This was our last day along the South Coast of Iceland before heading back to Reykjavík. To start off we went back to some of the black sand beaches that we saw a few days earlier. Today was even better in my opinion because it was sunny and bright blue skies. Despite this, the waves still look menacing enough to keep me out of the water. Even without the threat of them surprising me when I have my back turned and carrying me out to sea. Also the water is so cold that even in the summer it is still not possible to go swimming without getting hypothermia. So I think I’ll stick to Virginia Beach if I have the urge to swim. However, getting to walk on black sand one last time was still pretty cool.
The next stop on the journey involved looking out over the ocean where the waves were crashing into rocks and shooting water upwards. Sometimes the water would shoot up almost 15 feet high, that is how I know its powerful! Additionally, there were a few rock formations with holes in the center of them from all of the waves crashing into them. It kind of made me want to rent a kayak and go through the center. However, I know that I would be flipped upside down in a matter of minutes. It seems that this area might have been a port of some kind at one point since there were massive anchors put in the rock here. My guess is that this was from World War II.
Now it was time for a 2 hour bus ride to the Hellisheiði power plant! Once arriving we had one of the staff give us a presentation on all aspects of geothermal power. It is very interesting how the process works. They pump geothermal fluid into these wells that they bore, extract it, separate the brine from the steam, use the steam to power turbines, then condense it using cold water extracted from the ground, next use this water put it through a thermal plant, and then send it individual homes for heating or to an injection well as waste. This method of generating power is excellent for a country like Iceland with all of its geothermal areas that can easily be tapped into. Implementing this technology in the United States would have to depend on the region since geothermal areas are not as widespread as they are here in Iceland. Another aspect of this technology that they are experimenting with is direct air carbon capture and also carbon storage. This works by grabbing carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and then injecting it into the ground where it naturally turns to stone. This is an environmentally friendly way to help reverse the greenhouse effect.
The last event for the day was heading for a tour of Reykjavík with our tour guide, Ólöf. I learned that the Danish control of Iceland really impacted their system of government, but they do like to have their funny jokes. One of the things I thought was funny was a statue of a bureaucrat with a block head walking into the government office. The mayor at the time was apparently a jokester and thought that too many people in government think they carry the weight of the world on their shoulders. In reality though, they are just a block head! Then we headed out to dinner at a gastropub where I got to try puffin, horse tartar, salmon, and pollock dip. Everything was surprisingly tasty! I did not think that I would like it as much as I did, especially the horse tartar!
Swanson School of Engineering 