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Click on the picture to watch an audio slideshow of a hike to Hraunsvatn lake in Öxnadalur valley in north Iceland, which lies at a height of 490 meters, interlocked between two steep mountains and a small glacier with a view of the majestic Hraundrangar peaks.
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Fjallabyggd (“Mountain Settlement”) is a skier’s dream. Its slopes are perfect for slaloming and there are also tracks for telemark skiing. Winter sporting enthusiasts can also go ice skating or rent snowmobiles. In summer, Fjallabyggd turns into a paradise for hikers. Read this special promotion about one of Iceland’s best hidden gems.
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Iceland’s Ministry of Industry, in cooperation with local authorities, is preparing to establish fuel stations on different places by the Ring Road, which circles Iceland, selling a variety of inexpensive and eco-friendly energy for cars.
“We have begun discussions with municipalities in different parts of the country and oil companies on establishing such fuel stations,” Minister of Industry Össur Skarphédinsson told Fréttabladid. “Drivers who prefer using locally-produced renewable energy sources could purchase energy like methane gas, hydrogen, electricity, methanol and biofuel.”
These municipalities include Akureyri, northeast Iceland, Fjardarbyggd, east Iceland, Höfn in Hornafjördur, southeast Iceland, and Reykjanesbaer and Hafnarfjördur in southwest Iceland.
The work is progressing quickest in Hafnarfjördur; a methane gas station on behalf of N1 is scheduled to open within town limits in August. The local authorities are planning to only use methane-fueled vehicles by the end of 2009.
Gudmundur Ragnar Árnason, purchasing manager for Hafnarfjördur, said methane is half the cost of gasoline and is also much more environmentally friendly. “It is one of Iceland’s best kept secrets.”
The plan is that oil companies operate the new eco-friendly fuel stations and that the state and the local authorities provide them with business by only using official vehicles that run on renewable energy.
The new fuel stations are part of the Ministry of Industry’s plan to make Iceland less dependent on fossil fuels.
“We have been preparing Iceland for the energy exchange. It is not a question of whether but when oil needs to be replaced with renewable energy sources. But that is not possible unless there are ways to distribute such energy,” Skarphédinsson said.
The minister believes Iceland has a head start in this matter. “Icelanders are leading in hydrogen technology since Iceland has been an experimental country on the use of hydrogen cars. Use of methane gas is also in good progress and we have an abundance of green electricity which is cheap compared to electricity abroad.”
Iceland’s cabinet met at the presidential residence Bessastadir at noon today where new ministers were announced: Gudbjartur Hannesson of the Social Democrats will lead a new Welfare Ministry and Ögmundur Jónasson of the Left-Greens a new Ministry for Internal Affairs.
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The average temperature of the three summer months, June, July and August, in Reykjavík this year was 12.2°C (54°F), which makes this the warmest summer in the capital since temperatures were first recorded in 1871, according to meteorologist Trausti Jónsson.
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The comedy sketch show Spaugstofan, which has been shown more or less continuously for 21 years on the Icelandic national broadcaster RÚV, has now been relocated to the private television channel Stöd 2.
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The crew of the sailboat Santa Maria from Hamburg, Germany, called for assistance when they ran out of fuel 140 nautical miles west of Reykjavík last week. The guard post of the Icelandic Maritime Administration contacted ships that were nearby and as it turned out the whaling ship Hvalur 9 was located closest to Santa Maria.
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The second issue of the print edition of Iceland Review 2010 has just been published. Entitled “Under the Volcano” the magazine dedicates 20 pages, words and pictures, to the volcanic eruption in Eyjafjallajökull glacier which made headlines all over the word. New subscribers will receive the book 2010 Eruptions as a gift and all subscribers are part of a draw to win a trip to Iceland. Click here to subscribe to the magazine.
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REVIEWS
Dadi Gudbjörnsson's art with its smiley faces, Aladdin's lamps, gleaming hearts, blue mountains and psychedelic flora of unearthly origin reminds me of the cheesy R.E.M. song “Shiny Happy People”. The sugar-sweet naivety fails to amuse me but I must admit it infects my mood with delirious joy.
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Former President of Iceland Vigdís Finnbogadóttir turned 80 on 15 April this year and Mayor Hanna Birna Kristjánsdóttir—in making her an Honorary Citizen of Reykjavík to mark the occasion—observed that Finnbogadóttir’s life was interwoven with that of Reykjavík. In June 1980 Finnbogadóttir made history when she became the world’s first democratically elected female head of state.
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Today, August 30, and tomorrow is your last chance to visit the exhibition “Eau De Parfum” by Andrea Maack at the Spark Design Space in Reykjavík. In the exhibition space, Maack introduces three perfumes that are the result of her collaboration with French perfumery apf aromes & parfums.
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