THE HYDROGEN PROJECTS IN ICELAND AND POSSIBLE LESSONS LEARNED

摘要

Over the past century, Iceland has increasingly harnessed hydroelectric and geothermal sourcesfor domestic energy use. Because of this, the proportion of renewable energy sources in theIcelandic energy sector is unusually high. However in spite of its successes cultivatingecological power sources, Iceland is still heavily dependent upon import of carbon-based fuelsfor transportation, fishing and general elements of industry.Currently, the Icelandic government is focusing on further enhancing the role of domestic-bornrenewables in the energy mix. In 1998 the government publicly declared its intention to pursuehydrogen as Iceland's energy carrier. In 2003 along with the establishment of the InternationalPartnership for the Hydrogen Economy, the Energy Minister of Iceland restated Iceland's aimto host an international forum for hydrogen development and demonstrations. This paperreviews steps already taken as well as current assumptions of what lies ahead concerninghydrogen in Iceland. A later section outlines some key lessons learned thus far from theIcelandic experience. Finally the paper addresses some of the success criteria and presentsthem as a guideline for the development of hydrogen-based economies internationally.