Could You Be, Could You Be Squeaky Clean?

I had an interesting encounter at my favorite Reykjavik bar, Sirkus, this summer. It happened shortly after a good friend of mine from the US arrived to spend a couple of days in Iceland. Naturally, Sirkus was the first and last place we visited during his stay. The first night at the bar we struck a conversation with a middle-aged gentleman who turned out to be a professor at Columbia University's Earth Institute in New York. What brought him to Iceland was the third Global Roundtable on Climate Change. However, what brought him to Sirkus of all places I have no idea. Nevertheless he was having a great time with the greasy haired hipsters.

The talk soon turned to the professor's life dedication, alternative enrgy. He admired Iceland's position as the worlds leader in renewable energy. The country's rich hydro- and geothermal energy sources are the foundation for the world's most advancedlow-carbon energy economy. Over 99% of the country's electricity is from renewable sources and most of its urban household heating is geothermal.

In total more than 70% of country's energy needs are currently supplied by renewable energy. Iceland is as well devoted to becoming the world's first hydrogen economy by the year 2050. At the moment Reykjavik has a small pilot fleet of public busses operating on hydrogen. The University of Iceland is on the forefront of research in the field of hydrogen as an energy source and, moreover, is committed to research in sustainable energy.

The blessing of this abundant energy comes with its dilemmas, the greatest being the effects on nature. As a surplus of electricity has been produced, making energy a commodity, the Icelandic government has cashed in on this resource. Hydro-power plants built for and long term energy commitments made to foreign companies has created considerable revenue for the nation. The nation is divided on whether it is acceptable to build damns, submerging vast amounts of land for this purpose. The biggest stir has been about the Kárahnjukar Hydropower Project, which involves damming two rivers in eastern Iceland to produce hydroelectricity to power a new aluminum smelting plant being built by Alcoa in the town of Reydarfjordur. It is the largest construction project ever in Iceland, with completion scheduled for 2009. The resulting hydro power plant will be the biggest in Europe. The plant will have dramatic and permanent effects on the environment of eastern Iceland, home to the second largest unspoiled wilderness in Europe.

A part of the nation is all for the building of these plants given the jobs and exportable goods they produce. Others find the damage to nature is too destructive, especially since there does not seem to be an end in sight. More and more aluminum factories are on the drawing board. This divide has grown larger in recent years. With the current regime in power I cannot see a change on the horizon. However, nature conservationists are being joined by more and more people in demanding a change in policy. I think the next couple of years will be decisive for the future of Iceland's nature, image and economy.

The fact that Iceland's presence on the world stage of renewable energy draws professionals from prestigious international universities and organizations shows the nation's accomplishments and possibilities for the future. The Icelandic government's gamble on polluting industry that requires immense amounts of energy might be a short sighted bet. Perhaps the nation's leaders should be looking harder for a more sustainable usage of our island's power resources.

Baldur Héðinsson - Mathematics student and DJ residing in Boston.

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