Iceland

Iceland Thinking of Electrifying Europe

- Adam Clare

Iceland uses sustainable geothermal energy production to provide power and hot water to its people and now they are thinking of exporting surplus power to Europe. They are wrapping up their research into the feasibility of running so much electricity underwater to Europe and if it’s completed even more people can benefit from renewable energy.

Plus, just imagine how rich Iceland can become from supplying cheap renewable energy to the rest of Europe.

The project aims for the exportation of some five terawatt-hours (or five billion kilowatt-hours) each year, Jonsdottir said.
At current power prices in Europe, that corresponds to between 250 and 320 million euros ($350-448 million) in exports annually, and is enough to cover the average annual consumption of 1.25 million European households.
“The idea is to meet demand during peak hours in Europe, as well as some base load,” Jonsdottir said, refusing to estimate how much the project might cost to implement.
Landsvirkjun, which is state-owned, produces about 75 percent of all electricity in Iceland

Read the rest of the article.

Sea Shepherd Helps Whales Survive

- Adam Clare

Japan’s notorious killing spree of whales has been challenged by Sea Shepherd for years and this past year Sea Shepherd literally saved whales.

Japan’s whaling ships have returned from the Southern Ocean with their smallest catch in years, prompting the fleet’s leader to blame harassment by the Sea Shepherd marine conservation group for the shortfall.

The Nisshin Maru, the fleet’s mother ship, returned to Tokyo harbour yesterday with just 507 whales, a little over half the target catch of 935, according to the fisheries agency. The haul of minke whales and a single finback was well down on last year’s catch of 680.

The fleet said Sea Shepherd’s attempts to sabotage the hunt had deprived it of 31 days’ whaling.

The annual confrontation between the two groups reached its height in January with the sinking of Sea Shepherd’s high-tech powerboat, the Ady Gil, after a collision with the Shonan Maru 2 harpoon boat.

Read more at The Guardian.

Iceland and Norway also participate in annual whale killing.

Let us not forget that Bluefin Tuna is endangered and we need to protect them too.

Water and Ice(land)

- Fono 1 Comment

A recent issue of The Walrus contained an article on Iceland’s burgeoning experiments with alternative energy sources. Iceland already harnesses geothermal energy, which provides half of the overall energy consumed by citizens and businesses. However, they are also planning to start using hydrogen power, and be oil-free by 2050. “We want to become the first hydrogen society in the world,” said the chairman of the ruling Progressive Party.

Interestingly, both Shell and DaimlerChrysler are active participants in the plan; Daimler will provide hydrogen-powered vehicles, and Shell will provide hydrogen filling stations.

Of particular interest to our Canadian readers may be a quote from a senior official in the hydrogen program. When asked how Canada might go oil-free, she responded, “You have solar! You have wind! You have hydro! Many countries have geothermal too, but they are just waiting for the world to run out of oil before they do anything about it.”

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