Iceland review - 2019, Síða 107

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Iceland Review
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that we pump down. That includes the cost of the
infrastructure, pumping, and labour involved,” Sandra
says. “I know how much money we need to make
Hellisheiði carbon neutral. And it’s not insurmount-
able.” The same applies to tackling climate change on
a global level, according to Sandra. “We can’t solve
this problem without paying a price. But it’s not insur-
mountable. Though it will get more expensive the lon-
ger we wait and the worse the problem gets. It makes
a difference if we work quickly, do what we can, and
learn about this technology that we’re developing.”
In a world of bad news about climate change, speak-
ing to Sandra is a breath of fresh air. Technology,
she says, is ready to take on the huge challenge. “The
International Energy Agency did an assessment in
2016 and concluded that with the technology that
currently exists or is being developed, we can solve
climate change. We don’t need any new discoveries.
We just have to speed up the use of the technology that
we already have.”
Realism vs. hope
In June, Icelandic government officials, power compa-
nies, and aluminium factories signed a joint state-
ment of intent to investigate how the CarbFix method
could be applied to big industry in Iceland. The metal
industry is one of the biggest contributors to Iceland’s
carbon footprint, so the success of the venture could
prove crucial in the country’s ability to meet the Paris
Agreement goals. However well carbon sequestration
may help offset big industry emissions, Sandra warns
that it cannot solve the climate emergency alone. “It
will never be the case that we can apply this solution
and just continue on as we are.”
Carbon fixation technologies do have their oppo-
nents, most of whom criticise ventures like CarbFix for
validating the belief that technology will singlehand-
edly solve climate change – with no need for a drastic
reduction in emissions. “The criticism of carbon
binding projects has been that they will allow people
to continue to burn coal and oil and such. In order to
reach the Paris agreement goals, we need to reduce
emissions, but we will also need to sequester carbon.
Even if we completely stop burning fossil fuels, there
are many industrial processes we will need to continue
which produce a ton of emissions, like making steel
and aluminium. CarbFix could be a solution to tackle
those emissions.”
“I think we should always emphasize that there is
no magic solution to climate change,” Sandra contin-
ues. “We need many solutions. I hope that CarbFix is
one of them.” Though it may not be the magic solution,
carbon fixation technology can give the public hope,
and that’s not something to be discounted either, says
Sandra. “I think it’s alright to give people a bit of hope.
It’s so hard to constantly be killing everyone’s hope all
the time. Then nothing is done.”
Shifting tide
Sandra herself is far from hopeless. She feels that the
conversation around climate change is reaching a crit-
ical point. “You can feel it. A lot is changing in a really
short time. This year alone there’s been a definite
change in people’s mentality, people are becoming
aware.” Now it’s time to really pull up our sleeves, says
Sandra. “When I started my doctorate, the mantra
in the science community was that when people open
their eyes, scientists will be ready with the solutions.
And I think that time is coming now.”
“THERE IS NO MAGIC SOLUTION
TO CLIMATE CHANGE.
WE NEED MANY SOLUTIONS.”