Before coming to Iceland, I remember telling all of my friends and family how “sustainable” Iceland is from its geothermal plants to hydroelectric dams. After visiting the hydroelectric plant and meeting with environmental activist Andri Snær Magnason, I have decided that even though this country runs on renewable energy, the people and industry are not using the energy in way that is conservational.
Sure, people can leave hot water running from the sink all day and open windows when it is too warm in the house, but there is a much larger energy consumer than all people on Iceland combined− aluminum smelters. According to the LA Times, Iceland’s three smelters now consume at least five times as much electricity as all 320,000 of the country’s residents (Chu, 2011). Two of these smelters, Alcoa and Century Aluminum Corporation, are owned by the United States. Why is this a problem? Aluminum smelting plants are harmful to the surrounding environment. The energy provided for the plant generated by damming pristine waterfalls and rivers, the effects of which include change in water temperature, destruction of spawning habitat, and the list goes on. In addition, these plants have fluoride byproducts that has been a problem. In 2014, the levels of fluoride in grass in areas around the Alcoa smelter in Reyðarfjörður proved to be just below the guideline limit in the Environment Agency of Iceland’s third round of testing last summer only because there was a significant amount of rainfall in the days preceding the testing (Aluminum, 2014). The past two previous tests found levels to be above the guideline limit on average in the eight locations tested (Aluminum, 2014). Clearly this is a large concern in Iceland today.
Jessica Setter
Aluminum Smelters in Iceland. (2014). Retrieved from http://icelandreview.com/stuff/ask-ir/2014/12/26/aluminum-smelters-iceland
Chu, H. (2011). Iceland divided over aluminum’s role in its future. Retrieved from http://articles.latimes.com/2011/mar/26/business/la-fi-iceland-economy-20110326