The drying of fish and utilization of geothermal energy : the Icelandic experience

Abstract

Drying is an ancient method for preservation of foods, the main purpose of which is to prolong the preservation time. In order to dry food, an external source of energy is needed to extract water from it. The use of geothermal energy in fish processing to replace oil and electricity offers great potential. In the fishing industry, geothermal energy has mainly been applied to indoor drying of salted fish, codheads, small fish, stockfish and other products. In this paper an emphasis is placed on drying fish and associated processes, and how geothermal energy can be used to substitute oil or electricity. The Icelandic Fisheries Laboratories have been experimenting with different methods of drying and several drying stations have been designed for indoor drying of fish products. Today there are around twenty companies in Iceland, which are drying fish indoors using electricity and/or geothermal energy. There are unexplored possibilities in utilization of geothermal energy in regions where good harbors are located in geothermal areas.