Green by Ice­land - 90% of hou­se heating in Ice­land is geot­hermal!

Geothermal house heating has worked wonders in Iceland and has the potential to heat homes across the world!

Geothermal house heating has worked wonders in Iceland and has the potential to heat homes across the world!

Many areas have access to low-temperature geothermal zones ideal for district heating but not hot enough for electricity production. Hear more about Iceland's success story and how more countries can transition to sustainable geothermal heating!

THE ICELANDIC GEOTHERMAL STORY

In 1908, geothermal hot water was first primitively used for house heating needs. In Reykjavík, full-scale drilling for deeper and hotter water started in 1928. The city built a distribution pipeline and connected the first house, thereby initiating the transition to geothermal district heating in Iceland. Today, 90% of homes and buildings are connected to district heating powered by geothermal, and the other 10% are heated with electricity generated from hydro and geothermal power. This long-term energy transition played a huge part in how Iceland was able to lift itself from one of the poorest countries in Europe to one of the world's wealthiest nations in 50 years.

By the 1970s, Reykjavík set the goal of expanding geothermal district heating to all houses in the capital area. Geothermal heating was increasing around the country in other communities as well. The investment paid off tremendously for those connected to geothermal district heating when the global oil crisis hit in 1973-74. The problem was that half of the population was still heating with oil, and the government reluctantly had to subsidize oil to avoid an energy crisis. Iceland subsequently invested in switching entirely to domestic geothermal energy sources for its house-heating needs.

Iceland successfully transitioned to energy-independence by making the most of this renewable resource, which has the added benefit of dramatically reducing carbon emissions.

Read more on the subject on Green by Iceland