Iceland: Geothermal Energy

Iceland is an island nation in the northern Atlantic ocean to the southeast of Greenland. It lies near the Atlantic Ridge, leading to high amounts of Geothermal activity. This leads to a perfect setup for geothermal energy use.

Geothermal energy uses heated water underneath the earth to create steam, and spin a turbine. Once the heated water becomes cool, it is sent back underground to heat up again. Because of this, it is considered a renewable energy source. There is very little pollution involved with geothermal energy, and it has very few downsides.

Geothermal energy makes up around 66% of all renewable energy use in Iceland. In areas such as Iceland with high volcanic activity such as the western US,  geothermal power can be used for more than heating homes, it can be used to power entire cities and towns. One such example is the Hellisheiði Po

Hellisheidi powerstation By ThinkGeoEnergy [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
wer Station, which produces 303MW of electricity. This power station is the third largest geothermal plant in the world. Iceland has 5 other major geothermal power plants located across the country, which provide power for thousands of homes. In-home and on site geothermal generators also see use, which make little noise as well as needing little to no maintenance.

A diagram of an in-home geothermal unit (source:http://geothermalinnovation.org/geothermal-for-the-home)

 

These heating units can save home owners thousands of dollars a year, especially in a tundra region such as Iceland. Even homeowners in low-volcanic activity areas such as New England or the Southern US can use geothermal power to heat their homes and businesses.

Overall, I think the use of geothermal energy in Iceland is its best option. It has breathtaking landscapes, and its use of geothermal and other sustainable energy will help keep it pristine. It is one of the only countries in the world where their electricty output is nearly 100% renewable (75% from hydroelectricity and 25% from geothermal energy). This should serve as an example of the correct way to generate sustainable energy on a large scale, rather than small scattered solar and wind farms. Of course, this will not be possible in areas such as the eastern United States or sourthern Africa, where there is little volcanic activity. These regions should use their natural landscape to their advantage, wind for the eastern US and solar for southern Africa using Iceland as a blueprint. As I had discussed in my previous blog about solar technology around the world, Tampa Bay airport and George airport in South Africa have added solar technology. These little scattered projects along with large scale power plants will help nations generate clean, sustainable power, just like Iceland.

 

 

 

 

Sources:
http://www.nea.is/geothermal/

http://www.mannvit.com/projects/hellisheidi-geothermal-power-plant/

http://www.icelandontheweb.com/articles-on-iceland/nature/geology/geothermal-heat

http://reneweconomy.com.au/2012/iceland-a-100-renewables-example-in-the-modern-era-56428

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