Monday, January 7, 2013

Iceland:

Icelandic Power Export Plans Still a Pipe Dream (Deutsche Welle)

Iceland's leading role in geothermal power is world renowned. The tiny country wants to sell more of it's excess geothermal power and expertise overseas, but the plans are particularly ambitious.

Bjarni Richter,
Iceland Geosurvey
Laugardalslaug, one of Iceland’s largest outdoor pools, is a hive of activity today, despite the fact that it is the middle of winter. The water is heated by geothermal energy just like all the other outdoor pools in the country.

Geothermal energy - heat energy that is generated and stored by the Earth - is also used as a power source too across Iceland, according to Bjarni Richter, an expert with Iceland Geosurvey. The island's volcanic activity is what keeps the heat flowing. "Basically, we use the internal heat of the earth to boil water. That then turns into steam to drive turbines, and that then generates electricity," he told DW.

Some 26% of the country's power needs are covered by geothermal at the moment, which greatly reduces Iceland's reliance on fossil fuels. "We live in a volcanically active country, where we have lot of shallow high-temperature areas where it is relatively easy and inexpensive to harness heat," Richter said.

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