Stopping over in the land of renewable energy, en route to a national renewable energy lab

My doctoral training centre provide the opportunity to apply for a placement or internship during your PhD and I must confess, I’d had my eye on the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) in Colorado for quite a while! I liked the idea of getting to experience researching in a different kind of environment to a university. I may find it better, may find it worse, maybe it’ll be a combination of both or not very different at all – one way to find out! I would also be lying if I said I was not also tempted by the prospect of spending some time living in Colorado as a keen hiker, trail runner and rock climber! I like to think that the more epic your weekend, the more productive your working week and I imagine you could have some pretty damn epic weekends when living in Colorado! When looking for the cheapest flight, I kept being recommended Icelandair which I found a bit bizarre. I have a shamefully poor knowledge of world geography and since learnt that Iceland is actually more or less on the way to North America, so this wasn’t random at all. And as a bonus, it turns out you can stopover in Iceland for up to 7 days at no extra charge! It seemed rude not to really. So, I took 2 days holiday to have a little explore around Iceland, which it transpires is ‘the land of renewable energy’.



What I found most interesting about Iceland was how effectively they have utilised their natural resources for renewable energy: geothermal, wind, hydroelectric power (HEP). Never mind Game of Thrones, this is the real land of ice and fire! They even grow bananas using geothermal energy here, well they grow a couple at least (40 in total last year apparently), but they seem to be more successful in growing things like tomatoes with geothermal greenhouses and my Airbnb host commented on how much more fresh fruit and veg they eat in Iceland now compared to when she was younger, although they do also have to import a lot too. Using geothermal for food isn’t that new of an idea in Iceland either, apparently they’ve baked rye bread underground using geothermal for quite a while. And there seemed to be lovely running streams all over the place, as well as big waterfalls, so I could see how HEP would be effective here too. A lot of things are very expensive in Reykjavik, but not heating or hot water. One of the tour guides commented on it costing more to buy half a litre of soda from the supermarket than to run the hot tub in her house for an hour! Geothermal energy is used for the hot water in the houses, so the hot water smells quite sulphurous. I’m not going to pretend that I’m familiar with the smells of different chemicals as someone who researches materials on a computer… but for the record, sulfur smells like eggs. And apparently, cyanide smells like almonds, but you really don’t want to be smelling that. You also shouldn’t drink the hot water in Iceland, but the cold water tastes great. I noticed quite a lot of cars in Iceland while I was there and all petrol cars so I guess they haven’t managed to electrify and get renewable on that front. Mr Musk needs to send some cars over I think! But overall, I was really impressed by the use of renewables in Iceland. However, I guess we can’t all have a geyser and a waterfall in our back garden… so it’ll be good to find out more about the various innovations for renewable energy currently being worked on at NREL! Other than just wandering around feeling impressed at the use of geothermal in Iceland, I also went on a couple of tours while I was there to try to see as much as I could in a short space of time, without having to worry too much about finding my way around. There’s no denying that the nature in Iceland is astounding. The mountains, the streams, the clear blue water, the volcanic landscape, it’s utterly mystical. The tour guides were very knowledgeable too and there’s no denying that this was an efficient way to see a lot in a short time but I’ve decided I’m not really a cosy coach trip kind of person. I felt that I’ve felt equally awe-struck by much lesser feats of nature in the past elsewhere after hiking, running or climbing there. I thought that perhaps the sensation was a little dulled for me by shuffling on and off a cosy coach, seeing an amazing scene, shuffling back onto the cosy coach again. I think you feel almost more part of the nature once you’ve battled your way through the elements to get there. Or maybe it’s just the endorphins you have pumping from the exertion and shear relief when you get there that heightens your appreciate of the surroundings. So I don’t really like coach trips, but what else did I like about Iceland? Skyr. Bloody love that stuff. I like it back in the UK but I certainly found myself in Skyr heaven here, otherwise known as ‘Bonus’, the local budget supermarket. I tend to gravitate towards these kinds of places as a very much long term student! The selection was amazing. My personal favourite was liquorice flavoured. I also thought that Reykjavik in general had a very tranquil feel to it, even right in the centre where there was quite a lot of people, it didn’t feel like people were rushing around. Or maybe I’m just used to London ways now! There was also quite a cool, arty vibe to the city centre. There seems to be a big focus on the arts here. A fact I found out on the flight over is that 10% of the population in Iceland either write or publish (the exact detail has once again slipped my mind!) in their lifetime. But it has to keep coming back to the amazing nature here, even by the sides of the roads there were beautiful, crystal clear blue streams. Incredible. Another one for the come-back-with-more-time list, and also not on a coach I think!