The Green Machine -- Spring 2008 Final Project: Primary

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April 29, 2008

Reykjavik, Iceland

By Jess Kapadia
The Green Machines

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Foremost in conservation and sustainability, the city of Reykjavik has been using renewable energy to satisfy 70% of its daily requirements since 1999. Taking advantage of its unique geological conditions, chiefly over 200 volcanoes and 600 hot springs, Iceland has heavily invested in energy research and has implemented hydroelectric and geothermal electric plants which power nearly 90% of Icelandic homes. What's remarkable about this statistic is that in 2002 Iceland was reported to have accessed only 17% of its hydroelectric resources. In order to preserve the natural state of the volcanoes and springs, expanding the amount of energy used from them has slowed to a crawl. The people of Iceland could, in theory, live entirely off of renewable energy.

How geothermal energy works

Iceland has been directing efforts towards renewable energy for decades. In the 1940's, what is now known as the National Energy Authority dedicated much of its government research money to gathering as much information as possible on the geological makeup of the country and how it could be used to bypass the need for the labor intensive and environmentally depleting fossil fuels used to power the rest of the world. Now self-sufficient industries, geothermal and hydroelectric power plants provide Iceland with its own domestic energy and the opportunity to both drastically reduce dependence on foreign oil (less than 30%) and serve as a leading example of a country dedicated to actively reducing its environmental impact on the planet.

Iceland's Hydrogen Car: Iceland hopes to replace all petroleum fuel with hydrogen fuel in the next 50 years.

In 1998, Iceland announced its efforts to become a virtually zero-emissions country by converting cars and boats to hydrogen fuel. Since fish export constitutes the majority of Iceland's economy, using clean energy to power its fishing boats would dramatically decrease their carbon contribution and cost to the country. Within the next 50 years, Iceland expects to meet this goal and begin exporting hydrogen fuel to the rest of Europe and promoting its environmental benefits.