a hidrogén-forradalom elmarad
 
Missing in Action: Iceland's Hydrogen Economy  

 

http://www.worldwatch.org/node/4664

 

Once aimed boldly at the 21st century, Iceland’s hydrogen dream seems to have been hijacked by privateers with a 19th-century vision.

 

In 1998, the tiny country of Iceland (population 300,000) stunned the world by announcing its intention to be the vanguard of the scientific and engineering quest to achieve a hydrogen energy economy—that is, to eliminate its dependence on fossil fuels in favor of the limitless possibilities of clean hydrogen. An article in the November/December 2000 issue of World Watch described Iceland’s activity and aspirations: the Icelandic Hydrogen and Fuel Cell company had been formed; a prototype ship was expected to be launched by 2006; the energy transformation could be completed by 2030 or 2040. A leading proponent was Bragi Árnason, a chemist nicknamed “Professor Hydrogen,” who had argued as early as 1993 that Iceland was an ideal laboratory for showing the way toward the energy economy of the future. Árnason was “something of a national hero,”wrote author Seth Dunn.

“Many people ask me how soon this will happen,” Árnason said in 2000. “I tell them,‘We are living at the beginning of the transition. You will see the end of it. And your children, they will live in this world.’”

 

Perhaps—but events of the last few years suggest that Professor Árnason might have cause for disillusion. Officially, the national hydrogen agenda is unchanged, and Iceland continues to receive tremendous favorable media attention for its hydrogen plans. But the only material evidence of the transition is three hydrogen-powered buses that have roamed the streets of Reykjavík since 2003, fueled by a single electrolyzer station. No fleet expansion seems imminent, despite promises, nor are there any hydrogen ships or cars. More importantly, no research facilities have been built and no hydrogen industry is materializing. In fact, Iceland’s hydrogen production is actually declining. The country used to produce a fair amount of hydrogen from electrolysis, which was combined with atmospheric nitrogen to...