Icelandic New Energy Ltd. is an SME which is a spin-off from
research work at the University of Iceland, the Ministry of
Industry in Iceland, energy companies and foreign partners.
It is an innovation company with the main purpose of working
on innovative projects that can/will lead the way to transform
the conventional society (fossil fuel) to a hydrogen society.
Its task is to lead new projects that will support using hydrogen
as an alternative energy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,
increase energy efficiency and protection of depleting natural
resources.
Professor Sigfusson is a unique academic/innovator/entrepreneur
in Iceland who has been characterised as the main “switcher”
in bringing university knowledge into industry with the resulting
dozen high tech companies. His education is founded in the
Copenhagen physics school and the PhD and Research Fellowship
from the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge UK. He is the author/inventor
of a number of patents and production licences. Among his
services to society are a numerous high level positions in
academia and industry. His main tasks lately have been the
Chairmanship of Icelandic New Energy Ltd. the company responsible
for the creation of the hydrogen economy in Iceland. Prof.
Sigfusson was a key figure in turning the adademic knowledge
from the University of Iceland into a spin-off company, Icelandic
New Energy. The roadmap and vision of Icelandic New Energy
which Prof. Sigfusson led, assumed a 50 year programme of
transforming Iceland into a Hydrogen Economy. In this task
three international companies joined forces with Iceland in
order to create the spin-off. These were DaimlerChrysler,
Shell Hydrogen and Norsk Hydro.
At the moment Prof. Sigfusson is cochair of the IPHE, International
Partnership for the Hydrogen Economy, Implementation and Liaison
Committee, established by 15 nations in Washington DC in November
2003. He spends his time at present leading his spin-off companies
and guiding graduate students at a number of universities
world wide, giving keynote lectures on hydrogen and paving
the way for the world hydrogen economy.
EXPERIENCE WITH THE CREATION
OF THE WORLD´S FIRST HYDROGEN ECONOOMY
Professor Thorsteinn I. Sigfusson
Founding Board Member of Icelandic New Energy Ltd
And CoChair of International Partnership for the Hydrogen
Economy IPHE ILC
Abstract of talk given in Hannover:
Iceland enjoys the position of being the country of the
world with the highest renewable proportion of its energy
portfolio. Around 71% of its energy is derived from hydroelectric
or geothermal resources.
On its way to renewability Iceland witnessed an energy infrastructure
change twice in the past century during the harnessing of
its renewable energy potential.
Kindled by this unique situation the Icelandic Government
is aiming for making the renewable proportion much higher
in the decades to come.
One of the actions taken in Iceland involves the utilisation
of renewable energy vectors: using hydrogen as an energy carrier.
Based on the initial work of the University of Iceland, Icelanders
started a public-private company in 1998, Icelandic New Energy,
aiming to assist in the creation of the Hydrogen economy.
This international spin-off company has been running three
fuel cell busses in Reykjavik since 2003 and operating a hydrogen
fuelling station since early that year. Icelandic New Energy
is a public-private entity involving the Icelandic energy
sector as well as three major international companies, DaimlerChrysler,
Norsk Hydro and Shell Hydrogen.
The vast experience brought about by this pioneering work
is the main theme of the talk. How can the lessons learned
from projects like ECTOS, The Ecological City Transport System
project, add to the learning experience of the world? The
paper also asks what the world community can do to speed up
the transition to a hydrogen economy and what will be the
main hurdles and obstacles to overcome before realising the
vision.
The needs are very much reflected in the scope and work area
of the International Partnership for the Hydrogen Economy.
My thoughts about hydrogen 
A visit at the BATAAN Nuclear Power Plant in The Philippines, 
NEW! Hans-Olof Nilsson's Off-The-Grid Hydrogen House near Goteborg, Sweden
Carta abierta al Angela Merkel, Canciller Federal de Alemania, fundador y miembros del Comité de Ética Alemán convocado por la Canciller de Alemania para “Asegurar el abastecimiento de energía”
Hans-Olof Nilsson's Off-The-Grid Hydrogen House near Goteborg, Sweden 
Visit at the Italian demonstration plant of MagneGas™ on February 7th and 8th, 2011
Hydrogen Plant of Emirates Industrial Gases Co. Ltd ( EIGC) at Dubai, UAE 
Huerta Solar en Tabernas, Spain, October 2009 
AFCC Automotive Fuel Cell Cooperation, Burnaby, BC, Canada June 2009 
How Airbus conquered the 
The Arecibo Observatory 
Fuel Cell Bus Trial, Perth, Australia 
Dreieich 2012
