Winding Down

Hi everyone. I know that my mom has been passing along this blog to a lot of people who aren't very familiar with the topic of my project, so just for reference, here are links to the proposal that won me the grant, as well as my honors thesis proposal. They are effectively the same, just include slightly different information on the methodology of my project and logisitical details. Also, here's a nifty little explanation of what enhanced geothermal systems are and how they work.

Yesterday I spoke with Mr. Sigurdsson, who works in the economic office at the embassy and under whose purview energy affairs falls. A lot of our discussion focused on Iceland's investment environment and how that has changed and how it might change in the future. We also discussed how the political atmosphere has affected the development of the energy sector, in particular with regards to the heavy industry (aka aluminum smelters) that buys the new installed capacity. **A tangential note: I don't think I mentioned this before, but it absolutely blows my mind! Iceland has all the energy it needs, and almost every last bit of it is renewable (AND CHEAP). All new development and installed capacity is purely for the use of heavy industries. Energy companies actually have to establish contracts with these industries to ensure themselves a market!** It will be interesting to observe if/how any attitudes or policies change following the upcoming elections.

Today I finished up my last meeting with Dr. Armannsson, who works with the Iceland Geosurvey (ISOR) and a mini-conference hosted by the Geothermal Research Group (GEORG).

My meeting with Dr. Armannsson was very interesting. We talked a lot about ISOR's work abroad, and a major theme that seemed to recur in our discussion was public education and acceptance of geothermal technology. Particularly in developing countries, this could be a big barrier to development. We also discussed a little more about ISOR, how it obtains its funding, and how it operates, all of which I think will be very useful in my research. It was very interesting to learn more about Iceland's relationship with the UN Unversity Geothermal Development Program (UNU-GDP), and the challenges to working abroad.

The afternoon meeting was very nice because I got to see Dr. Fridleifsson, who graciously toured me around the Reykjanes penninsula on Monday, and chat a bit with him. Mr. Ketilsson happened to be one of the presenters, and he spoke a bit about the International Geothermal Association's Geothermal Implementation Agreement. The meeting was quite informative on the structure and initiatives of GEORG, and included a discussion of how it should move forward. I happened to meet a woman while waiting in the lobby for the meeting to start, who was very nice and is incidentally from Virginia. She mentioned a few contacts for me back in the U.S. who I think will be very good to contact.

My time in Iceland is starting to wind down. I booked a tour of the Golden Circle tomorrow (a tour of Iceland's "greatest natural attractions" including waterfalls, geysers, etc.) so that should be very fun! I hope to go to the Blue Lagoon on Sunday or Monday and then it's off to Paris. Until then, I realized today, I have a lot to do! I've got to read up a bit more on French policy and want to refamiliarize myself with the details of the Soultz project (it's been a while since I've reviewed my materials). I also need to firm up my schedule for Germany, and work on preparing a short presentation for the officials at NEDO (in Japan) on geothermal trends in the U.S. Concurrently, I need to set up firm interviews with my Australian contacts (all of whom asked me to schedule appointments a little closer to my arrival date), talk a bit with Ms. Agapinan about my schedule in the Philippines, and plan my sightseeing agenda for Paris! So I should be quite busy until I leave.

I hope that everyone is doing well! Skype me soon!