What makes iceland sustainable

In the 20th century, Icelanders harnessed these natural resources, an important factor in helping transform the population from a poor, coal reliant society to one currently enjoying very high living standards.

Clean and affordable hot water is brought directly from boreholes to houses via pipelines. The remaining buildings are heated with electricity from renewable sources. At visitor centres located at power stations in the countryside, you can learn about the process of converting either hydro- or geothermal energy into electricity and how geothermal water is used for space heating. This can be a fun and interesting activity for the whole family. The exhibitions are often interactive and show how modern technology is used in the energy sector.

Abundant renewable power and a favourable business environment have brought investors to Iceland who wish to limit the carbon footprint of energy intensive facilities such as aluminium smelters and data centres. Imported fossil fuels are still used in transport in Iceland, as ships, planes and cars tend to run on conventional energy.

Electric vehicle ownership is however growing quickly and recently there have been large investments in charging infrastructure for electric cars, with charging stations now available all around the ring-road. This is largely thanks to more efficient ships, the quota system and the electrification of fishmeal production.

Find out more on Green by Iceland. Perhaps it may be easier to implement new power solutions where power systems have not yet been fully implemented and stakeholders can be more mobilized to change the status quo.

The good news is that the world has never before been more prepared to undertake the forthcoming change. New and improving technologies are becoming available all the time, as are better funding schemes.

Cooperation and sharing of know-how around the globe are becoming increasingly easy and instantaneous. Combining these factors with the many lessons learned in the past, such as from Iceland, will prove to be a powerful tool for countries in achieving a more sustainable path. Lastly, it is clear that countries around the world, both rich and poor, will need strong leadership at all levels to accomplish the energy transition ahead.

These leaders will require meaningful examples to inspire people to action. Committed to further sharing its knowledge and experience, Iceland will proudly take on that role, while continuing to learn, and enthusiastically contributing to our common sustainable future. Geothermal Development and Research in Iceland. Dumas, Philippe, and Angelina Bartosik Geothermal DH Potential in Europe.

The Geothermal Exploration Project, - Accessed 29 October Lee, Henry, and Halla H. Cambridge, Mass. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. Perkin Proceedings of the World Geothermal Congress. Melbourne, Australia, April. Orkustofnun, the National Energy Authority. United Nations University. The development of conflict-sensitive approaches highlights how sustainable development can be made more effective through a consideration of peace and security. Despite numerous challenges and obstacles, which are far greater now than prior to the events of August , there are still many ways for the international community to help education move forward in Afghanistan.

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It was the combination of these developments that created the Iceland of our times. Greenhouse agriculture which diversifies the farming sector, enables us to enjoy the domestic production of tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and a variety of vegetables while it also fascinates the tourists. Indeed, tomato growing has been so successful that Iceland could within a few years begin exporting tomatoes to Europe.

Fish farming with geothermal heat adjusting the sea and fresh water temperatures according to the needs of different species; the most recent example being the construction of a 2, tons Senegal sole fish farm within the Reykjanes geothermal power park. Tourism has benefited largely in recent decades from various spas of which the Blue Lagoon is the most famous example as well as from outdoor swimming pools and other lifestyle by-products of the clean energy transformation.

Now more than half a million tourists visit the Blue Lagoon every year; soon twice the total total population of the country. Health and cosmetics. The chemicals in the geothermal water, have, together with the growing of barley in greenhouses, turned out to be a fertile basis for modern cosmetic and health products, proving how cutting-edge science and high-tech innovation can use the clean energy supplies for product development. The drying of fish products, especially fish heads, backbones and other parts which previously were thrown away, has in the last 30 years evolved into a prosperous multi-million dollar export market; allowing the Icelandic fish products to be stored in their dry form by local Nigerian street vendors for up to two years without any special infrastructure; a method which I am now advocating at the global level since the drying of fish, meat, fruit and vegetables could be a major contribution to enhancing food security on every continent, especially since a large part of the food already produced in the developing world gets destroyed within a week due to the lack of proper storage methods and facilities.

The potential of a zero emission urban traffic by introducing, in the coming years, electric and hydrogen vehicles using the clean energy grid already established by our utility companies.

Clean energy projects have strengthened the capacities of our universities and been the foundation of a strong engineering and technical sector, invigorated in the last decades of the twentieth century by various clean energy efforts and is now increasingly engaged in projects in other countries, adding science and research to our modern export endeavours.

The clean energy achievements and our multi-dimensional clean energy economy has, especially in this new century, become an expanding foundation of our foreign relations, our diplomatic, political and economic cooperation with countries in Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas.

It is the major reason why global leaders like China and India engage with my small nation and why dozens of other countries have recently opened their doors to a constructive cooperation with Iceland. All of this shows in numerous ways how the transformation towards clean energy and the vision of sustainability have strengthened the Icelandic economy; indeed one of the explanations for our successful recovery after the financial crisis four years ago.

Thus it can truly be said, based on our experience, that the development of a clean energy economy is a good insurance policy against long-term difficulties which inevitably will continue to follow the financial crises of the future; against making the downturns of economic cycles too painful.

The clean energy transformation in previous decades is definitely a major dimension of our recent recovery but there are, of course, other factors which we could examine in the question session following my opening statement. We did not follow the established financial orthodoxies of the Western World since the s, the so-called Washington Consensus.