The following is from the Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Letter on line -
mhv.net
(Question, how does one add the url intact.)
Iceland and Daimler-Benz/Ballard Start Plans for Hydrogen Economy
REYKJAVIK, ICELAND - The Icelandic government is moving ahead with plans to lay the groundwork for a hydrogen economy in cooperation with German
carmaker Daimler-Benz and Canadian fuel cell developer Ballard Power Systems.
This effort is now in its very early stages. But together with similar interests by other groups, it raises the prospect that this small nation of only 260,000 inhabitants -
Europe's most sparsely populated country with an average of only 2 inhabitants per square kilometer - may become a planetary laboratory for hydrogen energy
technology.
The initial effort will be to jointly devise a viable road map by September that will detail how to proceed with the ultimate goal of converting Iceland to a hydrogen
economy in 15 to 20 years, Hjalmar Arnason, a member of Iceland's Parliament and chairman of a group appointed by Iceland's energy minister to study this
concept, told H&FCL in a telephone interview.
DB/Ballard Team Visits Iceland in May
One of the first steps would be to start operating and testing Daimler-Benz hydrogen busses within one or two years, according to Arnason. Simultaneously, both
sides would start feasibility studies of the economic impact of a "Hydrogen Economy" on the country, on the concept of converting Iceland's large fishing fleet - the
country's most important industry - to fuel cells and locally produced hydrogen and on converting the country's car, bus and truck fleets gradually to methanol and
hydrogen.
Another study would examine the prospects of exporting Icelandic energy in form of hydrogen to other countries.
A team from DBB Fuel Cell Engines, Ballard and Daimler-Benz visited Iceland in early May. Despite everybody's effort to keep a lid on the story - neither
Daimler-Benz nor Ballard issued any press releases - the story leaked out pretty quickly.
Iceland's biggest morning paper "Morgunbladid" carried a large story on May 12, including a picture of Arnason together with Philip Mok, identified by a Ballard
spokeswoman as right hand man to Dr. Ferdinand Panik, head of the Daimler-Benz fuel cell project and now a member of Ballard's board of directors. A sidebar
showed work on a Daimler-Benz NEBUS bus, a fuel cell and the roof-mounted hydrogen storage tanks.
A Reuter Story
The story was picked up by the Reuter news agency the same day. It said the agreement was signed the previous Sunday with Iceland's Industry and Fuel Ministry,
giving the impression that a final agreement had been reached.
That was a "misunderstanding on part of the Icelandic journalists," Arnason said. "The media in Iceland were very interested in it. We wanted to keep a low profile,
but Iceland is a small society, and word spread easily."
Arnason said both sides signed the meeting's minutes which spell out how the partners propose to come up with a framework plan by September. "In that sense, an
agreement was signed," he added. The minutes are not considered a public document and have not been released.
"It was our first meeting here in Iceland," Arnason said. "I was surprised how fast the negotiations went and what we did reach so far. It was actually much more,
much longer, than I had expected."
Others Are Interested
Arnason explained his commission had previously met with the Anglo-Belgian ZEVCO company (H&FCL Dec 97, Feb, Aug 96). "We've had very good, very
close relations with ZEVCO," he added. Founder Nick Abson has been "very, very helpful in giving advice and encouragement," and Abson has had "some
negotiations" with Icelandic investors.
"We've had hundreds of phone calls from all over the world" after a mid-August 1997 story in Britain's "Economist" about Iceland's plans and Abson's interest,
Arnason added. "It's the closest relationship we had so far."
There has also been interest on part of some entities in Japan and there have been some "serious" requests for information from the United States and from other
parts of Europe, he added.
Arnason explained that it is the stated policy of the Icelandic government to move towards a Hydrogen Economy: Iceland's prime minister made an official policy
statement to that effect last fall. Also, the country's parliament has passed a bill that exempts zero-emission cars from road taxes.
Pollution-free energy is among the country's most important resources, says a fact sheet provided by Iceland's Washington embassy. Total exploitable hydro power
is estimated at 64,000 Gwh/year, of which 45,000 Gwh/year are considered economical. Only 4,200 Gwh/year were utilized in 1990.
Geothermal resources are also believed to be huge, but nobody knows how large they are. In 1990, about 5,000 Gwh/year were used, providing geothermal home
heating to 81% of Iceland's population.
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