Iceland review - 2015, Page 32

30 ICELAND REVIEW
BY EYGLÓ SVALA ARNARSDÓTTIR. PHOTOS BY PÁLL STEFÁNSSON.
NATURE’S ADVOCATE
Named after Iceland’s first academic, Stofnun Sæmundar
fróða—the University of Iceland’s Institute for
Sustainability Studies (ISS)—focuses on the envi-
ronment, safety and health; sustainable energy; environmental
change and preservation; and sustainable resource management.
“Iceland has important natural resources and is as such an ideal
location for studies on sustainability,” reasons ISS director Dr.
Guðrún Pétursdóttir. “There are few people here and distances
are short, so we can create small models which can be expanded
to fit larger communities.” Guðrún also mentions well-func-
tioning infrastructure and well-educated people, many of whom
have an international academic background.
GLOBAL RELEVANCE
ISS advocates the Planetary Boundaries model by Johan
Rockström at the Stockholm Resilience Centre, which defines
the earth’s nine planetary boundaries within which humanity
can continue to develop and thrive for generations to come,
including ocean acidification, climate change, biological diver-
sity and freshwater supply. “Although freshwater is abundant
in many places, future generations may run out of freshwater.
Some boundaries have already been overstepped, like genetic
biodiversity. For example, bees seem to be in danger of dis-
appearing. People might think ‘good riddance’ but it just so
happens that bees are essential for plant fertilization. The con-
sequences would be devastating,” warns Guðrún.
ISS was established in 2006 by the university’s former rector
Páll Skúlason, who passed away earlier this year. Páll decided to
merge the university’s institutions for fisheries and environment
to strengthen interdisciplinary research on the various aspects
of sustainability. ISS works both nationally and internationally,
in particular on Nordic and EU-funded research projects. “The
latest large grant of ISK 420 million was from NordForsk for a
project called NORDRESS,” reveals Guðrún.
NORDRESS, which was launched in January 2015, stands
The University of Iceland’s Institute for Sustainability Studies is striving for a
sustainable future, while busting myths about Iceland’s clean
environment and renewable energy.
for the Nordic Centre of Excellence on Resilience and Societal
Security and is a five-year project on the societal effects of
natural hazards in the Nordic countries. It operates under the
Social Security Programme of NordForsk, an organization that
facilitates and provides funding for Nordic research cooperation
and research infrastructure. “NORDRESS studies resilience
towards natural hazards,” says Guðrún, explaining that these
include river and coastal floods, avalanches and mudslides,
extreme weather, forest fires, and volcanic eruptions. “We
will, for instance, study the effects of the volcanic eruption in
Bárðarbunga [causing lava to erupt in Holuhraun in Northeast
Iceland from August 2014 to February 2015] on the people who
were exposed to threats of massive floods and gas pollution.”
Being a Nordic Centre of Excellence gives ISS and the other
partners in NORDRESS leverage in the international compe-
tition for research funding, Guðrún explains. “It’s a great honor
and an immense opportunity—it’s like having a set of new flight
feathers. We will use this opportunity to pursue our research
interests on a larger scale.”
THE GEOTHERMAL PARADOX
Icelanders have long prided themselves on their use of sustain-
able energy—both hydropower and geothermal energy—for
producing electricity and heating houses, but Guðrún is wary of
promoting geothermal as renewable. “Geothermal resources are
mined. They renew themselves in a geological timeframe, but
not in the timeframe we’re operating in reference to—not in a
human lifetime,” she maintains, citing the revelation in 2013 that
Hellisheiði power plant outside Reykjavík was unsustainable. “It
cannot produce energy according to the initial plans. We have
to reconsider how we treat our energy supply and what resourc-
es to use.” While Guðrún is for the use of geothermal energy,
she points out that, “geothermal energy isn’t green,” given that
exploiting it can pollute the environment. “But looking at things
in perspective, we should use geothermal energy, not least if