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Lava Fountains Erupting from the Earth’s Crust! [Pics]

The lava formations and spewing eruptions are a sight to behold. This article shows pictures, videos and facts about the most famous volcanoes known to man.

…hoehoe in Hawaii. Small lobes of smooth, runny lava ooze out of the cooled crust of the Earth. This slow movement forms bizarre sculptures of lava. The natural temperature of this mammoth flow is 1100 to 1200 degrees Celsius - which is quite high compared to other lava flows. Because of the smooth round texture of the lava, satellites in space are unable to pick it up from their radar beams.
Photo: J.B Judd
The reason for lava domes forming, as pictured above, is that the new, liquid lava is the same temperature as the old, dried lava. The lava shoots at least 60 meters in the air! The upward pressure of the new, liquid lava pushing upward makes a pretty, round cone shape. The one pictured above, in a photo taken in the 1960s, is approximately 66ft tall - as high as a 6 storey building.
Photo: Jonathan Lewis
Most people are familiar with the lava formation above, which is quite asymmetrical and unorganised in appearance. This volcanic eruption is none other than that of Villarrica in southern Chile. It is…

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Lava Fountains Erupting from the Earth’s Crust! [Pics]

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Failed Bush ‘Clean Coal’ Project Gets a Fresh $1B From Obama

The beleaguered FutureGen program, first announced in 2003, will attempt to demonstrate the viability of “clean coal” technology, where carbon dioxide emissions from coal-fired power plants are captured and stored deep within the earth, rather than entering the atmosphere and contributing to climate change.

…coal accounts for roughly half of the country’s electricity generation.

Yet carbon capture and storage (CCS) is largely untested at a commercial scale, and critics note the expense of pursuing an unproven technology that requires massive quantities of water. Proponents, including U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu, point out that cheap, but dirty coal will continue to play an important role in power generation, particularly in developing countries China and India.

“Today’s announcement will help ensure the U.S. remains competitive in a carbon constrained economy, creating jobs while reducing greenhouse gas pollution,” Secretary Chu said in a statement Thursday. “This investment in the world’s first, commercial-scale, oxy-combustion power plant will help to open up the over $300 billion market for coal unit repowering and position the country as a leader in an important part of the global clean energy economy.”

Then President George W. Bush first announced the project in 2001, with the FutureGen Alliance…

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Failed Bush ‘Clean Coal’ Project Gets a Fresh $1B From Obama

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