If you were to put someone who had never been to Iceland in a deep coma, relocate them to an isolated part of the country between two towns, and allow them to wake up alone, they would think they were transported to another planet. Better yet, place said person amongst the geometric structures covering the Hellisheiði Power Station’s boreholes and they will likely refuse to believe their surroundings. That being said, I’m open to trying this if someone wants to make it happen…say the day after we get back to Pitt.
Today’s adventures were as disorienting as they were clarifying, and, as we watched the sun rise during our ride from the airport to Reykjavík, our new world enveloped us. The flat stretches of rocky fields are nothing short of mesmerizing, and the emergence of mountains in the background of the black and white landscape provides additional depth. I find the simple terrain and vegetation engaging and very visually appealing.
We visited the Hellisheiði Power Station in the afternoon after a brief walking tour of Reykjavík, and the experience was incredibly fascinating. The station is set up to encourage visitors to explore and question the large machinery and processes used to generate electricity. Our guide offered a comprehensive and valuable explanation of how Iceland is able to more-sustainably supply the island’s people, businesses, and industries with adequate amounts of power. It was also interesting to learn what the station does with their lower-temperature heated water in terms of distributing it to the rest of the island. Our final stop on the tour was one of the boreholes where both scrubbed CO2 and the remaining liquid after purifying the water pulled from within the Earth are forced back into the ground for storage purposes and environmental benefit. This was a unique experience and was absolutely the highlight of the tour.
Swanson School of Engineering 