Iceland's bright hydrogen future

Iceland has the highest per capita greenhouse gas emissions in the world, partly because the 280,000-strong population is relatively affluent and Icelanders are heavy car users. So the stakes are high.

Bold
In 2003 a consortium of companies formed Icelandic New Energy LTD. Backed by national government, academics and private companies (e.g. Shell), and subsidized by the EU CUTE programme, the consortium conceived a pilot project with the aim of developing a hydrogen economy and leading Iceland to a cleaner, pollution-free environment.

Starting with three hydrogen buses, Icelandic New Energy aims to have up to 40 hydrogen cars on the roads of the capital by the end of 2009. A bold green ambition for the mainstream market? A test for the hydrogen technology, definitely.

Optimism
“The future prospects for hydrogen are very bright," Jon Bjorn Skulason, general manager of Icelandic New Energy, recently stated in a interview to Reuters. "There is no other fuel in the world that fills the demands that fossil fuel fills today."

Optimism is in the air and the filling station is open and ready to power 10 new Toyota Prius hydrogen cars that VISTORKA, a shareholder in Icelandic New Energy, delivered to three Icelandic companies last week.