Week 15: Goodbye Iceland

Today I flew to Copenhagen. Soon I’ll continue on through Moscow and finally arrive in Beijing on Wednesday morning. The second country of study in my Watson Fellowship, China, fast approaches. I feel some mixture of excitement and intimidation towards China’s megacities and burgeoning populations. To be sure, China will be radically different from Iceland.

For starters, the contrast between the energy systems of China and Iceland couldn’t be starker. Goodbye Iceland. Goodbye 100% renewable electricity. Hello Beijing. Hello Shanghai. Hello coal. Hello Three Gorges Dam. Hello two coal power plants added to the national grid per week. Two per week! Hello world’s largest investor in renewable energy technology. Hello 1.3 billion people. Hello hustle and bustle and relentless march of economic development.

Before departing Iceland I wrapped up all my loose ends. I finished a report on hydrogen sulfide emissions control technology for Landsvirkjun, the largest power company in Iceland. My hosts at Landsvirkjun arranged a farewell party at a local tavern, either signifying satisfaction with my work or good riddance. I can’t be sure which.

I also had a tasty farewell dinner with the Director of Sustainable Energy at Islandsbanki (Bank of Iceland), with whom I hope to continue various projects surrounding www.thinkgeoenergy.com.

Finally, I said farewell to the various folks I’ve met and lived with in Iceland. My buddy Hinrick drove five hours from Akureyri to say goodbye over one final dinner of Thai food (the Icelandic Thai population is burgeoning after Icelandic males experienced a brief infatuation with mail order brides). I also said a somber goodbye to all my new friends in the Salvation Army Guesthouse – the most international and cramped accommodations I’ve ever had the privilege to call home for one month. Never before (outside the UN) have Tajikistanis, Nigerians, Americans, Germans, Canadians, Colombians, Italians, Greeks, Poles, and countless other nationalities come together in such an energized, generally friendly, occasionally angry, and always physical manner. Imagine 20 people from all over the world waiting to cook on one of two stovetop burners – the line for dinner each night was an experience in and of itself. I spent many hours sampling the foods and ideas of all these different folks while bumping and shuffling about in a dim and tight kitchen.

Looking back on my last month in Reykjavik – “City of Fear” as rural Icelanders call it - I can say that I grew. I refined, updated, abandoned, and re-evaluated many of my opinions about energy. My personal strategies and goals moving forward have changed. Again, I found myself fighting the same old environment-economy-energy battle that I’ve wrestled with so many times before. I spent the last month with an overwhelming array of personalities spanning from staunch capitalists to communists, fundamentalist environmentalists to unrestrained industrialists, politicians, regulators, businesspeople, entrepreneurs, and a sampling of about twenty different world cultures. This bombardment forced me to see things in a new light. I wont delve too far into the specifics of my musings because they are private, in progress, and would constitute multiple essays each (not the kinds of things one simply tosses out without support, evidence, and argument). It will suffice to say that I’ve taken on a more pragmatic view, I think. However, I haven’t compromised my idealism so much as tempered it and redirected it within the confines of our imperfect world, our technology, our demand, and especially our financial system.

I’ll add that my musings in Reykjavik evolved naturally from my experiences, relationships, and observations. The focus of my time in the Icelandic capital was researching the technology and economics of hydrogen sulfide pollution control systems and evaluating carbon sequestration options for Landsvirkjun, but that was by no means my only source of learning. I gleefully participated in meetings with Japanese power plant manufacturers, geothermal investment bankers, and power plant designers. I toured a number of operating geothermal facilities. I attended lectures from international researchers in geology, engineering, and environmental protection. I also met and discussed with inventors, financiers, and developers from other energy industries like hydro, solar, gas, and coal.

One last thing. China doesn’t like people publishing details about their energy industry. Occasionally they imprison offenders, like the unfortunate American geologist who will be in Chinese jail for the next two years because he released information about some oil wells. I’ve decided it’s best not to risk a similar situation. Beyond that, I’ve heard that blogger.com is intermittently censored within China, so I probably wouldn’t be able to publish frequently if at all. Accordingly, this may be my last post until I land in Madrid come March.

In China I have plans in various stages of development/commitment to work with Shanghai Electric, Global Geothermal, Hysen International, Shaanxi Green Energy, tour two district heating facilities, attend meetings of the Beijing Energy Network, and much more. I’ll study Mandarin with private tutors, and will plan at least one rural trip to really experience the culture, see the contrast to urban life, and perhaps find some opportunities for a post-Watson return. Beijing, Shanghai, and Xian will probably be my home bases for one or two months each. My total time in China will be over four months. I have an apartment arranged in Beijing, which is where I’ll land at 9:50 on Wednesday. So exciting!

I want to thank everyone who has taken the time to read my blog, leave comments, email me thoughts, and support me during this year. I’ve received over 2,100 hits so far, which is pretty exciting for me. Don’t be alarmed if I don’t post here for a couple months. I’ll be back before you know it!