NEW CONCEPTS IN HYDROGEN-PRODUCTION IN ICELAND

The paper presents some new concepts of hydrogen production in Iceland for domestic use and export. A brief overview of the Icelandic energy consumption and available resources is given. The cost of producing h ydrogen by electrolysis is calculated for various alternatives such as plant size, load factors and electricity cost. Comparison is made bet ween the total cost of liquid hydrogen delivered to Europe from Icelan d and from Northern America, showing that liquid hydrogen delivered to Europe from Iceland would be 9% less expensive. This assumes conventi onal technology. New technologies are suggested in the paper and diffe rent scenarios for geothermally assisted hydrogen production and lique faction are discussed. It is estimated that the use of geothermal stea m would lead to 19% lower hydrogen gas production costs. By analysing the Icelandic fishing fleet, a very large consumer of imported fuel, i t is argued that a transition of fuel technology from oil to hydrogen may be a feasible future option for Iceland and a testing ground for c hanging fuel technology.