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Skúlason 14 (1:33)
Topic(s): Auto Industry / Government / Hydrogen /
Iceland
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Video Transcript
The key issue for, like, Daimler Chrysler, Shell, Norse Hydro,
that participate in Iceland, is that they could see directly a
renewable world with hydrogen. For Daimler Chrysler to be able
to say there's no emission from the whole energy chain when we
power our buses in Iceland was a very important statement. To
be able to demonstrate a fully renewable energy cycle within
the transport system that was I think a key issue. It was the
first place in the world where the government announced full
support for the hydrogen economy. That's something which the
big companies said had been missing until the Iceland
government stepped into the arena.
It's a small society—it's easy to do studies here. If
you want to understand social acceptance, there's no problem
of getting messages to the public—we have only two major
TV stations, we have only three or four major radio stations,
we have two key newspapers, so getting messages to the public
is very, very easy, so social acceptance studies, economic
studies, etc.—quite simple. An island—cars can not
drive from here anywhere else there's only one ferry going to
Europe a couple times a year, so not many cars travel. So if
you want to understand all the implications—economic,
social, and so on, we would be a perfect test platform for
those companies.
The same applies to Shell, there they could dispense hydrogen
which they're absolutely sure all the energy comes from a
renewable source, the same about Norse Hydro. So for the
foreign companies, this was a unique setting, which they could
step into and start executing projects immediately.
