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A Renewable Energy Success Story
Iceland Sets Example for the World: During his luncheon address Sept. 19 at the Washington Summit on Climate Stabilization, Iceland's President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson recalled what his country used to be like.
"I remember as a small boy...if you visited Reykjavik [the capital city] it was covered with smoke from the coal fires," he said, adding that the harbor was then full of ships bearing coal from London and other ports. Iceland ran on coal 50 years ago.
Not anymore. Now, Grimsson said, the nation gets "almost 100 percent of our electricity from renewable sources; almost 100 percent of our houses are heated by renewables; and 70 percent of our total energy comes from renewables." Later, he pointed out that "in one generation, Iceland moved to become a global leader in renewable energy ...after being a coal nation."
The four-day summit in Washington, DC, was sponsored by The Climate Institute, a non-profit organization that primarily addresses climate issues. I attended on a day full of scientific presentations on the theme, "The Likelihood of Abrupt and Disruptive Climate Change: Where Are the Tipping Points?" There were some 300 scientists and representatives from non-profits in attendance.
Grimsson presented Iceland as something of an early adopter, ready and willing to show the world how to get its energy from renewable sources such as geothermal and hydropower. The country also plans to become a national hydrogen economy by 2050.
Yes, Iceland is much smaller than the United States: It has only 300,000 people and its land area is only about 300 miles by 190 miles. It has no fossil fuels of its own, so by developing geothermal sources (it's got a lot of volcanoes hot springs and geysers) it has secured some energy self-sufficiency. It may not be the perfect model for larger countries, but as Grimsson says it is an "example of what can be done in a very short time."
He listed seven areas the country has worked on in recent years. Number one, geothermal energy, which now runs power stations and aluminum smelters. "Many companies, including Alcoa and Google, want to locate there so they can present their customers products made with clean energy," he boasted.
Two, hydro dams, which provide 18 percent of the nation's energy. Three, using hydrogen to power buses and a few private cars. "I was told I had the distinction of being the first person to break the speed limit in a hydrogen car," he said.
Four, pumping carbon dioxide into the ground. Iceland is doing experiments in conjunction with some universities to remove C02 from the air and pump it into the basalt layers. If it works, India may follow suit and Iceland may pump exhaust from their smelters undergroud.
Five, participation in the international debate. Iceland led the group of Arctic nations to produce a report about the effects of climate change up north. "With the end of the Cold War, the importance of nations is measured in what we can contribute to solve the problems of the world [and not in military might]," Grimsson said.
Six, Iceland's banks are making the global financing of clean energy a part of their portfolios. "It's a message to other banks," he said. "They should take note."
Seven, creating partnerships with other countries. He ran through a list of such nations. "We've entered into partnerships with China, India, Russia, California ...(much laughter from the crowd here)... and many European countries."
He acknowledged that geothermal energy "will never be the solution to the problem of climate change, but it can be an important part of the solution." He noted that many countries in Africa also have the potential for geothermal.
Grimsson thinks we are in a new era in dealing with climate change, a shift in the debate that he finds "tremendously encouraging." He described how 5 or 6 years ago he tried to convince the editors of a major American newsmagazine (Time, I'm guessing) to run a cover story about global warming. They said no, nobody here cares about it. This year they did run a cover story, Grimsson said.
"We have the attention of the world," he said, adding that the new era of international focus on climate change "creates a fascinating challenge for scientists" to be both providers of scientific information and also participants in the democratic process. Iceland has emphasized the cooperation of scientists and politicians, he said. "I urge American scientists and others to become more involved in cooperation on the Arctic."
"The North is becoming a key area in the climate change debate. Nowhere in the world can we see such dramatic changes," he said.
There is still some of the "island mentality" in Iceland. "We discovered America 1,000 years ago, but we didn't tell anyone about it," Grimsson said. Now he's relating the experience of the last few decades and showing others what can be done. The question is, who will listen?
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We don't all live on the mid-Atlantic Ridge, smack on top of massive geothermal forces. There are some regions of the United States that fit such a description, more or less, but not the mid-Atlantic region of the States. In Pennsylvania, we have coal, wood, and ancient oil wells, and some wind and hydro.
So I have to beg the question about all combustion engines: all consume ("burn") oxygen. Some burn hydrogen in addition. Green or less green, all seem to produce CO, CO2, carbon particulates, or, in the case of Fuel Cell engines, H2O.
I am no chemist, but I have never read a "recipe" for anything other than algae to convert CO2. The equations all seem to be one-way streets which CHANGE and DEGRADE the atmosphere. Can one turn CO2 into something else, or is the molecular bond so unbreakable that it requires more energy to break it than to create energy? And NO2?
The impression I'm left with is this: whether one burns fossil fuel or ethanol, it's a one way formula. And what, by the way, IS the byproduct of burning ethanol?
And, with our "infinite" supply of oxygen in the atmosphere, what is our impact of consuming that in fuel cell engines? A couple billion vehicles burning O2 will have an impact over time.
I'm reading half-answers and half-finished thinking. -
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Glad to have found this blog. It's great. I was reminded of my young years in a suburb of Pittsburgh...every one burned coal. The air was thick with smoke. My mother hated it bitterly...she couldn't keep curtains and window sills clean...soot filtered in noo matter. Of course, the coal most used was the softer kind, it was cheaper. I remember her complaininig that people all had blackene nostrils. Ugly, what, My oown blog is cjunechase/theot hersideofsixty.
1/23/07 11:05 AM