Fire in Iceland

The Lesley Riddoch Podcast

Lesley Riddoch and Pat Joyce

Political Chat, News, Political Commentary, Scottish Politics, Politics, Scottish Independence, Uk Politics, Society & Culture

4.8 • 259 Ratings

🗓️ 17 December 2024

⏱️ 44 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Iceland has a stunning landscape with glaciers galore … but is more properly fire island. Lava, earthquakes eruptions and volcanoes dominate life and world headlines. Before Christmas 2023, an eruption forced people from their homes in the fishing port of Grindavik. One year and six eruptions later – the townspeople are back. But another eruption nearby is spewing lava across the car park of the famous Blue Lagoon. By the time you hear this podcast, that eruption could be over… or much worse.

Yet despite all the risk and uncertainty, many Icelanders say they live here because of their volcanoes not despite them. Why? That’s what this podcast is all about.
Credits

Thanks to Easyjet for flights – direct to Reykjavik every weekday from Edinburgh.

Lesley travelled to the Westman Islands in a Europcar vehicle (complete with winter tyres) from Keflavik airport, took the dual fuel Herjolfur ferry (government owned and council run) courtesy of Business Iceland and stayed at the Hotel Vestmannaeyjar thanks to Visit South Iceland

Accommodation in Reykjavik was kindly provided by podcast listener Scott Riddell.

Big thanks also to interviewees –

Laufey Sif Lárusdóttir who runs a pizzeria and Ölverk brewery using geothermal steam in Hveragerði with husband Elvar. She also manages to be mum to three small boys.

Páll Zóphóníasson was once Mayor of Heimaey (main town on Westman Islands) and town engineer at the time of the 1973 eruption. Tax office staff, Jóhanna Kristín Gunnlaugsdóttir and Ròsa Sveinsdòttir were just children at the time.

Kári Valgeirsson is Science Communicator at the Hellisheiði power plant – one of the largest single-site geothermal power plants on the planet. Daily tours available via https://www.on.is/en/geothermal-exhibition/

Thanks also to Limma and Gudrun Hannesdottir,

Researched, recorded and produced by Lesley Riddoch

Edited by Pat Joyce

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Transcript

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0:00.0	This podcast is about Iceland and extremes and geothermal energy and living with volcanoes and not being as scared of eruptions of eruptions of eruptions of earthquakes, of everything tectonic that this island can throw at you.
0:26.4	I made a film here a few years ago and interviewed a geologist who corrected me when I asked if people were living on Iceland despite volcanoes.
0:35.1	And he said, no, no, we are living here because of volcanoes now that sort of
0:40.1	stopped me in my tracks because it's a very different perspective but also because for folk here
0:45.8	this is true Iceland would not probably have crested through the waves itself were it not for volcanoes
0:52.3	there are technically 33 here perhaps it should never have been called
0:57.1	Iceland. It is more lava land. Apparently a third of all the lava that's flowed on Earth has
1:03.4	flowed on Iceland. So I'm here to find out a bit more about how the people have learned to harness and live with the, harness the energy and live with the risks that come
1:15.2	with that. And the first stop for me is a little village called Kfer Gerthi.
1:22.2	It's sitting in the hot springs area about 25 kilometres from Reykjavik.
1:31.0	And it's noticeable because it has glass houses that produces tomatoes cucumbers all sorts of lettuce vegetables even in the middle of winter
1:37.5	and yet those hot springs can move so it can be a dangerous place to live and And yet, again, that energy has been harnessed.
1:47.2	The person I'm coming to see is Laufi Sif-Laurostater. She was born and raised in this village.
1:53.8	She's got a brewery and a pizza restaurant, which are both powered by geothermal energy. perhaps one of the very few in the world.
2:03.6	And boy, is she a larger-than-life character, as I'm to find out,
2:07.7	we will end up getting a bit of a tour of hot springs into the bargain.
2:11.8	So when we brew the beer, we have fresh, cold water heated up with three of Tornosti.
2:18.4	So it occurs the system of about 150 degrees Celsius.
2:22.9	And yeah, that's one of the main reasons why we chose this location for the brewery and the
2:29.3	pizzeria because we knew we were able to connect our system to the steam system of the town.
2:36.0	I mean there are about 30 breweries in Iceland, and this is the only one here in Iceland,
2:40.0	that uses geothermal energy solely in the process, brewing process.
	...

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