Iceland
Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...
is a world leader in renewable energy. 100% of Iceland's
electricity grid
An electrical grid is an interconnected network for electricity delivery from producers to consumers. Electrical grids vary in size and can cover whole countries or continents. It consists of:Kaplan, S. M. (2009). Smart Grid. Electrical Power ...
is produced from
renewable resource
A renewable resource, also known as a flow resource, is a natural resource which will replenish to replace the portion resource depletion, depleted by usage and consumption, either through natural reproduction or other recurring processes in a ...
s. In terms of total energy supply, 85% of the total
primary energy
Primary energy (PE) is an energy form found in nature that has not been subjected to any human engineered conversion process. It is energy contained in raw fuels, and other forms of energy, including waste, received as input to a system. Pr ...
supply in
Iceland
Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...
is derived from domestically produced
renewable energy
Renewable energy is energy that is collected from renewable resources that are naturally replenished on a human timescale. It includes sources such as sunlight, wind, the movement of water, and geothermal heat. Although most renewable energy ...
sources.
Geothermal energy provided about 65% of primary energy in 2016, the share of
hydropower
Hydropower (from el, ὕδωρ, "water"), also known as water power, is the use of falling or fast-running water to Electricity generation, produce electricity or to power machines. This is achieved by energy transformation, converting the Pot ...
was 20%, and the share of
fossil fuels
A fossil fuel is a hydrocarbon-containing material formed naturally in the Earth's crust from the remains of dead plants and animals that is extracted and burned as a fuel. The main fossil fuels are coal, oil, and natural gas. Fossil fuels ...
(mainly oil products for the transport sector) was 15%.
The
Icelandic government
The politics of Iceland take place in the framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the president is the head of state, while the prime minister of Iceland serves as the head of government in a multi-party syste ...
aspires that the nation will be
carbon neutral
Carbon neutrality is a state of net-zero carbon dioxide emissions. This can be achieved by balancing emissions of carbon dioxide with its removal (often through carbon offsetting) or by eliminating emissions from society (the transition to the "p ...
by 2040. The largest obstacles to this are
road transport
Road transport or road transportation is a type of transport using roads. Transport on roads can be roughly grouped into the transportation of goods and transportation of people. In many countries licensing requirements and safety regulations e ...
and the
fishing industry
The fishing industry includes any industry or activity concerned with taking, culturing, processing, preserving, storing, transporting, marketing or selling fish or fish products. It is defined by the Food and Agriculture Organization as including ...
.
In 2015, the total electricity consumption in Iceland was 18,798 GWh. Renewable energy provided almost 100% of production, with 75% coming from hydropower and 24% from geothermal power.
Only two islands, Grimsey and Flatey, are not connected to the national grid and so rely primarily on diesel generators for electricity.
Most of the hydropower plants are owned by
Landsvirkjun
Landsvirkjun, () the National Power Company of Iceland, is Iceland's largest electricity generator. Landsvirkjun operates 18 power plants in Iceland concentrated on five main areas of operation.
History
Landsvirkjun was founded on 1 July 1965 b ...
(the National Power Company) which is the main supplier of electricity in Iceland.
Landsvirkjun
Landsvirkjun, () the National Power Company of Iceland, is Iceland's largest electricity generator. Landsvirkjun operates 18 power plants in Iceland concentrated on five main areas of operation.
History
Landsvirkjun was founded on 1 July 1965 b ...
produces 12,469 GWh which is 75% of the total electricity production in Iceland.
The main use of geothermal energy is for
space heating
Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) is the use of various technologies to control the temperature, humidity, and purity of the air in an enclosed space. Its goal is to provide thermal comfort and acceptable indoor air quality. HV ...
, with the heat being distributed to buildings through extensive district-heating systems.
Nearly all Icelandic homes are heated with renewable energy, with 90% of homes being via geothermal energy. The remaining homes that are not located in areas with geothermal resources are heated by renewable electricity instead.
Iceland is the world's largest green energy producer per capita and largest electricity producer per capita, with approximately 55,000 kWh per person per year. In comparison, the EU average is less than 6,000 kWh.
Most of this electricity is used in energy-intensive industrial sectors, such as
aluminium production
Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It ...
, which developed in Iceland thanks to the low cost of electricity.
Energy resources
Iceland's unique geology allows it to produce renewable energy relatively cheaply, from a variety of sources. Iceland is located on the
Mid-Atlantic Ridge
The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is a mid-ocean ridge (a divergent or constructive plate boundary) located along the floor of the Atlantic Ocean, and part of the longest mountain range in the world. In the North Atlantic, the ridge separates the North Ame ...
, which makes it one of the most
tectonically
Tectonics (; ) are the processes that control the structure and properties of the Earth's crust and its evolution through time. These include the processes of mountain building, the growth and behavior of the strong, old cores of continents k ...
active places in the world. There are over
200 volcanoes located in Iceland and over 600
hot spring
A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a spring produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow bodies of magma (molten rock) or by circ ...
s.
[Sveinbjorn Bjornsson, ''Geothermal Development and Research in Iceland'' (Ed. Helga Bardadottir. Reykjavik: Gudjon O, 2006)] There are over 20 high-temperature steam fields that are at least 150 °C
300 °F">/nowiki>300 °F/nowiki>; many of them reach temperatures of 250 °C. This is what allows Iceland to harness geothermal energy, and these steam fields are used for heating everything from houses to swimming pools. Hydropower is harnessed through glacial river
A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...
s and waterfall
A waterfall is a point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf.
Waterfalls can be formed in several wa ...
s, both of which are common in Iceland. Iceland also has an exclusive economic zone measuring some 751,345 km² which could be used for offshore wind farm
Offshore wind power or offshore wind energy is the generation of electricity through wind farms in bodies of water, usually at sea. There are higher wind speeds offshore than on land, so offshore farms generate more electricity per amount of c ...
s. By comparison, Germany with an exclusive economic zone measuring 57,485 km² produced roughly 24 TWh of electricity with its offshore wind farms in 2021. However, both the German Bight
The German Bight (german: Deutsche Bucht; da, tyske bugt; nl, Duitse bocht; fry, Dútske bocht; ; sometimes also the German Bay) is the southeastern bight of the North Sea bounded by the Netherlands and Germany to the south, and Denmark and ...
and Germany's share of the Baltic Sea are relatively shallow, whereas Iceland's waters include some comparatively deep parts of the North Atlantic and the Iceland Sea. This could make offshore construction
Offshore construction is the installation of structures and facilities in a marine environment, usually for the production and transmission of electricity, oil, gas and other resources. It is also called maritime engineering.
Construction a ...
more challenging and costly or outright impossible in the worst case.
Sources
Hydropower
The first hydropower
Hydropower (from el, ὕδωρ, "water"), also known as water power, is the use of falling or fast-running water to Electricity generation, produce electricity or to power machines. This is achieved by energy transformation, converting the Pot ...
plant was built in 1904 by a local entrepreneur
Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values th ...
. It was located in a small town outside of Reykjavík
Reykjavík ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói bay. Its latitude is 64°08' N, making it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. With a po ...
and produced 9 kW of power. The first municipal hydroelectric plant was built in 1921, and it could produce 1 MW of power. This plant single-handedly quadrupled the amount of electricity
Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described ...
in the country.[19th World Energy Congress, ''Sustainable Generation and Utilization of Energy The Case of Iceland'' (Sydney: 2004)] The 1950s marked the next evolution in hydroelectric plant
Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined an ...
s. Two plants were built on the Sog River
Sog (; more commonly Sogið ) is a river in Iceland. It runs from the lake Þingvallavatn for to its confluence with the river Hvítá, forming the river Ölfusá which then runs for another 25 km into the Atlantic Ocean. Its average disc ...
, one in 1953 which produced 31 MW, and the other in 1959 which produced 26.4 MW. These two plants were the first built for industrial purposes and they were co-owned by the Icelandic government
The politics of Iceland take place in the framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the president is the head of state, while the prime minister of Iceland serves as the head of government in a multi-party syste ...
. This process continued in 1965 when the national power company, Landsvirkjun
Landsvirkjun, () the National Power Company of Iceland, is Iceland's largest electricity generator. Landsvirkjun operates 18 power plants in Iceland concentrated on five main areas of operation.
History
Landsvirkjun was founded on 1 July 1965 b ...
, was founded. It was owned by both the Icelandic government and the municipality of Reykjavík
Reykjavík ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói bay. Its latitude is 64°08' N, making it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. With a po ...
. In 1969, they built a 210 MW plant on the Þjórsá River that would supply the southeastern area of Iceland
Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...
with electricity and run an aluminum
Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It has ...
smelting
Smelting is a process of applying heat to ore, to extract a base metal. It is a form of extractive metallurgy. It is used to extract many metals from their ores, including silver, iron, copper, and other base metals. Smelting uses heat and a ch ...
plant that could produce 33,000 tons of aluminum a year.
This trend continued and increases in the production of hydroelectric power
Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined and ...
are directly related to industrial development
Industrialisation ( alternatively spelled industrialization) is the period of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an industrial society. This involves an extensive re-organisation of an econom ...
. In 2005, Landsvirkjun produced 7,143 GWh of electricity total of which 6,676 GWh or 93% was produced via hydroelectric power plant
A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid.
Many pow ...
s. 5,193 GWh or 72% was used for power-intensive industries like aluminum smelting. In 2009 Iceland built its biggest hydroelectric
Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined and ...
project to date, the Kárahnjúkar Hydropower Plant
Kárahnjúkar Hydropower Plant ( is, Kárahnjúkavirkjun ), officially called Fljótsdalur Power Station ( is, Fljótsdalsstöð ) is a hydroelectric power plant in Fljótsdalshérað municipality in eastern Iceland, designed to produce annuall ...
, a 690 MW hydroelectric plant to provide energy for another aluminum smelter.[Helga Bardadottir, ''Energy in Iceland.'' (Reykjavik: Hja Godjon O, 2004)] This project was opposed strongly by environmentalists.
Other hydroelectric power stations in Iceland include: Blöndustöð (150 MW),
Búrfellsstöð (270 MW), Hrauneyjafosstöð (210 MW), Laxárstöðvar (28 MW), Sigöldustöð (150 MW), Sogsstöðvar (89 MW), Sultartangastöð (120 MW), and
Vatnsfellsstöð (90 MW).
Iceland is the first country in the world to create an economy generated through industries fueled by renewable energy
Renewable energy is energy that is collected from renewable resources that are naturally replenished on a human timescale. It includes sources such as sunlight, wind, the movement of water, and geothermal heat. Although most renewable energy ...
, and there is still a large amount of untapped hydroelectric energy in Iceland. In 2002 it was estimated that Iceland only generated 17% of the total harnessable hydroelectric energy in the country. Iceland's government believes another 30 TWh TWH or twh could refer to:
* Tai Dón language, a language of Vietnam, Laos, and China
* Tai Wo Hau station, Hong Kong; MTR station code
* Tennessee Walking Horse, a breed of horse
* Toronto Western Hospital, a hospital in Toronto, Canada
* Tun ...
of hydropower could be produced each year, while taking into account the sources that must remain untapped for environmental reasons.
Geothermal power
For centuries, the people of Iceland have used their hot springs
A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a spring produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow bodies of magma (molten rock) or by circ ...
for bathing and washing clothes. The first use of geothermal energy for heating
A central heating system provides warmth to a number of spaces within a building from one main source of heat. It is a component of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (short: HVAC) systems, which can both cool and warm interior spaces.
...
did not come until 1907 when a farmer ran a concrete pipe from a hot spring to lead steam into his house. In 1930, the first pipeline
Pipeline may refer to:
Electronics, computers and computing
* Pipeline (computing), a chain of data-processing stages or a CPU optimization found on
** Instruction pipelining, a technique for implementing instruction-level parallelism within a s ...
was constructed in Reykjavík
Reykjavík ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói bay. Its latitude is 64°08' N, making it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. With a po ...
and was used to heat two schools, 60 homes, and the main hospital. It was a pipeline that ran from one of the hot springs outside the city. In 1943 the first district heating
District heating (also known as heat networks or teleheating) is a system for distributing heat generated in a centralized location through a system of insulated pipes for residential and commercial heating requirements such as space heating a ...
company was started with the use of geothermal power. An pipeline ran through the city of Reykjavík, and by 1945 it was connected to over 2,850 homes.
Currently geothermal power heats 89% of the houses in Iceland, and over 54% of the primary energy
Primary energy (PE) is an energy form found in nature that has not been subjected to any human engineered conversion process. It is energy contained in raw fuels, and other forms of energy, including waste, received as input to a system. Pr ...
used in Iceland comes from geothermal sources. Geothermal power is used for many things in Iceland. 57.4% of the energy is used for space heat, 25% is used for electricity, and the remaining amount is used in many miscellaneous areas such as swimming pools, fish farms
upright=1.3, Salmon farming in the sea (mariculture) at Loch Ainort, Isle of Skye">mariculture.html" ;"title="Salmon farming in the sea (mariculture">Salmon farming in the sea (mariculture) at Loch Ainort, Isle of Skye, Scotland
Fish farming or ...
, and greenhouse
A greenhouse (also called a glasshouse, or, if with sufficient heating, a hothouse) is a structure with walls and roof made chiefly of Transparent ceramics, transparent material, such as glass, in which plants requiring regulated climatic condit ...
s.
The government of Iceland has played a major role in the advancement of geothermal energy. In the 1940s the State Electricity Authority was started by the government in order to increase the knowledge of geothermal resources and the utilization of geothermal power in Iceland. The agency's name was later changed to the National Energy Authority ( Orkustofnun) in 1967. This agency has been very successful and has made it economically viable to use geothermal energy as a source for heating in many different areas throughout the country. Geothermal power has been so successful that the government no longer has to lead the research in this field because it has been taken over by the geothermal industries.
Geothermal power plants in Iceland include Nesjavellir
The Nesjavellir Geothermal Power Station ( is, Nesjavallavirkjun, ) is the second-largest geothermal power station in Iceland. The facility is located above sea level in the southwestern part of the country, near Þingvellir National Park and th ...
(120 MW), Reykjanes
Reykjanes () is a small headland on the southwestern tip of the Reykjanes Peninsula in Iceland, giving the main peninsula its name. The region is about from Iceland's international airport.
As the name means "smoking peninsula" connected to volc ...
(100 MW), Hellisheiði (303 MW), Krafla
Krafla () is a volcanic caldera of about 10 km in diameter with a 90 km long fissure zone. It is located in the north of Iceland in the Mývatn region and is situated on the Iceland hotspot atop the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, which forms the ...
(60 MW), and Svartsengi (46.5 MW). The Svartsengi power plant and the Nesjavellir power plant produce both electricity and hot water for heating purposes. The move from oil
An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...
-based heating to geothermal heating saved Iceland an estimated total of US $
The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
8.2 billion from 1970 to 2000 and lowered the release of carbon dioxide emissions
Greenhouse gas emissions from human activities strengthen the greenhouse effect, contributing to climate change. Most is carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels: coal, oil, and natural gas. The largest emitters include coal in China and lar ...
by 37%. It would have taken 646,000 tons of oil to heat Iceland's homes in 2003.
The Icelandic government also believes that there are many more untapped geothermal sources throughout the country, estimating that over 20 TWh per year of unharnessed geothermal energy is available. This is about 3.3% of the 600TWh per year of electricity used in Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
. Combined with the unharnessed feasible hydropower, tapping these sources to their full extent would provide Iceland another 50 TWh of energy per year, all from renewable sources.
Iceland's abundant geothermal energy has also enabled renewable energy initiatives, such as Carbon Recycling International
Carbon Recycling International (CRI) is an Icelandic limited liability company which has developed a technology designed to produce renewable methanol from carbon dioxide and hydrogen, using water electrolysis or, alternatively, hydrogen captured ...
's carbon dioxide to methanol fuel process, which could help reduce Iceland's dependence on fossil fuels.
Solar power
Iceland has relatively low insolation, due to the high latitude, thus limited solar power potential. The total yearly insolation is about 20% less than Paris, and half as much as Madrid
Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...
, with very little in the winter.
Wind power
There is an ongoing project in checking the feasibility of a wind farm
A wind farm or wind park, also called a wind power station or wind power plant, is a group of wind turbines in the same location used Wind power, to produce electricity. Wind farms vary in size from a small number of turbines to several hundre ...
in Iceland. In 2012, two wind turbines were installed in South Iceland and in 2015 a wind atlas
A wind atlas contains data on the wind speed and wind direction in a region. These data include maps, but also time series or frequency distributions. A climatological wind atlas covers hourly averages at a standard height (10 meters) over even l ...
, named icewind, was completed.
Experiments with hydrogen as a fuel
Import
An import is the receiving country in an export from the sending country. Importation and exportation are the defining financial transactions of international trade.
In international trade, the importation and exportation of goods are limited ...
ed oil
An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...
fulfills most of Iceland's remaining energy needs, the cost of which has caused the country to focus on domestic renewable energy. Professor Bragi Árnason first proposed the idea of using hydrogen as a fuel source in Iceland during the 1970s when the oil crisis occurred. The idea was considered untenable, but in 1999 Icelandic New Energy was established to govern the transition of Iceland to the first hydrogen society by 2050.[Icelandic New Energy](_blank)
accessed 2007-05-02
In the early 2000s, the viability of hydrogen
Hydrogen is the chemical element with the symbol H and atomic number 1. Hydrogen is the lightest element. At standard conditions hydrogen is a gas of diatomic molecules having the formula . It is colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, an ...
as a fuel
A fuel is any material that can be made to react with other substances so that it releases energy as thermal energy or to be used for work. The concept was originally applied solely to those materials capable of releasing chemical energy but ...
source was considered, and whether Iceland's small population, small scale of the country's infrastructure, and access to natural energy would ease a transition from oil to hydrogen.
ECTOS Hydrogen demonstration project
The ECTOS (Ecological City Transport System) demonstration project ran from 2001 to August 2005.[ECTOS - hydrogen buses in Reykjavik Iceland](_blank)
''SU:GRE'', published 2007, accessed 2007-05-04 The project used three hydrogen fuel cell
A fuel cell is an electrochemical cell that converts the chemical energy of a fuel (often hydrogen) and an oxidizing agent (often oxygen) into electricity through a pair of redox reactions. Fuel cells are different from most batteries in requ ...
buses and one fuel station
A filling station, also known as a gas station () or petrol station (), is a facility that sells fuel and engine lubricants for motor vehicles. The most common fuels sold in the 2010s were gasoline (or petrol) and diesel fuel.
Gasol ...
, with Strætó bs.
From January 2006 to January 2007 testing of hydrogen buses continued as part of the HyFLEET:CUTE project, which spanned 10 cities in Europe, China and Australia and was sponsored by the European Commission
The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body o ...
's 6th framework programme. The project studied the long-term effects and most-efficient ways of using hydrogen power
Hydrogen fuel refers to hydrogen which is burned as fuel with oxygen. It is zero-carbon, provided that it is created in a process that does not involve carbon. It can be used in fuel cells or internal combustion engines (see HICEV). Regarding h ...
ed buses. The buses were run for longer periods of time and the durability of the fuel cell
A fuel cell is an electrochemical cell that converts the chemical energy of a fuel (often hydrogen) and an oxidizing agent (often oxygen) into electricity through a pair of redox reactions. Fuel cells are different from most batteries in requ ...
was compared to the internal combustion engine
An internal combustion engine (ICE or IC engine) is a heat engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer (usually air) in a combustion chamber that is an integral part of the working fluid flow circuit. In an internal combus ...
, which can theoretically last much longer. The project also compared the fuel efficiency of the original buses with that of new buses from a number of manufacturers.
The country's first hydrogen station
A hydrogen station is a storage or filling station for Hydrogen. The hydrogen is dispensed by weight. There are two filling pressures in common use. H70 or 700 bar, and the older standard H35 or 350 bar. As of 2021 around 550 filling stations were ...
opened in 2003 in Reykjavík
Reykjavík ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói bay. Its latitude is 64°08' N, making it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. With a po ...
. To avoid transportation difficulties, hydrogen is produced on-site with electrolysis
In chemistry and manufacturing, electrolysis is a technique that uses direct electric current (DC) to drive an otherwise non-spontaneous chemical reaction. Electrolysis is commercially important as a stage in the separation of elements from n ...
(breaking down water
Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as a ...
into hydrogen and oxygen
Oxygen is the chemical element with the symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group in the periodic table, a highly reactive nonmetal, and an oxidizing agent that readily forms oxides with most elements as wel ...
). The hydrogen station was closed in 2010, but was reopened in 2018.
Education and research
Several Icelandic institutions offer education in renewable energy at a university level and research programmes for its advancement:
* University of Iceland
The University of Iceland ( is, Háskóli Íslands ) is a public research university in Reykjavík, Iceland and the country's oldest and largest institution of higher education. Founded in 1911, it has grown steadily from a small civil servants' s ...
in Reykjavík, the country's largest research institution in renewable energy
* Reykjavik University, School of Science and Engineering
* Keilir, Atlantic center of excellence in Ásbrú, runs a research center in energy sciences.
* RES - The School for Renewable Energy Science, in Akureyri
Akureyri (, locally ) is a town in northern Iceland. It is Iceland's fifth-largest municipality, after Reykjavík, Hafnarfjörður, Reykjanesbær and Kópavogur, and the largest town outside Iceland's more populated southwest corner.
Nicknamed ...
, offers a one-year graduate (M.Sc.) programme in renewable energy science.
* Iceland School of Energy, in Reykjavik, offers M.Sc. studies in renewable energy engineering, policy and science.
* University of Akureyri
The University of Akureyri ( is, Háskólinn á Akureyri , regionally also ) was founded in 1987 in the town of Akureyri in the northeastern part of Iceland. It is today a school of health sciences, humanities and social science, and a school of b ...
Several companies, public and private, are conducting extensive research in the field of renewable energy:
*The National Energy Authority of Iceland is charged with conducting energy research and providing consulting services related to energy development and utilization.
*Landsvirkjun
Landsvirkjun, () the National Power Company of Iceland, is Iceland's largest electricity generator. Landsvirkjun operates 18 power plants in Iceland concentrated on five main areas of operation.
History
Landsvirkjun was founded on 1 July 1965 b ...
, the national electric company, conducts research in hydro-electric and geothermal power and funds a great deal of related research.
*The Icelandic Energy Portal is an independent information source on the Icelandic energy sector.
*Iceland Geosurvey
Iceland GeoSurvey (ÍSOR) is a consulting and research institute providing specialist services to the Icelandic power industry, the Icelandic government and foreign companies, in particular in the field of geothermal sciences and utilisation. It a ...
(ÍSOR) is a public consulting and research institute providing specialist services to the Icelandic power industry, dedicated mainly to geothermal and hydroelectric research.
See also
* Electricity sector in Iceland
The electricity sector in Iceland is 99.98% reliant on renewable energy: hydro power, geothermal energy and wind energy.
Iceland's consumption of electricity per capita was seven times higher than EU 15 average in 2008. The majority of the elect ...
* Geothermal power in Iceland
Geothermal power in Iceland refers to the use of geothermal energy in Iceland for electricity generation.
Iceland’s uniquely active geology has led to natural conditions especially suitable for harnessing geothermal energy. Icelanders have long ...
* Economy of Iceland
The economy of Iceland is small and subject to high volatility. In 2011, gross domestic product was US$12 billion, but by 2018 it had increased to a nominal GDP of US$27 billion. With a population o350,000 this is $55,000 per capita, based on purc ...
* Icelandic New Energy
* Reykjavik Geothermal
* '' Dreamland: A Self-Help Manual for a Frightened Nation''
* Renewable energy in Norway
Norway is a heavy producer of renewable energy because of hydropower. Over 99% of the electricity production in mainland Norway is from 31 GW hydropower plants (86 TWh reservoir capacity, storing water from summer to winter). The average hydropo ...
* Renewable energy in Denmark
Denmark is a leading country in wind energy production and wind turbine production. Wind power alone produced 47% of Denmark's electricity consumption in 2017, and is expected to increase its production by nearly 80% in the years to 2024.
Denma ...
* Renewable energy by country
This is a list of renewable energy topics by country and territory. These links can be used to compare developments in renewable energy in different countries and territories and to help and encourage new writers to participate in writing about ...
References
Bibliography
* 19th World Energy Congress. ''Sustainable Generation and Utilization of Energy The Case of Iceland.'' Sydney: 2004.
* Bardadottir, Helga. ''Energy in Iceland.'' Reykjavik: Hja Godjon O, 2004.
* Bjornsson, Sveinbjorn. ''Geothermal Development and Research in Iceland.'' Ed. Helga Bardadottir. Reykjavik: Gudjon O, 2006.
External links
Icelandic Energy Portal
Renewable Energy in Iceland - Nordic Energy Solutions
Kárahnjúkar hydropower project
Saving Iceland - direct action movement against heavy industry, large dams and large-scale geothermal exploitation in Iceland
Orkustofnun - Icelandic National Energy Authority
Hydrogen in Iceland: Current status and future aspects (Icelandic New Energy, September 2006)
Energy in Iceland: The Resource, its Utilisation and the Energy Policy (Minister of Industry and Commerce, 2000-01-03)
* - a short talk by Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson
Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson (; born 14 May 1943) is an Icelandic politician who was the fifth president of Iceland from 1996 to 2016.Official CV. He was previously a member of the Icelandic Parliament for the People's Alliance and served as Minis ...
Geothermal Energy Leaves the Window Open for Iceland's Economy
"Meet Iceland - a Pioneer in the Use of Renewable Resources". A brochure on renewable energy solutions in Iceland. Touches upon everything from geothoermal and hydro, to alternative fuels.
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