Geothermal and Hydropower Energy in Iceland || Iceland Series (part 2)

Hi Everyone!

If you saw part one to the new Iceland mini series, you may know that I recently went to Iceland, and I wanted to share a little about my trip and the country as a whole. Today I wanted to discuss geothermal and hydropower energy sources, as they are such an important energy sources in Iceland.

Disclaimer: I am not an expert, and this post was written from research I have done as well as my own experiences and things I witnessed during my recent trip to Iceland.

Iceland's unique formation and geology, as it is on the Mid-Atlantic ridge and is over a volcanic hotspot, makes it a perfect place to harness geothermal energy. Due to this source, Iceland is more energy independent from other countries, as it can produce a lot of energy without resources from other countries. This means that prices are also lower for Icelandic people, especially when it comes to heating their homes. This is something the tour guide on our trip told us about, and it was really interesting to hear from someone actually living in Iceland, and hear his experiences.

If Iceland was only to use geothermal energy, infrastructure would be an issue as many homes and small communities are completely isolated and very spread out, as I found out when I went there. There were so many lost little farmhouses and small clusters of houses in the middle of nowhere, and getting geothermal energy to them all would require a lot of infrastructure.

There is also a health implication. In Reykjavik, Hydrogen sulfide emitted from two nearby geothermal power plants has had a negative impact on residents' health. This is a negative of geothermal energy, and may impact how beneficial it actually is to use these sources.

However, Iceland also has a lot of possibility for hydropower, as it has many rivers, lakes and waterfalls. This has become another important source of renewable energy in Iceland. There are also, of course, issues with the use of hydropower.

In 2021, there were droughts in Iceland, leading to a shortage of water and the hydropower industry suffered greatly. This therefore caused a blip in electricity production, and overall this is an issue with the hydropower industry which is becoming increasingly apparent as we experience more droughts, and not only in Iceland.

The UNEP says in this article, that ...

Today, nearly 100 percent of Iceland's electricity comes from renewable sources, a transformation that has helped make its 366,000 people some of the wealthiest in Europe.

This is such a huge achievement. I did some other research and not all sources seemed to agree about exactly how much of Iceland's energy is renewable. It ranges between 75% and 100%, but even 75% percent is still amazing.

I really believe that each country needs to find the renewable resources that match their country, and for Iceland it makes so much sense to use primarily geothermal and hydropower sources.

I hope this has been interesting for you, and that you will consider visiting Iceland someday - it's such a beautiful country!!

Your Green World Blog Team💚

Sources:
https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/iceland-world-leader-clean-energy-supports-africas-push-geothermal-power
https://www.government.is/topics/business-and-industry/energy/
https://ourworldindata.org/energy/country/iceland
https://www.un.org/en/chronicle/article/icelands-sustainable-energy-story-model-world

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