Post Tagged with "Iceland"

Dreams of fire and ice

I’ve been fascinated by Nordic culture and history as long as I can remember.

Viking fantasy written by Poul Anderson, old German myths like the Nibelung-saga, the whole pantheon of the old Norse gods like Odin an Thor always added fuel to the fire of my imagination. And thankfully I’m now living in a country that has a long history of Viking influences and visitors (Dublin itself was founded by Viking settlers in 814), so there has always been something new to discover.

But I’ve also been fascinated by the countries the berserkers came from: Norway, Sweden and especially Iceland have been on my to-visit-list for ages. This is why a good friend and I have decided to visit Iceland this year.

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The secret of Iceland’s free electricity

In the last few years the underground lakes which fuel Iceland’s famous geysers have been put to use lighting up those long winter nights – more than 25% of Iceland’s electricity is produced from geothermal energy and almost all homes in Iceland get their heating from hot water out of the ground. Not surprisingly, Icelandic companies like Exorka are among the most advanced in the world in new geothermal technologies.

Geothermal energy uses heat from under the earth’s surface either for heating or for producing electricity. When the underground temperature is hot enough (like in Iceland), electricity can be produced directly from the steam or hot water found beneath the surface.

It’s an emerging form of electricity generation but one which has a lot of potential – it’s reliable and doesn’t cause emissions or pollution. Even better, you don’t need to worry about rising fuel costs because the energy is free. This is good news given Iceland’s precarious financial situation.

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Sweet soups for icy weather

In Iceland soup can be a dessert as well as a first dish.

Icelandic magazine DV.is explains this and more in its English language special edition on Icelandic food. It contains recipes and anecdotes about food in Icelandic culture.

Check out what did they eat? to read about the diet of Iceland’s early settlers (a lot of porridge, apparently), and Sweet Soups of Youth for more about the famous Icelandic sweet soups.

Photo: DV.is

Read more:
Icelandic weather report in Blogs of the World
More on food around the world from Topics of the World