Carry On Icelandic: Culture [selections] (2004)
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Jarðhiti - Geothermal Energy
Jarðhiti
Landið er auðugt af jarðhita og eru laugar og hverir víða um landið. Sumir þessara hvera gjósa og er Geysir í Haukadal þeirra frægastur. Hið alþjóðlega hugtak geyser er dregið af nafni hans.
Vatnsmesti hver Evrópu, Deildartunguhver í Borgarfirði, gefur 180 l/s af 97°C heitu vatni. Hann sér Akranesi og Borgarnesi fyrir heitu vatni til húshitunar.
Hitaveitur eru nú víða um land og sjá 80% þjóðarinnar fyrir heitu vatni til þvotta og húshitunar. Þá er jarðhitinn nýttur til ræktunar og í gróðurhúsum, sem hituð eru með jarðvarma, eru ræktaðar ýmiss konar erlendar tegundir ávaxta og grænmetis, s.s. tómatar, gúrkur og jafnvel bananar, auk alls kyns jurta. Þá er jarðvarmi einnig nýttur við fiskeldi.
Frá fornu fari hefur lauga- og hveravatn verið notað til þvotta og baða. Snorralaug í Reykholti er t.d. talin hlaðin á 13. öld að frumkvæði Snorra Sturlusonar.
Snorralaug í Reykholti (Snorralaug in Reykholt).
Helsti sundstaður Reykvíkinga, Laugardalslaugin, er við Þvottalaugarnar í Reykjavík, þar sem reykvískar konur þvoðu áður þvotta sína. Það var áður en heitt vatn var leitt í hús en það var einmitt við Þvottalaugarnar sem fyrst var borað eftir heitu vatni til húshitunar árið 1928.
Geothermal Energy
Iceland has a plentiful supply of geothermal energy and pools and hot springs are widely spread around the country. Some of the hot springs gush, of which "Geysir" in Haukadalur is the most famous. Indeed, the international concept of a geyser is drawn from the name of this hot spring.
The most voluminous hot spring in Europe, the "Deildartunguhver" in Borgarfjörður, produces 180 litres of hot water (97°C) per second. It provides the hot water that is used to heat houses in Akranes and Borgarnes.
This kind of hot water supply is now used widely throughout Iceland, providing 80% of the population with hot water for washing and central heating. Geothermal heat is also used for cultivation purposes. Greenhouses are heated by geothermal energy, where various varieties of fruit and vegetables are grown, for instance tomatoes, cucumbers, even bananas, as well as all kinds of plant life. Geothermal heat is sometimes used for fish farming.
From the earliest times, hot pools and spring water have been used to wash and bathe. For instance, "Snorralaug" in Reykholt is thought to have been built during the thirteenth-century on the initiative of the chieftain Snorri Sturluson.
The largest swimming pool in Reykjavík, Laugardalslaug, is located by the "Washing Pools", that is "Þvottalaugarnar", where the women of Reykjavík once washed their laundry. This was before hot water was supplied to houses, and it was the hot water around the "Þvottalaugarnar" that, in 1928, was first used for central heating.
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