

The interior of the island contains thermophilous juniper forest, evergreen woodlands and pine forest.


[link to en.wikipedia.org]