The first stop of the day was in Dyrhólaey, or Door Hill Island, named for the arches in the rock. It was relatively close to Vík, so we’d seen the same beaches before, but this was on the other side of a large, stony peninsula; here, the waves were much stronger, water splashing pretty far up each time the waves crashed against the rock. Like many places in Iceland, it was mostly made of basalt, but here there was also some obsidian and pumice lying around (which I did snatch for souvenirs).
Next up was a place very in line with the theme of the trip, sustainable engineering: Hellisheiði Power Plant. As one of the two major geothermal power plants owned by ON Power, and the largest in the country, it was a great place to learn about this form of energy generation. After a presentation about the multiple systems going on at once in the power plant (given by someone who actually was from Pennsylvania) that explained how Hellisheiði was able to simultaneously send out both electricity and hot water from the same source, we got to see one of the boreholes used for the reinjection of brine and other gaseous byproducts.
The final destination of the day was Reykjavík, the capital and largest city of Iceland. After a quick tour through the city’s main street along with some other nearby notable locations we all got dinner together then were sent out into the wild to explore. I snagged a couple souvenirs on the way through the city, which was rather navigable, which was especially good when you’re trying to get back to a hotel that’s half an hour’s worth of walking without any service. Props to Hellisheiði for producing enough power to light up the way!
Swanson School of Engineering 