Iceland’s president Ólafur Grímsson: ‘We are reminded of the fireball inside the Earth when natural disasters such as earthquakes and volcanic explosions occur, but these disasters should also remind us of the colossal source of energy inside the Earth.’ Staff photo Stephanie Mitchell/Harvard News Office |
Digging for solutions to energy crisisIceland’s president suggests we follow his country’s lead and look for geothermal energy sourcesSeptember 27, 2007By Ken Gewertz
In the 1970s, Iceland was one of the poorest countries in Europe. Today it is one of the richest, with a per capita GDP higher than that of Denmark, from which it won full independence in 1944. How did it accomplish this remarkable transformation? A key element was the shift from imported coal and oil to geothermal energy. Iceland now uses geothermal energy to generate a large portion of its electricity and nearly all of its heating needs. Iceland’s president Ólafur Grímsson was at Harvard on Tuesday (Sept. 25) to deliver this inspiring message and to announce that his country stands ready to lead the world toward a cheap and pollution-free energy future. His talk, “Geothermal Energy: Harnessing the Fire Inside,” was sponsored by the Center for the Environment, the Center for European Studies, and Bank of America. The debate on global warming is really a debate about how we can satisfy our energy needs without endangering the planet, Grímsson said. Of the potential energy resources available to us, only two are completely clean: solar and geothermal. The second of these, however, has been neglected. |
