ryan

Iceland has lived off only fishing and aluminium in the past 100 years; the only other item it produces is geothermal power – as yet they are still optimising its performance for the 300,000 in the country. The economy is a bit of a sticking point both for its neighbours and financiers, it actually made money from the World Wars plus received Marshall help, yet squandered all this in a few years.  A look at the little potted history shows that Iceland lived off strict economic restrictions in the 1950 – 60’s; in the 1970 – 80’s experiencing rampant inflation and consumer mania in 1990’s, however its bubble truly burst in 2008 and with no back up planning is pinning all its hopes on geothermal power and tourism.

Today’s opportunities for geothermal power however are immense, Iceland first invested in the energy source in 1943 when it completed a Geothermal pipeline. This pipe runs direct from the main sources of geothermal springs all the way to the main cities supplying hot water in huge quantities. This totally carbon neutral solution powers 90% homes for as little as 400 euros a year, providing heat, water and electricity. Fossil fuels are currently only used for transportation. A new power station has been increasing the electricity it produces from the water every year and will soon run into excess that can be traded. However they have been investing in new opportunities to produce their own products without having to result to imports. In large greenhouses powered by water sourced from the hot springs the country is growing tomatoes, cucumber and even has the largest indoor banana plant – I think they’re trying to prove something.

A fascinating fact abut Iceland is that though it is far up in the Northern Hemisphere it has one of the longest average days of the entire planet – standing at 14.9 hours of daylight. In the winter it may drop to a measly 6 hours, the height of summer you can expect up to 24 hours of full daylight.