REYKJAVIK (Reuters) - Iceland, with its steaming geothermal power stations, already knows plenty about alternative energy.
Now this island of lava on the edge of the Arctic plans to become the world's first society to ditch fossil fuels entirely, relying instead on hydrogen made using the power of its roaring rivers and volcanoes.
Enthusiasts even talk about it one day becoming the "Kuwait of the North" as an exporter of the new, green fuel to markets in Europe.
For Bragi Arnason, professor of chemistry at the University of Iceland in Reykjavik, better known as "Professor Hydrogen," converting his country to a fuel that produces no greenhouse gases will be a science fiction dream come true.
In the relatively near future, Iceland's cars, buses and ships will be driven by electric motors powered by hydrogen-fuel cells that produce nothing but water in their exhausts.
Unlike other countries contemplating hydrogen power, Iceland has a chance to develop a genuinely carbon dioxide-free system, since the electricity to make hydrogen from the electrolysis of water will come from hydro or geothermal power, not fossil fuel.
<http://www.namibian.com.na/2002/may/envirotalk/0262BC1267.html>
===== Kevin Dean Buffalo, NY ICQ: 8616001 AIM: KDean75206 Buffalo Activist Network http://www.buffaloactivist.net http://www.yaysoft.com
__________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! - Official partner of 2002 FIFA World Cup http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com