Darvaza is a Turkmenistan village of about 350 inhabitants, located in the middle of the Kara-Kum desert, north from Ashgabat. The Darvaza area is rich in natural gas. While drilling in 1971 geologists accidentally found an underground cavern filled with natural gas.
The ground beneath the drilling rig collapsed, leaving a large hole with a diameter of about 50-100 meters. To avoid poisonous gas discharge, it was decided to burn the gas. It has been burning ever since.
3 comment(s):
I wonder how long this gas would have extended the world's energy reserves for if it weren't on fire.
That looks like Mordor. How bizarre!
Slippy - I was thinking the same thing. Why not douse this fire as it burns now and use whatever's left as energy?
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