Quote:
Originally Posted by GtrsRGr8
Sure, Iceland has a lot to export. There's volcanic ash, lava rock, photos of volcanoes . . . well, you get the idea. ha! Not a put-down, just a remark about how many volcanoes are there. Most people don't realize.
|
Well, most people don't do science reading (or even basic learning, sadly) and therefore never learn that it's on a ridge between two continental plates*.
Quote:
Originally Posted by GtrsRGr8
On a serious note, Alcoa (I think it is) built a huge aluminum processing plant of some kind there in recent times. If I remember correctly what was said in this article that I was reading recently, Alcoa first imports aluminum ore to this plant, then processes it, and finally exports it, and still makes money there, because of some economic advantage that Iceland has.
|
They have really cheap electricity because of the geothermal energy due to being located on the Mid-Atlantic ridge, which makes it more cost-efficient to process aluminum (a very energy-intensive process, apparently) there. Similarly, we had
a town set up in BC during the 50s for pretty much the same reasons due to having cheap hydro.
Quote:
Originally Posted by GtrsRGr8
Maybe it's a sign of good things to come for the export side of Iceland's economy.
|
It certainly makes a change from the traditional exports of eiderdown, codfish, Icelandic sweaters and horses, and pop musicians, although there've been protests about Alcoa's operations, which are viewed as environmentally unfriendly for the locals (notably from Björk, one of the aforementioned pop musician exports).
* Obligatory Scandinavia and the World cartoon about Iceland's unholy power over lava:
Iceland ain't right