Greenland Ice and Water for Export

Greenland Ice and Water for Export Product Catalogue – Ice Cap Water 2nd Edition Greenland Ice and Water for Export Product Catalogue – Ice Cap Water 2nd Edition Inuussutissarsiornermut, Suliffeqarnermut Niuernermullu Naalakkersuisoqarfik Departementet for Erhverv, Arbejdsmarked og Handel Ministry of Industry, Labour and Trade Prepared by NIRAS Greenland A/S (Henrik Mai ed.) for Government of Greenland © 2015 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 Summary ................................................. 4 2 Eqikkaaneq ................................................ 6 3 Resumé ................................................. 7 4 Introduction ............................................... 9 4.1 Background ............................................ 9 4.2 Relations to other parts of the project ....................... 10 4.3 Contents of the catalogue ................................10 5 Greenland - its ice and water resources .......................... 12 5.1 Greenland’s geography and geology.......................... 12 5.2 Ice and water resources .................................. 14 6 Ice and water products ...................................... 18 6.1 Bottled water products from glaciers ........................ 18 6.2 Ice products........................................... 20 6.3 Other glacier water products .............................. 20 7 Glacier sources for ice and water production...................... 21 7.1 Investigated glacier locations .............................. 21 7.2 Results of analyses ..................................... 23 7.3 Extraction of ice from glaciers ............................. 24 7.4 Evaluation of glacier sites ................................26 7.4.1 The Sermilik glacier ................................ 26 7.4.2 The Nigerlikasik glacier.............................. 27 7.4.3 The Narsap Sermia glacier ........................... 28 7.5 Further areas of interest ................................. 29 7.5.1 South Greenland................................... 30 7.5.2 Disco Bay ........................................ 30 7.6 Conclusion ............................................ 31 8 Conclusion and perspectives .................................. 33 8.1 Ice and water from glaciers................................ 33 References ................................................ 35 APPENDICES Datasheets for glacial resources ................................. 37 Results of glacier analyses...................................... 49 Greenland’s transport and communication systems .................... 52 1 SUMMARY In 2005, the Government of Greenland decided to promote the export of ice and water from Greenland. A large programme was initiated to investigate the resources and the markets for water products and to inform potential investors about the opportunities. Investigations into the resources were carried out in 2006 and 2008. These included sampling from glaciers, springs and surface water resources, and the results were presented in the form of a comprehensive analytical programme for water and ice samples. This report summarises the results of the glacier investigations and provides an overview of the resources considered most feasible for development. This product catalogue contains a summary of the options for bottled, still water and ice cube production based on calved ice from glaciers in Greenland. Three glaciers are presented, namely the Sermilik, Nigerlikasik, and Narsap glaciers. Analyses of samples taken from the glaciers showed that the water quality is characterised by a very low content of inorganic components and that it has no buffer capacity*. Furthermore, the analyses showed an elevated content of NVOC (Non Volatile Organic Carbon), elevated turbidity and elevated content of aggressive carbon dioxide resulting in a low pH. In some samples elevated contents of iron and ammonia were observed. However, the samples taken from ice growlers from the front of one of the glaciers showed no content of NVOC and lower turbidity. The water is pure and complies with Greenlandic and EU standards for drinking water, except for the low pH and, in few samples, elevated iron content. These parameters are not considered to be a problem for the production of bottled Greenland ice cap water of high quality. Analyses indicate no penetration of salt into the icebergs. It is concluded that the quality of the water from melted icebergs from the glaciers is suitable for consumer goods such as bottled water and ice cubes. The water may also be used as base material for different kinds of beverages or as admixture in cosmetics and skincare products. * If a solution has no buffer capacity, addition of a small amount of acid or base will make the solution either acidic or basic. As the pH of drinking water should be maintained between 7- 8.5 (EU 6.5 -9.5), the absence of buffer capacity means that the pH could easily be disturbed. 4 Greenland Ice and Water for Export | Product Catalogue – Ice Cap Water 2nd Edition The glaciers have a number of features which add value for the customer, e.g. age, authenticity, untouched by industrial pollution etc. These vary slightly according to location but are, on the whole, a convincing argument for further exploitation. It is preferred that water from glaciers is produced by melting calved ice such as small icebergs, e.g. on an ice-class fishing trawler with facilities for the hygienic production of foodstuffs. This method will not have an impact on the glaciers and their surroundings. Mining of the ice from the glaciers is not considered sustainable, and it may be difficult to avoid the occurrence of suspended material from the ice surface in the melted water. Under the circumstances, Greenland has an excellent general infrastructure. The assessment of the overall potential, market surveys and field surveys cer- tainly indicates that the production of water, based on melted water and ice from glaciers, for the high-end markets in the USA and Japan will be rewarding. Because of the very unique story about the Greenlandic ice caps and its opportunities, it is important that the consumers can trust that the products they buy really are from Greenland, and that they contain 100% water from the Greenlan- dic ice caps. Therefore, the government of Greenland has developed a mark of origin which will guaranty these matters. 5 Greenland Ice and Water for Export | Product Catalogue – Ice Cap Water 2nd Edition 2 EQIKKAANEQ Tekst mangler i manus 6 Greenland Ice and Water for Export | Product Catalogue – Ice Cap Water 2nd Edition 3 RESUMÉ Grønlands Hjemmestyre besluttede i 2005 at fremme eksporten af is og vand fra Grønland. Et stort program blev iværksat for at undersøge ressourcerne og markedet for vandprodukter og for at informere potentielle investorer om mulighederne. Undersøgelserne af ressourcerne blev udført i 2006 og 2008. Disse undersøgel- ser omfattede prøvetagning fra gletsjere, kilder og overfladevand, og resultaterne blev præsenteret i form af et omfattende analyseprogram for is- og vand- prøver. Denne rapport giver et resumé af resultaterne af de glaciologiske undersøgelser og giver et overblik over de ressourcer, der forekommer mest fordelagtige for videre udvikling. Produktkataloget indeholder en sammenfatning af mulighederne for flaskevand og isterninger baseret på udnyttelsen af kælvet is fra gletsjere. De tre gletsjere der præsenteres her, er Sermilik, Nigerlikasik gletsjer og Narsap Sermia. Analyserne af prøverne, der er taget fra gletsjerne, viser, at vandets kvalitet er karakteriseret af et meget lavt indhold af uorganiske komponenter, og at vandet ikke har nogen bufferkapacitet*. Desuden viste analyserne et forhøjet indhold af NVOC (Non Volatile Organic Carbon = ikke flygtige organiske kulstofforbindel- ser), forhøjet turbiditet (uklarhed) og forhøjet indhold af aggressivt kuldioxid, der medfører en lav pH værdi. I nogle prøver blev der observeret et forhøjet indhold af jern og ammonium ioner. Prøver fra isskosser, der er opfisket ved fronten af én af gletsjerne, viste der- imod intet indhold af NVOC og turbiditeten var lavere. Vandet er rent og op- fylder Grønlands og EU’s krav til kvalitet for drikkevand, med undtagelse af et lavt pH-niveau og et forhøjet indhold af jern i nogle få prøver. Disse parametre betragtes ikke som et problem for produktion af flaskevand af høj kvalitet fra Grønlands indlandsis. Analyserne viste ingen indtrængning af salt i isskosserne fra det omgivende vand. Konklusionen er, at kvaliteten af vandet fra smeltede isskosser fra gletsjere er velegnet til fremstilling af flaskevand og isterninger. Vandet kan også benyttes som råvare for forskellige drikkevare, fx øl og spiritus, og som tilsætning til kos- metik og hudplejeprodukter. * Hvis en opløsning ikke har nogen bufferkapacitet, vil en tilsætning af små mængder syre eller base ændre pH-værdien og gøre opløsningen enten sur eller basisk. Da pH-værdien for drikkevand bør være bør være mellem 7-8,5 (EU 6,5-9,5), vil manglen på bufferkapacitet betyde at pH-vær- dien let vil kunne forrykkes. 7 Greenland Ice and Water for Export | Product Catalogue – Ice Cap Water 2nd Edition Vandet fra gletsjerne har flere egenskaber, som giver forbrugerne en forhøjet værdi af produkterne, fx alder, oprindelse, uberørt af industriel forurening osv. Disse værdier kan variere afhængigt af lokalitet, men er generelt et overbevisen- de argument for en fortsat udnyttelse af vand fra indlandsisen. Det foretrækkes at vand fra gletsjerne produceres ved smeltning af kælvet is, dvs. mindre isfjelde og isskosser,

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