cosmictraveler
12-30-04, 08:46 AM
GRABER: Today, President Grimsson is witness to a new creation in Iceland. His country is pledged to wean itself off imported oil and switch to hydrogen fuel to run its cars, trucks, buses and vast fishing fleet. It’s an ambitious undertaking that could save Iceland millions of dollars a year and cut its greenhouse gas emissions nearly two-thirds. But President Grimsson says beyond the economics and the environment is a matter of national pride.
Iceland’s President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson with reporter Cynthia Graber and producer Chris Ballman
GRIMSSON: It might sound strange when I say it. But I believe that in the world we now live in, successful foreign policy has to be based not just on military or financial strength. It has to be based on your contribution to the evolution of the good society. And if you can make meaningful contribution in such a way, your role in the world will be strengthened. We would not now be a formal partner of the United States, together with big countries like Great Britain, Germany, Japan and so on, if it wasn’t for the hydrogen project.
GRABER: What’s the role of the government in this hydrogen project?
GRIMSSON: Well, I think what the Icelanders have done – not only the government but also the people -- is to open our society up to becoming the testing ground, a kind of laboratory for the hydrogen future.
[WATER DRIPPING, FAN WHIRRING UP AND UNDER]
GRABER: The plan for Iceland’s hydrogen economy was born in a small laboratory here at the University of Iceland in Reykjavik. The father is Bragi Arnason, a ruddy, white-haired gentleman who’s called “Professor Hydrogen.”
Bragi “Professor Hydrogen” Arnason in his lab at the University of Iceland in Rekjavik with reporter Cynthia Graber
(Photo: Chris Ballman)
ARNASON: This is how the major energy system of human kind might look in the future.
GRABER: Arnason points to a light bulb representing the sun. It shines on a tiny solar panel that collects the energy used to break apart the bonds of hydrogen and oxygen in water.
http://www.loe.org/ETS/organizations.php3?action=printContentItem&orgid=33&typeID=18&itemID=204&User_Session=abb143613fdbc205130fb173847c4d71#tran script
Iceland’s President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson with reporter Cynthia Graber and producer Chris Ballman
GRIMSSON: It might sound strange when I say it. But I believe that in the world we now live in, successful foreign policy has to be based not just on military or financial strength. It has to be based on your contribution to the evolution of the good society. And if you can make meaningful contribution in such a way, your role in the world will be strengthened. We would not now be a formal partner of the United States, together with big countries like Great Britain, Germany, Japan and so on, if it wasn’t for the hydrogen project.
GRABER: What’s the role of the government in this hydrogen project?
GRIMSSON: Well, I think what the Icelanders have done – not only the government but also the people -- is to open our society up to becoming the testing ground, a kind of laboratory for the hydrogen future.
[WATER DRIPPING, FAN WHIRRING UP AND UNDER]
GRABER: The plan for Iceland’s hydrogen economy was born in a small laboratory here at the University of Iceland in Reykjavik. The father is Bragi Arnason, a ruddy, white-haired gentleman who’s called “Professor Hydrogen.”
Bragi “Professor Hydrogen” Arnason in his lab at the University of Iceland in Rekjavik with reporter Cynthia Graber
(Photo: Chris Ballman)
ARNASON: This is how the major energy system of human kind might look in the future.
GRABER: Arnason points to a light bulb representing the sun. It shines on a tiny solar panel that collects the energy used to break apart the bonds of hydrogen and oxygen in water.
http://www.loe.org/ETS/organizations.php3?action=printContentItem&orgid=33&typeID=18&itemID=204&User_Session=abb143613fdbc205130fb173847c4d71#tran script