ISLANDS IN THE CLIMATE STORM
Among the countries to join the UNEP Climate Neutral Net- work are two very different island states, with unique oppor- tunities to push the boundaries on use of renewable energy.
From the geothermal heat sources underneath Iceland’s volcanic rocks, to the Indian Ocean winds and sun of the Maldives, maximizing renewables has to be balanced with conserving the wild landscapes from which emissions-free energy is being tapped.
Iceland’s position is something of a paradox. For many years, it has used renewable energy to produce virtually all its elec- tricity and heating of homes and offices. Its historical reliance on renewables was not because of pressure to tackle climate change, but because the island has an abundance of two re- newable sources that have been exploited for more than a century: hydro-electricity and the geothermal energy from un- derground “hot rock” layers. Boreholes underneath the capital Reykjavik channel fossil hot water directly into the city’s heat- ing system—visitors are told the water in their hotel shower last saw the light of day at the time of the last Ice Age.
Yet—and here is the paradox—according to the International Energy Agency (IEA), Iceland’s carbon dioxide emissions per person (for 2007) were slightly higher than the average for OECD countries in Europe.
This is for three main reasons. Firstly, the country’s tiny population (just over 300,000) has a tendency to drive large, fuel-thirsty cars. Second, the oil-powered super-trawlers of Iceland’s fishing fleet play a disproportionate role in pushing up total emissions. Finally, aluminium smelting plants, ironically attracted to Iceland because of its cheap, renewable electricity, produce substantial greenhouse gas emissions from the industrial process of extracting the metal from bauxite ore.
So, in a sense, Iceland’s ambitions for climate neutrality are even more challenging than for other countries because it
has gone nearly as far as it can possibly go to “de-carbonize” electricity and heating—usually two principal targets for cutting emissions.
“While Iceland has a head start in its abundance of renewable energy, it will be especially difficult to stop reliance on fossil fuels for transport and the fishing fleet,” observes Hugi Olafsson of Iceland’s environment ministry. “The car fleet in Iceland is very large per capita, and very fuel inefficient.
“This means that there is great potential in bringing the fuel efficiency up, and a draft law exists that would change the tax system for cars and fuel in a way to encourage cleaner solutions. Iceland can attempt to stay in the forefront in employing new transport technology, such as electric or hydrogen cars, but this will take a long time.”
On the other hand, the economic downturn, which hit Iceland’s economy especially brutally, has provided a strong incentive to tackle this source of emissions. Olafsson adds: “The fuel-inefficient car fleet of Icelanders is a liability in the economic recession, and it is very clear that a shift to cleaner and more fuel efficient cars will bring sizeable economic benefits for families and society as a whole.”
For the fishing fleet, an experimental hydrogen-powered vessel was deployed in 2007, but as a near-term solution the government is looking more to biofuels as an alternative to oil. Iceland also claims to have squeezed out just about all possible emissions from aluminium smelting given current technology—partly by minimizing emissions of the powerful perfluorocarbon (PFC) greenhouse gases, of which emissions per tonne (taking electricity generation into account) have been reduced to around half the global average.
As a way of helping to offset those continuing emissions, Iceland is putting a strong focus on capturing more carbon dioxide in vegetation on the island’s unique landscape. The country has suffered the worst soil erosion of any European
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