SPACE WIRE
Iceland wants to become world's first hydrogen-powered economy
TOKYO (AFP) Jun 15, 2003
Iceland could become the world's first economy free from the fossil fuels that add to global warming if it manages to produce enough hydrogen using renewable energy sources to run fuel cells, an official said here.

"Iceland has the goal to have become a hydrogen economy by the year 2040," said the country's ambassador to Japan, Ingimundur Sigfusson.

"However, to realise this vision Iceland is dependent upon the development of fuel cell technology and the technology for storage of hydrogen, which is still a handicap," he told AFP.

Fuel cells produce electricity through a reaction between hydrogen (H2) and oxygen (O2), which leaves behind water (H2O). But a large part of the hydrogen must still be produced using natural gas, which generates carbon dioxidethat adds to global warming.

A volcanic country with plentiful sources of natural hot water, as well as waterfalls which generate hydropower, Iceland uses renewable energy to generate more than 70 percent of its power -- 50 percent comes from geothermal means and 20 percent from waterfalls.

About 90 percent of Iceland's houses are heated by hot water from under the ground and a growing portion of the nation's electricity is produced using steam generated from geothermal resources.

The fact that just 17 percent of its geothermal and hydroenergy resources have been harnessed has encouraged the Atlantic Ocean island of 288,000 inhabitants to strive to become fully independent of fossil fuels.

"We are optimistic that by using these sources of power to produce hydrogen and by converting to hydrogen for transport between 90 and 95 percent of our total energy needs will be met from renewable sources," Iceland's Prime Minister David Oddsson declared last September at the Earth Summit in South Africa.

Iceland is taking part in a European environmentally friendly power project, Ecological City Transport System (ECTOS), and aims to have three DaimlerChrysler hydrogen buses driving through the streets of Reykjavik starting on August 31. The cost of the project is covered 40 percent by the European Union.

A plan to create a fishing fleet that is also powered by hydrogen is a longer-term project, however.

A number of companies are conducting research into this area, including Japanese machinery giant Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries.

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