Geothermal energy in food production overview
- Iceland uses geothermal energy to power food production and heating efficiently
- Low-temperature systems provide heat for greenhouses but cannot generate electricity
- High-temperature systems create steam enabling electricity production for food industries
- Proximity to geothermal resources reduces reliance on volatile fossil fuel markets
- Geothermal energy offers reliable local supply but depends on geographic availability
The food sector, and the world at large, are increasingly in need of energy.
The closure of the Strait of Hormuz during the ongoing war in Iran has choked the world’s energy supply, since the Strait is a vital trade route for crude oil. This has forced up oil prices significantly and made energy more scarce.
The food industry, like any other industry in the world, needs energy to function.
Renewable energy is often posited as a more ‘ethical’ alternative to oil and gas, chosen to safeguard the future of the planet. Yet with oil prices where they are, there is a strong argument that being close to an abundant source of renewable energy, which isn’t exposed to cataclysmic great power conflicts, could be beneficial in the short-term as well.
In Iceland, many food companies take advantage of the country’s geothermal energy. Proximity to the source of this energy, the access to which does not depend on events thousands of kilometres away, enables many food companies to thrive.
How can geothermal energy be used in food?
The production of food is often quite energy-intensive. However, many of Iceland’s food companies are close to sources of geothermal energy, which helps them meet demand.
Iceland has two types of geothermal energy, explains Kári Valgeirsson, a science communicator working at the country’s Hellisheiði geothermal power plant. These are low-temperature and high-temperature.
Low-temperature geothermal energy is used for heating, as it cannot produce steam.
With the often harsh climate that the country has, a lot of its food is grown in greenhouses. Such greenhouses are heated using low-temperature geothermal energy, which is extracted from boreholes via hot water pumps.
On the flip side, high-temperature energy is used to generate electricity. High-temperature energy is created when the water is hot enough to become steam.
Water seeps into the country’s permeable bedrock formations, which are heated by Iceland’s active volcanic systems, and heats up from these underground systems. The heated water generates electricity by becoming steam and turning the turbines in the country’s power stations.
Many of Iceland’s food businesses, including in food tech, use electricity generated from geothermal energy.
Geothermal energy in the food sector
Food companies can utilise this. Proximity to this geothermal energy is an important part of its utility.
For example, Vaxa Technologies, a vertical farming company producing algae, powers its production from the geothermal power plant “across the street”. Vertical farming has traditionally been a highly energy-intensive sector.
“This power plant was the perfect starting point,” says Kiddi Haflidason, general manager at Vaxa Technologies. “It has all the energy streams that we needed to invent the system, test the system, scale the system, and now we have a scalable system to grow the microalgae.”
Friðheimar, a farm which grows tomatoes in greenhouses, also uses geothermal energy. It takes hot water from springs a mere 200 m away to keep the greenhouses warm, and powers its lights with hydro and geothermal energy.
Tomato production often takes place in warmer climates, such as India, Egypt, Türkiye, the US and China.
Even cultivated meat can be produced through this energy. Cultivated salmon company Sea Growth is powering production using local green energy.
Can this work outside Iceland?
Proximity is best for geothermal energy, explains Valgeirsson. This is how these companies in Iceland are utilising the energy. However, being close to the source is not entirely necessary to use the energy produced there.
“It’s best if a company is relatively close to a geothermal resource but it does not need to be that way.”
Geothermal energy can be found outside of Iceland, and many countries are already using it, although not always as extensively as Iceland. These include New Zealand, the US, Mexico, Indonesia, Japan, Türkiye, Italy, Ethiopia, Kenya, Chile, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Germany.
Geothermal energy is not as abundant globally as it is in Iceland. But when it can be used, it provides key advantages; proximity, reliability and lack of exposure to ruptures on the world stage.
