Iceland's paradox: Climate change is boosting green energy - E&E News by POLITICO
Iceland’s paradox: Climate change is boosting green energy - E&E News by POLITICO
REYKJAVÍK, Iceland — Few countries can compete with Iceland when it comes to renewable energy. The island nation gets nearly 100 percent of its electric power from green sources, and Iceland has championed the use of both geothermal energy and hydroelectricity.
That makes the country a model for a world trying to fight climate change — which is ironic because Iceland’s electric grid is only going to get stronger as the world gets hotter.
The reason? Hydroelectricity. Or more specifically, melting glaciers.
Iceland gets more than 70 percent of its power from hydroelectric stations fed by glacial meltwaters. So as the Earth heats up and glaciers melt faster, hydroelectric stations will have more water to spin turbines and power the grid — a silver lining for a country mourning its glacial decline.
Related Knowledge Center: ENERGY BASICS: nuclear
Nuclear energy provides almost 20 percent of the U.S. electricity supply. Advocates have called for an expanded role for nuclear as an emissions-free fuel source. But the economics of building new reactors are daunting. In addition, lingering safety concerns are an institutionalized part of the calculation of nuclear regulation, and highly radioactive nuclear waste remains a can that public officials have been inclined to kick down the road. The Energy Information Administration projects a sharp decline in nuclear power generation over the next decade, as new nuclear plants — two are planned — are more than offset by anticipated retirements of several operating reactors.