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Iceland is a beautiful island in the North Atlantic Ocean. It has a population of

around 320,000 people. 200,000 people live in the capital city of Reykjavik.

Iceland’s landscape is extraordinary. It combines beautiful waterfalls with amazing

natural phenomena like these geysers in the Golden Circle. Iceland is volcanically and

geologically active. Geysers erupt every few minutes producing steam and hot water.

This geothermal activity can be harnessed to produce electricity and domestic hot

water.

This is the Nesjavellir geothermal plant. The plant is near the Hengill volcano and can

produce up to 120 megawatts of electrical power per second. It also produces 1,800

litres of hot water per second which is supplied to the 200,000 residents of Reykjavik.

Geothermal power currently provides heating for 89% of the houses in Iceland.

Before the geothermal plants were built, Iceland relied on imported oil. It is estimated

that using natural geothermal power has saved Iceland over 8 billion dollars since

1970 and lowered carbon dioxide emissions by 37%.

Iceland has also invested heavily in other renewable energy sources, particularly in

hydro-electric power and in hydrogen fuel cells. This is one of Iceland’s biggest hydroelectric

plants. The plant produces nearly 120 megawatts of electricity. The country’s

first hydrogen filling station opened in 2003. Most cars in Iceland still run on petrol

and the country’s fishing fleet runs on oil. But the Icelandic Government hopes that the

hydrogen fuel cells – made in Iceland using geothermal power – will eventually replace

the country’s need for imported oil.