Damn the Dam!
Max | 26.11.2004 21:48 | Ecology | Globalisation | London
On 26/11/04 a dozen people visited the Icelandic embassy in Knightsbridge, London to disrupt its operation and express opposition to the Karahnjukar Hydropower scheme in Iceland's Eastern Highlands.
The system of nine dams is being built solely to supply electricity for an aluminium smelter planned by US company Alcoa.
The flooding will devastate the breeding grounds for Pinkfooted Geese, the Jokulsa a Dal delta will disappear taking with it the birthing site for 400-600 pregnant Harbour Seals. A cull has already been organised to kill one third of Iceland's reindeer population, who would otherwise starve due to flooded grazing land and blocked migration routes.
The scheme was originally blocked by an environmental impact assessment due to: "substantial, irreversable negative environmental impact" but this was personally overturned by Iceland's Environment Minister.
Alcoa is closing two aluminium smelters in the US and relocating to Iceland, where electricity is cheap. Ironically it is Iceland's previously good CO2 emissions record that makes it such an attrative location for polluting industries, eager to fill Iceland's carbon quota agreed under the Kyoto Protocol.
Some activists got into the building, while others hung a banner and leafleted passers by, all four activists who entered where finally ejected and arrested along with another activist who locked on to the doors. All five were still being held in police custody at the time of going to press.
The flooding will devastate the breeding grounds for Pinkfooted Geese, the Jokulsa a Dal delta will disappear taking with it the birthing site for 400-600 pregnant Harbour Seals. A cull has already been organised to kill one third of Iceland's reindeer population, who would otherwise starve due to flooded grazing land and blocked migration routes.
The scheme was originally blocked by an environmental impact assessment due to: "substantial, irreversable negative environmental impact" but this was personally overturned by Iceland's Environment Minister.
Alcoa is closing two aluminium smelters in the US and relocating to Iceland, where electricity is cheap. Ironically it is Iceland's previously good CO2 emissions record that makes it such an attrative location for polluting industries, eager to fill Iceland's carbon quota agreed under the Kyoto Protocol.
Some activists got into the building, while others hung a banner and leafleted passers by, all four activists who entered where finally ejected and arrested along with another activist who locked on to the doors. All five were still being held in police custody at the time of going to press.
Max
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Damn Right!
01.12.2004 08:46
Karahnjukar Hydropower Project
The Karahnjukar Hydropower Project is the largest dam project in Iceland. It will be located near Vatnajoekull, Europe's largest glacier, and will dam and divert several glacial rivers. If constructed, it will consist of nine dams, three reservoirs, seven channels and 16 tunnels.
The largest dam will have a height of 190 metres, and its reservoir will cover 57 square kilometres. The power plant will have a capacity of 630 megawatts and will be almost exclusively used to support a smelter factory, planned to be built on the Icelandic coast by Alcoa, an American company. The Karahnjukar project will have a profound impact on the environment and will destroy unique environmental treasures in Iceland's Eastern Highlands - the second largest remaining wilderness area in Western Europe.
The European Investment Bank was discussing its potential support for the Karahnjukar hydropower project in Iceland. Environmental groups, including CEE Bankwatch Network put pressure on the Bank not to finance it, which resulted with the EIB announcing it will not finance the dam.
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