Rising from the ashes

✍ Scribed by Mark Halper

• Book ID: 104450860
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Year: 2010
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 144 KB
• Volume: 11
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1755-0084
• DOI: 10.1016/s1755-0084(10)70119-8

✦ Synopsis

Now for the good news about Iceland: as the infamous volcano has demonstrated, the place is flush with renewable power. Geothermal forces such as those that have fuelled Mt. Eyjafjallajökull, plus the country's vast hydroelectric resources, mean that Iceland could provide the world with a healthy dose of affordable clean energy. And, in fact, Iceland has a two-pronged plan to do so. On 21 June, the Icelandic Parliament passed a bill to help lure industry to the island, where companies would tap into a cheap and steady stream of renewables. Iceland is targeting the initiative (see box: Industry on Ice) at energy intensive sectors such as metallurgical, chemical and information technology. It hopes to accelerate its slow draw of companies through earlier one-off deals that most recently included Norwegian web-browser firm Opera, which announced in May that it is locating data operations near Reykjavik. Mobile phone giant Orange is rumoured to be doing the same. Conversely, with the aim of sending clean power to Europe, Iceland's state-owned utility, Landsvirkjun, is considering exporting electricity to the UK or the continent via sub-Atlantic high voltage direct current (HVDC) lines.

The two ideas clash politically, as many Icelanders object to exporting power that could otherwise help support industry and generate jobs at home.