In a Different Land

by Glenn C. Koenig, webmaster at Town Wide Mall

Grindavik, ICELAND - You might think I’m crazy, but last Saturday, I waded into a small lake of wastewater from a power plant and soaked in it for awhile.  And I had plenty of company!  There were literally a few hundred other people doing exactly the same thing that morning.
The water had a bluish white appearance.  As I stood upright, (it was only about four and a half feet deep), I put my hand down a few inches from the surface and could no longer see it, it was so opaque. 

But don’t worry, there was no danger.  In fact, where I did this was in The Blue Lagoon, a small human created lake that is one of the most visited places in all of Iceland!  The power plant nearby does not use any fuel, either fossil or nuclear.  Its source of energy is strictly from super heated water from deep in the ground.

To build it, a few decades ago, they drilled wells down into the volcanic rock in the area, then added pipes to carry the hot water into the facility.  They now use it to boil fresh water in other pipes (via heat exchangers), thus making steam to drive turbines, which then run generators to make electricity.

As the water from below the rocks cannot be put back into the ground, it is allowed to cool out in the open, down to a temperature of approximately 37 - 39 °C (or 99 - 102 °F) , after which it flows into the lagoon.
This is no small operation.  You can find more here:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Lagoon_(geothermal_spa)

Now, what does this have to do with Maynard, you might ask, aside from the fact that I live here and landed back at Logan Airport that very same evening?  Well, I’ve always surmised that in order to get a better perspective on where you live, try traveling to somewhere else.  Now, of course, not everyone can afford to fly to Iceland, so I’m lucky to have had the opportunity.
I’m certainly not going to delve into everything I did there, but my experience left me thinking about some differences between our way of life, and the concerns we have living here, as compared to there.

• 100% of electricity in Iceland is generated by renewable sources: geothermal and hydropower.  Nearly all Icelandic homes are heated with geothermal energy, distributed through an extensive network of underground pipes.  Here in New England, we rely heavily on fossil fuels and increasingly on solar and wind power in the last few years.  There is more information here:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_in_Iceland

• On average, it rains or snows approximately 200 days per year, with a climate that is typically cloudier, windier, and cooler than it is here.  As a result, there is almost never a need for air conditioning.

• Because of the rain, and melting snows and glaciers in the warmer months, there is plenty of fresh water in Iceland.  Here we must ration water in the warmer months, not only in Maynard, but in many other communities in our area. Our wells are threatened with pollution and toxic compounds that can percolate down from the surface.

• Frequent winds across Iceland mean that there is almost no air pollution as the air is constantly renewed by breezes from the ocean that surrounds it.  Recently, as we have experienced here in Maynard, our air quality is subject to change without notice, based on the increasing incidence of wildfires in North America, among other factors.

• The main use of fossil fuels in Iceland is for transportation, with a bit more for cooking, and a few industrial processes.  There are no railroads, trams, or subway trains, only cars, busses, and trucks.  Electric vehicles are still rare, but are beginning to replace existing fossil fuel powered ones.

However, if you think it would be great to live there, you might want to consider the following:

• Many foods must be imported into Iceland, so food shopping or buying prepared meals is often more expensive than it is here in North America.  There are plenty of sheep, cows, and fish, there, but very few vegetables or fruit can be grown locally in the very short growing season.

• As we were there during the summer solstice, it never gets totally dark; the sun just dips a little below the horizon between midnight and 3 AM.  So one must keep the curtains tightly closed at night to get any sleep.  On the other hand, in the dead of winter, there are just a few hours of light each day.

• Although there are plenty of places to visit outside the cities, getting to many of them involves taking long trips in a car or on a tour bus (we chose to rent a car because we wanted a more flexible schedule).

Almost all roads are only two lanes, with just a line down the middle.  Cars and trucks have a speed limit of 90 kph (about 55 miles per hour) so drivers must remain very attentive!  Headlights must be on at all times.  There is very little shoulder on either side of the road, and almost no guard rails. At one point, we almost collided with a sheep that suddenly ran right in front of us (it had escaped from a fenced-in field).

Taking all that into consideration, we had a great time and I’m glad we went. It’s true that flying there (about 5 hours) does use jet fuel (a fossil fuel source).  I realize that, like anything else, “moderation in all things,”  is a good principle when considering air travel.  It is relatively easy to just book it and go, but to me, it makes sense to remain aware of our environmental impact.  After all, before 1914 there was no commercial air travel.  By 2019, just over 100 years later, an average of 2.8 million passengers fly every day!