Iceland’s volcanoes could power British homes

The volcanoes of Iceland could be powering the homes of Britain in the near future under a government-backed plan revealed this week.

The project would include the installation of high-voltage cables on the ocean floor stretching for hundreds of miles to supply the UK with an abundance of low-carbon electricity.

The creation of such a network would signal the end of Britain’s long lasting energy independence, with up to a third of the UK’s electricity demand catered for.
Charles Hendry, the UK’s energy minister, will visit Iceland next month to meet with government delegates to discuss how the ambitious plans could become a reality by the end of the next decade. Hendry has already had productive talks with officials from the Iceland's national grid

“We are in active discussions with the Icelandic government and they are very keen,” Hendry told the Guardian.

The plan, backed by David Cameron, would see the network of cables, so-called interconnectors, linking to the Europe-wide supergrid, combining both the wind and wave power of Northern Europe with solar projects in the south of the continent and North Africa. As a result the UK would be provided with a reliable, clean and relatively cheap energy source, which would not only help to keep household energy bills down but would also go a long way in achieving climate change targets and help reduce the UK’s reliance on fossil fuel imports.

Hendry added that with the North Sea’s oil and gas reserves in limited supply and the burning of coal far too polluting, the UK would be dependent on imported energy in the very near future. With this in mind Hendry said that the cables “an absolutely critical part of energy security and for low carbon energy”.

As it stands, there are only two countries connected by interconnectors, France and the Nerherlands. However, there are plans in place to construct a further nine. Later this year, a link between the Republic of Ireland and Wales is scheduled to be completed, which will provide British homes with green energy sourced from the windswept Atlantic coast of Ireland.

 

Image 01: Coolinsights | Flickr

Image 02: Amplified 2010 | Flickr