It’s hard to imagine Iceland burns coals. The Iceland that I know has “the purest water in the world,” “the best lamb meat in the world,” and possibly “the cleanest air in the world” - quoting the locals. The land of fire and ice is renowned for its geothermal and hydrothermal energy that’s completely renewable, making it hard to imagine the black solid fossil mass being burned in a furnace. So, it may come as a surprise when the domestic consumption of coal has been increasing in recent years.
According to the earliest data we can collect from Orkustofnun, the National Energy Authority, from 1940 to today, the coal consumption has fluctuated but has been rising since 2000.
A study named ENERGY IN ICELAND Historical Perspective, Present Status, Future Outlook conducted in 2005 said that out of the amounted 150 kiloton coal consumption, 90% was by the ferrosilicon plant in Grundartangi of Hvarffjord, West Iceland. The cement factory in Akranes, now has been closed, used to a major coal consumer as well. The other one is the United Silicon smelter in Helguvík, Reykjanesbær.
However, heavy industries wasn’t always the major consumer of coal. More than a century ago, Iceland was dependent upon coal and oil, its fishing vessels, home utilities, and transportation fuels all needed coal to sustain. At that time, when the urban areas of the globe aren’t lit as they do now at night, the homes in Iceland might have been like what was depicted in Van Gogh’s masterpiece “The Potato Eaters.” And steam or smoke (reykja) was just a source of inspiration for Ingolfur Arnarsson to name his land on the Faxi Shoreline “Reykjavik” (smoky bay) - instead of being utilized for the greater good.
Iceland doesn’t have an abundant mineral reserve so it relies on imports from a number of counties over the years. For coal specifically, Netherland, the United Kingdom, and the United States have been major import sources on Coal, Coke, and Briquettes- a Harmonized System Classification - based on the import data from Statistics Iceland.
