The power of Icelandic nature. It gives us energy, plenty of it.

Published in the 2012 spring issue of Iceland Review – IR 01.12. Introduction and photos by Páll Stefánsson. Translation by Ásta Andrésdóttir.

Goðafoss Waterfall in Skjálfandafljót River, Northeast Iceland.

Two more gigantic aluminum smelters using green and clean energy produced in Iceland. Is that the best choice we have to secure the future economy of the Republic of Iceland? Or shall we protect the valuable and venerable Icelandic nature for future generations? We asked Independence Party MP Jón Gunnarsson and award-winning writer Andri Snær Magnason ten questions to capture their arguments for and against building new dams and power stations in Iceland.

We, the people of the Republic of Iceland, consume more energy per capita than any other people on this Earth. Close to 35 million kWh per capita. This amounts to 25 percent more than the second ranking Norway, and two times more than Finland, which comes in third. And it is ten times the world average of 3.2 million kWh.

Three big aluminum smelters use the majority of the energy. And there are plans for two more smelters, one near Húsavík, North East Iceland, and another one by Keflavík at Reykjanes peninsula.

Other plans include selling our green clean energy through a sub-sea electronic cable to energy hungry Europe, or becoming a datacenter on a global scale. Last year, Verne Global opened a big data-center in Keflavík. The cold climate and clean energy are superb selling points.

As Minister of Foreign Affairs Össur Skarphéðinsson put it recently in a speech at Alþingi, Iceland’s Parliament: “In the future, data-centers will become one of the major ways to export green energy beyond the borders of Iceland. My vision is that during this century we will move away from this basic production of aluminum smelters that are important to our economy currently and instead use the energy for a green economy.”

You can read the remainder of this article in the 2012 spring issue of Iceland Review – IR 01.12. Four times a year the print edition of Iceland Review & Atlantica brings you a wealth of articles on all aspects of life in Iceland including Páll Stefánsson's latest images of the country's majestic landscape. Click here to subscribe. Click here to browse through a selection of pages from the current issue.

The current issue of the quarterly magazine Iceland Review includes interviews with fashion photographer Saga Sig and conceptual artist Rúrí. Also, we take you to Grímsstaðir á Fjöllum, that desolate land coveted by a Chinese tycoon, and also explore Icelandic archeological remains. We discuss the Icelandic Church, the flourishing gaming industry, debate the future of Iceland’s energy resources and interview the president of the Icelandic National League of North America. Subscribe now and receive a free photo book by IR’s editor Páll Stefánsson of the Eyjafjallajökull eruptions. Click here to subscribe to the magazine and here to buy a gift subscription.  more

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