It is hoped that Iceland’s first methane fuel production plant will be built before the end of next year. Read the full story

Government experts in Denmark’s Climate Commission have presented a report that calls for the country to become completely fossil-fuel-free by 2050. The paper recommends a massive increase in alternative energy forms, such as biomass and wind farms, and suggests strategies to make oil and coal redundant in Denmark over the next 40 years. Read the full story

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is preparing to create a fuel plant manufacturing dimetil Ether (DME / CH3OCH3) in Iceland; and if the plans go through the plant should open in 2014 and fuel the whole Icelandic fisheries fleet. Mitsubishi has been working with Reykjavik Energy in a global geothermal alliance, but is in this case looking more towards Iceland and focusing on synthetic fuel. Read the full story

Norway’s Socialist Left Party has proposed a radical plan to outlaw all new sales of petrol-powered vehicles by 2015. But don’t run out and sell your car just yet because the ban is still just a proposal, and not a particularly popular one at that. Read the full story

HydroStatoil has made a major gas discovery off the coast of Norway that is getting those in the industry excited. The find was made in the Asterix prospect, 345km west of Sandnessjoen in the Norwegian Sea. Initial estimates suggest the proven recoverable volume of natural gas is around 16 billion cubic metres (100 million barrels oil equivalent). Read the full story

The government of Sweden has unveiled what is being touted as Europe’s most ambitious programme to cut its greenhouse gas emissions and improve its energy efficiency. The government plans to use renewable energy for 50 percent of all the nation’s needs by 2020, and for the country to be carbon neutral by 2050. Read the full story

Danish police arrested three activists from Greenpeace as they tried to board a cargo ship carrying coal bound for Denmark. The Nordic branch of Greenpeace announced that several of its members were trying to get onto the Hanjin Imbari ship at a point just south of the Great Belt Bridge that connects two of Denmark’s main islands. Read the full story

Volvo, the Swedish auto-making legend, has released the world’s first commercial hybrid bus. The Volvo 7700 has both a traditional diesel engine and an electric motor which should use 30 percent less fuel than other buses in operation today. The new hybrid will make its debut on the streets of London and Gothenburg this autumn.

The Local newspaper reports that Volvo is using its own Read the full story

Very positive signs of oil have been found at the Dreki Area, on the Jan Mayen Ridge of Iceland. As reported last year, the Icelandic government intended to open the Dreki region for oil and gas exploration in January 2009.

The Icelandic oceanographic research ship Arni Fridgeirsson recently came from the area after mapping around 10.500 m2 of the area with advanced research scanning technology found strong indications of oil. Among the strong signs found are the same holes as found in the North sea and among them holes 15 meters deep and around 700 meters deep.

Such holes have been research heavelly by scientists and have been one of the indications of oil at location. Finding gas or oil sites would have a significant effect on the largely fossil fuel-free Icelandic economy. Iceland currently uses geothermal and hydroelectric energy for 99 per cent of its energy production.

For more information on the research go to the Icelandic marine research institute web site.

The first Iceland Oil Exploration Conference will be held in Reykjavik on September 4-5, 2008.

The first exclusive licensing round in Icelandic waters for the exploration and production of hydrocarbons, will be done in the northern part of the Dreki area on the Jan Mayen Ridge, northeast of Iceland, early 2009.

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