Sulfur gas emissions from geothermal power plants in Iceland

Sulfur gas (H2S and SO2) emissions from geothermal ®elds in Iceland have been studied as part of a project, aimed at enhancing environmental research concerning e€ects of geothermal development. Short-term measurements of the gases have been carried out in several high-temperature geothermal ®elds in Iceland. In four exploited ®elds, baseline values for the concentration of sulfur gases have been obtained by long-term measurements. The data strongly re¯ect the dependence of gas concentrations on climatic factors, especially precipitation. Interpretation of the data by air distribution modeling, and by simple experiment, indicate minor, or at least very slow conversion of H2S to SO2 at atmospheric conditions in Iceland. 7 2000 CNR. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved