Apr 20 2011
1 Comment
Tags: Century Aluminum, Government, Helguvík, Landsvirkjun, Þjórsá
Iceland’s government’s majority in parliament stands and falls with one particular parliament member from the Left Green party (VG), Guðfríður Lilja Grétarsdóttir, who is strongly opposed to the planned triple damming of Lower Þjórsá river. This became clear last week, on April 13th, when a motion of no confidence, proposed by the right wing conservative party (Sjálfstæðisflokkurinn), was discussed in parliament.
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Apr 14 2011
4 Comments
Tags: ALCOA, Corruption, Democracy deficit, Economics, Energy Prices, Greenland, Impregilo, Jaap Krater, Kárahnjúkar, Landsvirkjun, Miriam Rose, Workers Rights
By Miriam Rose
After many years of preparations the Greenlandic government say the final decision on Alcoa’s proposed smelter will be taken at the spring 2012 of the parliament. It is more likely, as the global history of the industry and the evidence in Greenland tells us, that the decision has in fact already been made undemocratically behind closed doors, despite the decreasing support of the Greenlandic people. In fact Alcoa and the Greenland government are so keen on passing the project that they have just hired an eighth employee at their national company Greenland Development- formed to enable the industry to go ahead. Juaaka Lyberth’s explicit remit is to influence public opinion on the smelter through the media. Greenland Development paints a rosy picture of an aluminium future for Greenland, but will their promises of prosperity come true? A comparison to Alcoa’s Fjardaal project in East Iceland suggests that many will not. Read More
Apr 12 2011
Tags: Bauxite, Disasters, India, Mining, Orissa, Pollution, Red Mud, Vedanta
South Asia Solidarity Group, London / Simon Chambers
On 5 April, in a similar but much smaller scale repeat of the Hungarian red mud pond disaster last year, the wall of the red mud pond at Lanjigarh collapsed, resulting in caustic toxins to flow into the Vansadhara river. This was after several warnings from the Orissa State pollution control board (which were ignored by Vedanta) that the wall to the RMP was badly built. See below for a link to a very good video made by locals.
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Apr 12 2011
Tags: Bauxite, Hungary, India, Orissa, Pollution, Red Mud, Samarendra Das, Vedanta
Felix Padel/ Samarendra Das
First Published : 20 Oct 2010 on Expressbuzz.com
When news spread that the red mud pond in a Hungarian alumina refinery had broken open on October 3 [2010], spilling toxic sludge over a huge area, killing people and livestock, this confirmed our worst fears regarding new refineries going up in Orissa [India] and neighbouring states. For Hungarians a nightmare scenario has begun, as their country faces to its worst-ever environmental disaster. Apart from villagers killed or maimed by the toxic sludge, many farmers face economic ruin, as their fields are contaminated beyond repair. How much worse would a similar disaster be in India, where the population density of farmers is much higher? Read More
Apr 04 2011
1 Comment
Tags: Corruption, Economics, Geothermal Energy
Recently it was revealed that ten billionaires from Canada and the US are seeking Icelandic citizenship to ease their access to invest in geothermal and hydro energy in Iceland. These two news articles were published on the Reykjavík Grapevine website (1 and 2).
Wealthy Individuals Seeking To Buy Icelandic Citizenship
Ten people promising to invest millions in Iceland’s renewable energy field have applied for citizenship directly with parliament. The reaction from within parliament has been one of both bewilderment and suspicion.
The ten individuals are apparently from outside the Schengen area. By Icelandic law, this would normally mean they would need to live here, work, not leave the country for more than six months at a time and remain a resident of Iceland for seven years before they could even qualify for citizenship. However, Iceland has made exceptions in the past for those applying directly to parliament – most notably with certain athletes and chess player Bobby Fischer. Read More
Mar 28 2011
Tags: ALCOA, Century Aluminum, Economics
The Los Angeles Times
Henry Chu, Reporting from Grundartangi, Iceland
Some say aluminum is vital to Iceland’s budding economic recovery. Others say the industry was at the root of the nation’s 2008 economic collapse.
Part of the cure — or cause — of Iceland’s spectacular economic meltdown sits here on a rugged fiord backed by frigid blue waters and snowcapped mountains. Read More
Mar 22 2011
1 Comment
Tags: ALCOA, Century Aluminum, Heavy Industry, Rio Tinto Alcan
Grapevine.is
Most Icelanders would like to see their country’s economy turn towards innovative industries rather than aluminium smelters, a new survey shows.
Vísir reports on the results of an online poll conducted by the business analysis company Miðlun. Respondents were asked what the most important field of employment was.
Of those who responded, 30.8% said domestic industry should be a top priority. This was followed by companies focusing on innovation (18.1%) and jobs related to the fishing industry (14.7%).
Only 13% said they believed heavy industry was the most important area of unemployment that Iceland needs to focus on. Read More
Mar 17 2011
Tags: IceSave, Landsvirkjun, Langisjór, Rio Tinto Alcan, Tungnaá
Yesterday, national energy company Landsvirkjun received the first loan for its planned Búðarháls dam in Tungnaá River (south Iceland, north-east of Þjórsá river). The 8,6 billion ISK loan comes from the Nordic Investment Bank (NIB) and is dependent on the outcome of the referendum about the so-called IceSave bill, which will take place on April 9th. The energy is meant for Rio Tinto- Alcan’s increased aluminium production. Read More
Mar 06 2011
Tags: Alterra Power/Magma Energy, Century Aluminum, Geothermal Energy, H.S. Orka, Helguvík, Reykjanes
H.S. Orka, an Icelandic energy company recently bought by Canadian firm Magma Energy, has to widen its planned drilling area for the planned enlargement of Reykjanes geothermal power plant and proof that enough energy can be found on a larger area then already arranged for. These are conditions required from the National Energy Authority (NEA), which fears overexploitation of geothermal areas on the Reykjanes peninsula, in the south-west corner of Iceland. An aluminium smelter in Helguvík, which has been in the making for the last few years, is dependent on the enlargement. Read More