Icelandic Model S owner drives double the national speed limit and gets in accident in ironic car.

[KarenRei]

An Icelandic Tesla owner has been charged in an accident southwest of Reykjavík for driving 183 km/h (114 mph), over double the highest speed limit in the country, and injured another driver by clipping the back of his car. This is not his first run-in with the law in his Tesla - he previously was pulled over for doing 148 km/h last fall. He may lose his Tesla, with its custom license plate of "NO CO2", to the state.

The irony? The owner, Magnús Ólaf Garðarsson, is one of the founders of United Silicon, one of the most polluting industries in the country. "NO CO2" may apply to his car, but United Silicon kicks out more CO2 than all but a few other industries in Iceland, and is the worst offender at particulate matter emissions - leading to numerous complaints. They decided to fuel a silicon smelter with wood, but never managed to get the pollution controls to work right - yet have continued operating the plant regardless.

 

[azred]

An Icelandic Tesla owner has been charged in an accident southwest of Reykjavík for driving 183 km/h (114 mph), over double the highest speed limit in the country, and injured another driver by clipping the back of his car. This is not his first run-in with the law in his Tesla - he previously was pulled over for doing 148 km/h last fall. He may lose his Tesla, with its custom license plate of "NO CO2", to the state.

The irony? The owner, Magnús Ólaf Garðarsson, is one of the founders of United Silicon, one of the most polluting industries in the country. "NO CO2" may apply to his car, but United Silicon kicks out more CO2 than all but a few other industries in Iceland, and is the worst offender at particulate matter emissions - leading to numerous complaints. They decided to fuel a silicon smelter with wood, but never managed to get the pollution controls to work right - yet have continued operating the plant regardless.

I had a little trouble reading the linked article. Icelandically-challenged, I guess.

 

[ecarfan]

114mph on Icelandic roads is insane. There are no "freeways" in Iceland (no limited access roads with no cross traffic). I hope they take his license away.

United Silicon kicks out more CO2 than all but a few other industries in Iceland, and is the worst offender at particulate matter emissions - leading to numerous complaints. They decided to fuel a silicon smelter with wood, but never managed to get the pollution controls to work right - yet have continued operating the plant regardless.

Sorry to hear that. I don't understand how a smelter could be fueled with wood in Iceland. The Vikings cut down all the trees centuries ago and currently there are no forests to fell to provide fuel, so the wood would have to imported. Which strikes me as crazy.

 

[KarenRei]

114mph on Icelandic roads is insane. There are no "freeways" in Iceland (no limited access roads with no cross traffic). I hope they take his license away.
Sorry to hear that. I don't understand how a smelter could be fueled with wood in Iceland. The Vikings cut down all the trees centuries ago and currently there are no forests to fell to provide fuel, so the wood would have to imported. Which strikes me as crazy.

They import it. I don't know what on Earth gave them the idea to do that, but it is what it is :Þ We do have forests (rather lovely ones, really), but they're not yet mature enough / on a large enough scale to be fueling wood-burning industry (they're mostly for smaller scale uses)

There was a silicon refiner I was actually rather excited about that uses a new technology for refining it, which should have been quite clean. In the Silicor process, they dissolve impure silicon in molten aluminum (which we produce here locally), then let it crystallize out; aluminum-coated pure silicon flakes settle out on the top, and silicon-enriched aluminum (a value-added alloy) is removed at the bottom. The aluminum is then dissolved off the silicon with hydrochloric acid, making aluminum chloride, which is used in water purification. It's a rather nice system, with no actual waste, and consuming only electricity (which here is hydroelectric and geothermal). However, they never built that plant; all we have is an old dirty variety.

 

[ecarfan]

We do have forests (rather lovely ones, really), but they're not yet mature enough / on a large enough scale to be fueling wood-burning industry (they're mostly for smaller scale uses)

Yes, I have walked through your "forests", including in the area of Thórsmörk. In Iceland the term is best understood in a relative sense. The classic joke is "If you are lost in a forest in Iceland...just stand up."

I say that not to impugn your beautiful country in any way: I love it and have visited three separate times for a total of 7 weeks, mostly for hut-to-hut hiking trips. I just don't consider those areas with vegetation to be "forests".

 

[KarenRei]

Yes, I have walked through your "forests", including in the area of Thórsmörk. In Iceland the term is best understood in a relative sense. The classic joke is "If you are lost in a forest in Iceland...just stand up."

Haha, Þórsmörk's aren't exactly the most impressive Even Öskjuhlíð in Reykjavík is more impressive than that. Here's Vaglaskógur east of Akureyri:

Hallormsstaðaskógur, near Egilsstaðir:

Hólaskógur:

Stálpastaðaskógur:

Even Heiðmörk, right next to Reykjavík:

We send the Faroes a Christmas tree every year, at the very least

We're not going to win any records for tree sizes, but our forests can be quite lovely. This time of year the mushrooms are starting to come in, and you get this sort of dabbled light / mossy understory that looks like something from a fairy tale. At least in the conifer forests. The birch forests are, as you note, more like overgrown scrub.

With our climate as it is right now, if our forests are left to their own devices, they'll probably end up like those in southwestern Alaska - say, Kodiak Island (many of the species are the same - sitka spruce, douglas fir, hemlock, etc. However, these sort of trees can live many hundreds of years, and the climate is changing pretty quickly. Our climate could well end up more like the Alaskan panhandle, Vancouver or even Washington for most of these trees' lives. So their ultimate fate could be quite huge indeed.

 

[ecarfan]

Okay, "Uncle!" I give up. Iceland has forests.