  Three dimensional electromagnetic gyrofluid simulations of the ideal
ballooning mode blowout scenario for tokamak edge localized modes (ELMs) are
presented. Special emphasis is placed on energetic diagnosis, examining changes
in the growth rate in the linear, overshoot, and decay phases. The saturation
process is energy transfer to self generated edge turbulence which exhibits an
ion temperature gradient (ITG) mode structure. Convergence in the decay phase
is found only if the spectrum reaches the ion gyroradius. The equilibrium is a
self consistent background whose evolution is taken into account. Approximately
two thirds of the total energy in the edge layer is liberated in the blowout.
Parameter dependence with respect to plasma pressure and the ion gyroradius is
studied. Despite the violent nature of the short-lived process, the transition
to nonlinearity is very similar to that found in generic tokamak edge
turbulence.
