Nordic Electricity

The on-going series “Nordic Poles” was taken at the occasion of several trips spent during the winter months in Iceland. It aims to show, from an aesthetic and minimalistic point of view, pylons and electricity poles that are often overlooked but omnipresent and unmistakable when we take the time to read the landscape. It is an attempt to explore the visible face of the essential services of which we totally depend on, considering this modern comfort as quite normal and as having always existed. I considered long winter months as the ideal period to express both strength and fragility on which this comfort rests; these pylons as the markers at the mercy of very powerful, unpredictable but yet recurrent geological forces that shape this volcanic island in perpetual transformation. With the choice of black and white for a timeless interpretation and to reinforce the feeling that it could not last forever... On the one hand we may admire these impressive structures and other poignantly designed elements of these structures, but on the other hand they remind us of how humankind's footprint is stamped over the most beautiful and remote wildernesses of this world. I personally find that tension and paradox very intriguing. _ The energy resources of Iceland are important because of its unique geology and abundant hydrography. Thanks to these, almost 90% of the country's total primary energy consumption comes from renewable sources (geothermal and hydropower) round 2020 . Fossil fuels contributed only 13.2%. But these greenhouse gas emissions were enough to bring Iceland's CO2 emissions to a level very close to the European average in 2013. The main use of geothermal energy is heating, heat being distributed to buildings through a large heat network. Hydropower accounts for most of the electricity production. Iceland's energy potential is well above the needs of its population of 320,000. Since Iceland is an island several hundred kilometers from the nearest land, its electricity can not be exported. This has led the country to attract energy-intensive industries to its territory, so that these industries now account for 80.9% of electricity consumption.