ENERGY IN ICELAND - Orkustofnun

The situation may be somewhat different today, mainly due to progress in fuel celltechnology, but many innovations and improvements are needed before hydrogen orother alternative fuels can replace oil in the energy system. During the past few yearsthe discussion on alternative fuels in Iceland has mainly focussed on hydrogen as anenergy carrier. In 1999, VistOrka, an Icelandic private company, together with DaimlerChrysler,Norsk Hydro and Shell International, signed a joint venture agreement onco-operation in this area. These companies are the owners of the resultant company,Icelandic New Energy (Islensk NyOrka). Even though the government is not a party tothe agreement it made the following statement on that occasion:It is the government’s policy to promote increased utilization of renewableenergy resources in harmony with the environment. One possibleapproach towards this goal is production of environmentally friendlyfuels for powering vehicles and fishing vessels. Liquid hydrogen is anexample of such a fuel. The establishment of a company owned by Icelandicparties and several international corporate leaders in the fieldof hydrogen fuel technology could open up new opportunities in thisfield.The government of Iceland welcomes the establishment of this companyby these parties and considers that the choice of location forthis project is an acknowledgement of Iceland’s distinctive status andlong-term potential. The initiative taken by the parties involved in thisproject deserves to be applauded and respected.Deep drillingIn 2000, the Iceland Deep Drilling Project (IDDP), an Icelandic energy consortium,was established. The IDDP is run by three energy companies along with the NationalEnergy Authority and Iceland Geosurvey (Islenskar Orkurannsoknir). The purpose ofthe IDDP project is to study the economic feasibility of extracting energy and chemicalsfrom hydrothermal systems at supercritical conditions. An advanced drillingtechnology is needed to study the supercritical hydrous fluid, as well as a novel fluidhandling and evaluation system.One of the IDDP’s aims is the drilling into a high-temperature hydrothermal system,of a 4–5 km deep drill-hole, which is currently being prepared. Located at a riftedplate margin on a mid-ocean ridge, the drill-hole is expected to reach a 400–600°Chot supercritical hydrous fluid.The IDDP is not considered as an alternative solution to meet short-term, future energydemands, but is rather seen as a long-term research and development project,37