Today was awesome! We learned about and experienced geothermal energy in several ways. Our adventure began when we rented a tiny micro car and set off into the mountains east of Reykjavik. I drove and Amanda navigated -- no mean feat given that our only map of the area was in Icelandic and lacked some important details. We turned around a few times, but we got there.
"There" was the Hellenshoi geothermal plant. That's where our dorky science teacher selves really came out. We spent two hours learning about the history of geothermal energy in Iceland, the engineering of the plant, and the amazing number of uses of geothermal heat that we never would have thought of, like preserving food and making paper. The most impressive and amazing thing I learned was that carbon dioxide emissions in Reykjavik have plummeted since the 1960's (check out the picture below!). That's when large-scale geothermal energy production in Iceland began. Meanwhile, carbon dioxide emissions in the US have risen dramatically over the same time period.
After exploring the plant we went hinking I the mountains nearby, toward the Hengill volcano. We saw many steam vents and natural hot streams like the one behind me in this picture.
Our day of geothermal energy didn't end there -- but I'll leave the rest of the story to Amanda.
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