В Грузии арестованы российские офицеры

Electricity Production, Purchases and Sales (GWh)



2005


2004
Total production

7,143 GWh


7,260 GWh
With hydropower

6,676 GWh


6,838 GWh
With geothermal power

467 GWh


422 GWh
Electricity purchases

504 GWh


634 GWh
Sales to general market

2,454 GWh


2,304 GWh
Sales to power-intensive industries

5,193 GWh


5,234 GWh
Sales increase

1.4%


-0.1%

 

Because of Iceland's abundance of hot springs, geysers and volcanoes, the country is a geothermal paradise, helping to make it the only country in the world where the availability of electricity exceeds the demand. More than 66 percent of all the energy produced in Iceland comes from two renewable sources: hydroelectric energy and geothermal power. Despite this cornucopia of clean-burning, cheap energy, Iceland is still dependent upon oil imports to power its armada of more than 2,000 fishing trawlers and transportation vehicles. The ever-resourceful nation is exploring alternative forms of energy, including its efforts to become the world's first hydrogen society. Iceland's hydrogen guru is chemistry professor Bragi Arnason, who first unveiled the idea nearly 30 years ago to cynical colleagues. While hydrogen is easily manufactured in Iceland via geothermal-generated electricity and water, the challenge is in storing vast amounts of the world's lightest gas within spaces compact and powerful enough to power cars, trucks and fishing vessels. Enter the hydrogen-powered fuel cell, championed by Professor Arnason and backed by such heavy hitters as Daimler Chrysler. According to Physicsweb ("The Hydrogen Economy Blasts Off," July 2002), fuel cells could be the technology that proves key in saving Iceland $150 million in annual oil imports and slashing its greenhouse gas emissions. Will the tiny nation become the "Kuwait of the North," leading an energy revolution in which it exports hydrogen to markets in Europe and abroad?