Methane production at the Akureyri landfill site in northern Iceland appears to be high enough to allow for commercial harnessing of the gas in the coming years. Read the full story

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

People importing methane powered cars to Iceland are exempt from paying import duties, which might seem like a good thing; but it does not help people eager to convert their existing petrol or diesel cars to also use methane. Read the full story

A company called Carbon Recycling International is preparing to build a combined geothermal power station and liquid fuel factory near Grindavik, Southwest Iceland. The factory could produce up to a hundred million litres of fuel per year.

Carbon Recycling International and Grindavikurbaer municipality yesterday signed a memorandum of intent for the factory, which will be a combined geothermal power station and liquid fuel factory. A statement says that the company has developed a way to create methanol from geothermal waste emissions and hydrogen by electrolysis. The methanol is then used as a mixer with petrol for normal, unmodified road cars.

The anticipated factory would produce up to a hundred million litres of fuel per year, mostly for export. It would use 50 megawatts of electricity in the process from its own geothermal station. It is hoped all the required electricity can be generated on-site to avoid the need for new power lines. The geothermal plant’s waste carbon dioxide and sulphur dioxide will then be used to make liquid fuel and not released directly into the atmosphere, RUV reports.

Methane was found bubbling on the sea bed in the Svalbard Islands, according to the Barents Observer. More than 250 plumes of methane bubbles were discovered by a research team led by the National Oceanography Centre in Southampton. Temperature records show that the area of the ocean warmed by 1C during the last 30 years.

Svalbard is located in the extreme northern part of the world close to the Arctic Circle. The islands are under Norwegian administration with a small Russian mining town.

See the full article at SikuNews.

(Photo/Svalbard from SikuNews)

Retired athlete Einar Vilhjalmsson and television news journalist Omar Ragnarsson last weekend drove the ring road all the way round Iceland in a car powered by Icelandic methane. Never before has the ring road been navigated in a motor vehicle powered solely by Icelandic fuel. Read the full story

The latest climate-friendly tax being proposed in the Danish parliament focuses on the methane emissions that come from cattle when they break wind. The agricultural methane tax is certainly one of the more controversial measures currently being considered by the government. Read the full story

Biomethane, the gas created from human excrement, will soon be collected and used to power Oslo’s public transportation buses. This free and environmentally-friendly form of fuel will turn a waste disposal issue for Norway’s capital into a solution rather a problem if all goes as planned. Read the full story