Lessons from (N)Iceland
By Mark J. Lucas |
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What can Columbus, Ohio learn from Iceland? For starters, all their electricity is generated without using fossil fuels like coal or heating oil. They have universal healthcare, and live an average of 10 years longer than we do. The island nation's financial system took a severe hit, generating riots and protests,just like everyone else's in the world, but they have managed to weather it with their administration and national spirits intact: Iceland is rated by the Human Development Index as having the happiest people on earth.
The answer, in short, is that we can learn quite a bit from Iceland, and on December 11th, their President, Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, gave select attendees at the Athletic Club of Columbus a lecture on how his country has managed to harness clean energy, as well as its resulting benefits. The event, sponsored by the Columbus Council on World Affairs, a local philanthropist group, was organized to allow our city some time with one of the world's most practiced authorities on green energy. It also gave 614 Magazine's Humanities Desk Editor Mark J. Lucas a chance to sit down with President Grimsson for an exclusive interview, and, according to Grimsson, the energy problems of the United States are not so insurmountable as we've been led to believe.
"It's an interesting coincidence that Ohio now is 80 percent dependent on coal for its energy," said Grimsson. "When I was growing up in Iceland, my country was also 80 percent dependent on oil and coal for its energy use, and if somebody had described to me at that time that it would be possible, in my lifetime, to move from that to 100 percent clean energy, in terms of electricity production [and interior heating], I don't think anybody would have believed it."
Rather than turning to solar or wind energy technologies, Iceland decided to tap a major resource that was right at its fingertips: geothermal energy. Iceland sits on a hotbed of volcanic and geothermal activity, by virtue of its location on the border of two continental shelves. By tapping the vast steam pockets that exist underneath the country's surface, Iceland has managed to produce enough electricity to power the entire country without the need for fossil fuels, such as coal. Grimsson said that this technology could also be implemented in the United States, and would garner similarly dramatic results.
"We already have the technologies and the know-how - the engineering skills and the management experience - to do this in a cost-effective way," explained Grimsson. "So when you think about the future energy profile of Ohio, you face the question: do you still, in the 21st century, want to be 80 percent dependent on coal, or do you want to spend the next few years or the next few decades to completely transform your energy economy? The geothermal potential of the United States, in addition to solar and wind and other power indicates that the United States can, indeed, go through such a transformation."
Geothermal Power 1. A deep well is drilled into an underground geothermal reservoir. 2) Pressurized steam is released and piped to a power plant. The force of the steam turns a turbine. 3) The turbine powers a generator, creating electricity for distribution. 4) The steam is condensed and injected back into the reservoir.
Illustration by Jeff Guciardo
Granted, this transformation wouldn't happen overnight. It would take a long, concerted effort of our citizenry to accomplish similar results, but according to Grimsson, the change does not need to take place on a national level. In fact, he says it shouldn't, and probably couldn't.
"I believe it is misleading, and could even be counter-productive, to aim for a grand national plan for the United States," said Grimsson. "If you look at the development of Iceland, you also see that the history of the last 30 or 40 years shows us that this was a combination of small incremental steps taken in different parts of the country, different regions and different localities, and so on, but the end result is the comprehensive transformation of the country. You have to conceive the changes from the point-of-view of a city, of a region, even a rural area, or a respective state within the Union. If you wait for a comprehensive, grand American plan to execute this, I think you will probably wait forever."
Because of Iceland's wild success in the area of renewable energy, it has been called upon by other countries to partner in addressing their energy concerns, most notably China and India. Iceland has a working relationship with the third largest energy company in China to use geothermal energy to heat and provide hot water to urban areas in five cities there. From what Grimsson has seen, China may be the chief competitor to the United States in the green energy game.
"China, suprisingly, has reached the level of being the number one player of wind power in the world, and will soon achieve the status of being number one in solar power," said Grimsson. "China is in fact moving ahead in this area much more quickly than anyone would have expected four or five years ago, and I have to say, unfortunately, there is the risk for the United States that China might be, before the end of the next decade or even the middle of the next decade, a more prominent player in this arena, with respect to the United States."
The vast majority of Iceland's population uses cars and trucks for transportation, rather than mass transit. For now, most of these vehicles run on regular gasoline, but Iceland is taking measures to transform its land vehicles to green energy, as well. For a time, their focus was on hydrogen cars, and seven years ago they worked with Daimler-Chrysler and Shell, creating the first public hydrogen station in the world in their capital city, Reykjavik. Recently, however, they have shifted their focus to electric cars, and once again, they have developed relationships with Asia to fulfill their need.
"Last month, an Icelandic company signed an agreement with an Indian company to provide 100 electric cars on a trial basis to Iceland," said Grimsson. "In the '40s and the '50s and the '60s, into the '70s and the '80s, the United States was the main provider of automobiles to Iceland, and it is a fact that when a country like Iceland wants to green its cars in the traffic system within the country, we have to go to Asia to find [them]."
With all this work creating a green economy, and the recent economic hardships faced all over the world, you'd think the people of Iceland would be pretty worn out.
You'd be wrong.
Iceland has been rated as the best place to live with the happiest people, according to the Human Development Index. So what is their secret?
"We kind of smile, always, when we get this news from abroad. For us, they are entertaining statistics," laughed Grimsson. "First of all, we have built a very strong health care and education system, which provides every citizen with a right to health care and education, irrespective of incremental social status. In addition, we live in a very beautiful country, with extraordinary landscapes and natural resources that provide us with clean energy, healthy food. We have maintained our fish stocks, we have thrived in agriculture, and we are also a very peaceful and open democracy without the threat of terror or violence that dominates the political life in many other countries," he said.
"Our population enjoys a life expectancy which is very high. We have, I believe the lowest [infant mortality rate] in the world. If you add all of this up, it means that despite the present economic climate, compared to other nations, the country enjoys a pretty good place in the world, and if you compare our fate with many others, you could say it's a luxury to be an Icelander."
Perhaps we can learn a thing or two from these folks. In the lecture he gave, Grimsson outlined ways that the United States could utilize the same techniques that Iceland has implemented, which has saved them vast amounts of money over the past years and eased the blow during the banking fallout. The most important element of his advice, however, was that the change has to happen on a local level. Perhaps we can get started right here in Columbus, and serve as an example to other U.S. cities. Then maybe we'll be ranked as happy, if not happier, than these cheerful Icelanders in the years to come.
Originally Published: January 1, 2010
