The inhabitants of Reykjavík and surrounding municipalities used a record amount of hot water in 2015. The total use of hot water was 10% greater in 2015 than in 2014, according to the local news site visir.is. The primary reason for the increased consumption was the unusually cold weather. Roughly 90% of hot water consumed in the Reykjavík area is used for central heating.
Cold weather during the first six months of 2015
Eiríkur Hjálmarsson, a spokesman for a subsidiary for Reykjavík Power Utility which manages the retail of hot water to customers, told visir.is that the six first months of the year saw a record consumption of hot water due to persistent colds during the winter and spring.
The total use of hot water in the capital region was 82.7 million cubic meters (2.9 billion cubic feet) in 2015, compared to 79 million cubic feet (2.8 billion cubic feet) in 2014. Roughly 10% of the water is pumped from geothermal boreholes within the city itself, 7% from the vicinity of Laugardalslaugin public pool and another 3% from boreholes in Elliðárdalurinn recreational area. 38% comes from boreholes in Mosfellsbær, a suburb to the north of Reykjavík, and 53% from boreholes around the mountain Hengillinn east of Reykjavík.
Has kept 198 million metric tons of CO2 out of the atmosphere since 1944
By powering virtually all central heating in the Iceland with geothermal hot water, rather than oil or coal, Icelanders are able to reduce their carbon footprint significantly. Einar Gunnlaugsson, a scientist at the Reykjavík power utility, has calculated that if the utility had used oil instead of geothermal hot water to produce the same amount of energy it did from 1944 to 2014, it would have meant an additional 198 million tons of CO2 in emissions. By comparison the entire CO2 emissions of Iceland were 4.5 million tons in 2013.
The inhabitants of Reykjavík and surrounding municipalities used a record amount of hot water in 2015. The total use of hot water was 10% greater in 2015 than in 2014, according to the local news site visir.is. The primary reason for the increased consumption was the unusually cold weather. Roughly 90% of hot water consumed in the Reykjavík area is used for central heating.
Cold weather during the first six months of 2015
Eiríkur Hjálmarsson, a spokesman for a subsidiary for Reykjavík Power Utility which manages the retail of hot water to customers, told visir.is that the six first months of the year saw a record consumption of hot water due to persistent colds during the winter and spring.
The total use of hot water in the capital region was 82.7 million cubic meters (2.9 billion cubic feet) in 2015, compared to 79 million cubic feet (2.8 billion cubic feet) in 2014. Roughly 10% of the water is pumped from geothermal boreholes within the city itself, 7% from the vicinity of Laugardalslaugin public pool and another 3% from boreholes in Elliðárdalurinn recreational area. 38% comes from boreholes in Mosfellsbær, a suburb to the north of Reykjavík, and 53% from boreholes around the mountain Hengillinn east of Reykjavík.
Has kept 198 million metric tons of CO2 out of the atmosphere since 1944
By powering virtually all central heating in the Iceland with geothermal hot water, rather than oil or coal, Icelanders are able to reduce their carbon footprint significantly. Einar Gunnlaugsson, a scientist at the Reykjavík power utility, has calculated that if the utility had used oil instead of geothermal hot water to produce the same amount of energy it did from 1944 to 2014, it would have meant an additional 198 million tons of CO2 in emissions. By comparison the entire CO2 emissions of Iceland were 4.5 million tons in 2013.
