Darvaza’s eternal blaze finally turns off

Do you know Turkmenistan? Moreover, This Central Asian country. Moreover, born after the collapse of the USSR, is one of those nations that are difficult to locate on a map. However, with an area of 488,100 km2, the country is almost as large as Spain.

He is known worldwide for “the doors of hell”. However, A huge brazier, created by accident by Soviet geologists in the 1970s. Consequently, Today is the largest tourist attraction in the country. Moreover, Lost in the middle of the Karakoum desert. Furthermore, in the heart of the country, this crater 70 meters in diameter for 20 meters deep burns permanently.

It rests on a methane pocket, a greenhouse gas. Moreover, During its discovery in 1971, the ground collapsed and the drilling facilities were engulfed. Nevertheless, The gas is then lost and the Soviets decide to set fire darvaza’s eternal blaze finally turns to it, to make it disappear quickly. Similarly, A current practice at the time.

But in Darvaza nothing goes as planned. The fire that should not stop itself after a few weeks never dies out. For almost 50 years, the crater has been prey to flames. To the point of becoming a compulsory stopover for tourists passing through the country.

The end of an era – Darvaza's eternal blaze finally turns

Under increasingly strong international pressures. the president and authoritarian chief of the country Gourbangouly Berdymoukhamedov had announced in 2022 the cessation of these “doors to hell”. He assured that this crater had to be extinguished because “These enormous amounts of gas have a negative impact on the environment. health of the surrounding populations. »»

As a reminder, methane is a gas with a powerful greenhouse effect. It is as such 84 times more dangerous than CO2 in equivalent quantity. Its open -air combustion for almost darvaza’s eternal blaze finally turns 50 years is therefore a real ecological drama. In a report published in 2024. the International Energy Agency (IAI) made Turkmenistan the country with the most super-enmissions in the world, before the United States and China.

But for the country, the economy resting almost exclusively on the sale of gas, it is also an economic question. “Precious raw materials are lost. Their export could generate significant profits and contribute to the well-being of our population. »»

Half a word, travel agencies and other tourist guides fear the closure of Darvaza. The site was the tourist attraction of the country. without it, the few income generated by foreign vacationers are likely to disappear.

A complex stop

Although ordered in 2022, the end of the crater is still not acted. In fact, the dictatorship of Central Asia would have all the sorrows of the world to fulfill this task. For good darvaza’s eternal blaze finally turns reason, the blaze is not based on a large compact and united gas pocket. Instead, these are thin layers of gas that burn one after the other. Between them, other layers of rock make the extraction of gas very complicated. Big means have nevertheless been set up.

For 10 years the amount of burned gas in the crater has been divided by three. The high and intimidating flames are today replaced by a smoking blaze, with barely visible flames.

Open since 1971, the doors of hell have consumed 3.8 million tonnes of methane (according to a 2020 study, publish in the Journal of Physics Special Topics). If this gas had been used, He would have released an energy of 52.8 TWh. A shortfall of several million dollars for the Turkmenistan government.

📍 To not miss any Citron press, follow us on Google News and Whatsapp.

darvaza’s eternal blaze finally turns