With Geothermal and Hydro, Iceland Is Leader in Renewable Energy

Thanks to shallow geothermal sources providing heat and electricity, as well as an abundance of rivers supplying hydropower, Iceland has in three decades gone from relying on imported coal for 75 percent of its energy needs to meeting 82 percent of its needs today with renewable sources. The Christian Science Monitor reports that Iceland’s 320,000 inhabitants now import oil only to power the nation’s vehicles and its fishing fleet and that the country intends to run entirely on renewable energy sources by 2050. “We see Iceland as the world’s laboratory for a decarbonized future,” said Iceland’s foreign minister. A volcanic island, Iceland has a relatively easy path to that future because of geothermal heat to power steam generators for electricity. But the country is now exporting its geothermal know-how to China and other nations as the world gears up to exploit deeper sources of geothermal energy.