Valdimar told Vísir.is that he thinks it is worrying how little research has been done into the sea’s potential energy around Iceland. Most marine research in Iceland seems to be about aquaculture (fish farming) and harbour construction, he says.

He adds, however, that there is a extremely large amount of exploitable energy in the sea which is not yet being tapped. “The Irish have made a good estimate of the total amount of energy they have. They believe they could generate 240 terawatt hours a year and if we translate that over to Iceland by size that that would make 330 terawatt hours a year. That is around twenty-times the amount of energy we are using today,” Valdimar says.

Valorka has conducted pre-tests on its turbine and plans more this summer; probably off the Snæfellsnes peninsula. If the trials go well then a prototype will be made of a completely underwater turbine design. According to its owner, “Valorka is a world leader in trying to harness offshore ocean currents”.

Cartographers for the Times Comprehensive Atlas of the World, last released in September 2011, have admitted they were wrong to omit around 300,000 square kilometres of polar ice from sea surrounding Greenland.

British Publishers HarperCollins originally defended the accuracy of the map, which was released with promotional material about the fast acceleration of global warming. The blunder was exposed by scientists however, who said that the chart contradicted the most recent satellite images.

Publishing editor Jethro Lennox told the Scotsman, “After publication of the 13th edition of The Times Comprehensive Atlas of the World, it became apparent that we had not represented the permanent ice cover in Greenland fully and clearly.

“In failing to do that, this section of the map did not meet the usual high standards of accuracy and reliability that the atlas strives to uphold. To correct this, we decided to produce a new, more detailed map using the latest information available,” he added.

The updated section, which will be inserted into any remaining copies, was put together after consultation with a number of experts. Liz Morris from the Polar Research Institute at Cambridge University said, “This was a really bad mapping error. If 15 percent of ice was lost, then sea levels would have risen by one metre, and that hasn’t happened.”

(Photo: Anders Peter Amsnæs)

According to RÚV the Presidential couple sailed out of the Argentinian port of Ushuaia yesterday and their trip will take them along the Drake Passage all the way to Antarctica. The party plans to go ashore three times, if weather allows. The trip ends on the 6th February.

The trip includes European and American scientists, the Canadian film director James Cameron, the American journalist Ted Turner and Christiana Figures, the president of the United Nations climate agency.

Al Gore’s climate change organisation, the Climate Reality Project, and National Geographic together organised the expedition.

A press release from Bessastaðir, the Icelandic head of state’s official residence, states that the goal of the expedition is to investigate the fast melting ice and to discuss how the nations of the world can best be encouraged to unite behind realistic and tangible action to fight global warming.

Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson has become known as a strong climate change campaigner among world leaders and regularly gives speeches at environmental conferences.

According to official correspondence obtained by Politiken, between 2007 and 2009 160 farmers bought a total of 15,045 tonnes of chemicals which came from a warehouse in Northern Germany. As much as 21 tonnes of these orders were for crop sprays or fertilisers which are banned in Denmark.

“This is very serious. We are not just talking about four farms that have done something wrong,” Biology Professor Mogens Flindt of the University of Southern Denmark told Politiken. “Our lakes and watercourses can have received a lot more of the chemicals because of this,” he added.

“This is a major case that involves people throughout the country,” said Police Prosecutor Morten Holm, adding that as well as the network organisers, 160 farms also risk charges. “The fear is that this is just the tip of the iceberg,” he added.

East Jutland police are heading the investigation but say almost all the country’s forces are working on the case. “Bornholm, Copenhagen and Copenhagen West don’t have any cases, but the rest have farmers who have received these products,” said Niels Bugge of the East Jutland force.

“It is reprehensible that farmers import illegal sprays and fertilisers. I am astonished that that there are so many farmers that have been tempted to buy illegal products,” Council Deputy Chairman Henrik Frandsen told the news agency.

According to the Danish Environmental Protection Agency, many of the illegal products have been categorised as carcinogenic.

There has long been a question mark over whether or not the southern Greenlandic climate was warm enough in Viking times to grow grain for beer, mead, gruel and bread.

Now Danish archaeologists have found remains of burnt barley in a dunghill from the time when Erik the Red and other Icelanders moved to Greenland. The find is the first evidence of corn cultivation in southern Greenland a thousand years ago.

According to Jyllandsposten, the archaeologists are very proud of their find and are even shipping 300 kilogrammes of the dunghill home to Denmark for further research.

A deal has been signed for Statoil to acquire a 30.6 percent stake in one of the British explorer’s Greenland licenses, showing interest in the Arctic remains strong despite recent high-profile failures.

“The exact financial terms of the agreement are confidential,” Cairn said, according to a Reuters report. It added, however, that the Norwegian company would be paying some of the past and future exploration costs and a bonus on signing the deal.

Cairn has spent USD 1.2 billion on projects in the Arctic over the last two years, but has so far failed to get any conclusive shows. It is believed that the company hoped to get funding for all future drilling costs, but their lack of success so far has forced them to offer “attractive” partnership terms to investors.

“Arctic specialist Statoil’s early entry into a part of Cairn’s Greenland acreage, on attractive terms, validates the industry’s and Cairn’s long-held belief in the region’s multi-billion barrel exploration potential,” Morgan Stanley analysts said in a note.

Environmental groups have attempted to disrupt Cairn’s activities in the Arctic several times, pointing out than an oil spill in the pristine region would be detrimental to wildlife and almost impossible to clean up. It is thought, however, that Greenland could hold as many as 20 billion barrels of oil, making the semi-autonomous Danish island one the world’s biggest producers.

(Photos: Anders Peter Amsnæs)

Jóhann Straumfjord Sigurdson and David Collette, whose ancestral grandmother was Guðríður Þorbjarnardóttir, the mother of Snorri, the first European child born in North America, will sail from Canada to Iceland along a route that was old before Christopher Columbus was born.

“We’ve named the expedition Fara Heim”, said Jóhann Sigurdson. “In Old Norse, “að fara heim” means “to go home”. We are searching for Norse presence in the Arctic between Hudson Bay and west of Greenland to investigate how far West the Vikings explored”. The team will use non-damaging modern techniques to collect data and do no harm to artefacts or locations found. All information and any discoveries will be digitally recorded and shared with government agencies for formal archaeological investigation.

The expedition will work closely with the Inuit people and Nordic countries as Fara Heim is a story of many Arctic cultures. “We have begun reaching out to everyone we can in the North to ask for local knowledge and stories. Incredible things have been found, like the Viking settlement in Newfoundland, by just asking. We plan to make the Fara Heim website the nexus for information on Viking exploration in North America”, said Collette.

The modern Vikings will voyage via the far travelled “Glory of the Sea”, a purpose-built aluminium polar expedition sailing boat. “Glory” has been to both Poles, circumnavigated the globe twice and travelled the Northwest Passage in 2011. “The deck of a small sailing vessel is the perfect platform to see the Arctic as the Vikings saw it. “Glory” will get us to locations that aren’t normally visited”, said Sigurdson.

Fara Heim’s advisory board includes Captain Norm Baker, the First Mate and Navigator for several of Thor Heyerdahl’s expeditions and a current Director of the Explorers Club, Guy Maddin, film Director and Producer, and Charles Hedrich, global explorer and founder of “Respectons La Terre” a European organisation dedicated to exploration with an environmental focus. Key archaeologists and historians are joining the board to develop the field data collection protocols, aid in historical research and ensure all field investigations maintain the integrity of the site for further field work.

The team and sailing boat will be based on Lake Winnipeg for the summer of 2012 for crew training and boat preparation and depart from Churchill in May 2013. To support the non-profit Fara Heim organisation corporate sponsorships are being developed. “Travel with a purpose” opportunities for individuals to participate on the journey are available in both 2012 and 2013.

Join in the adventure by visiting http://www.faraheim.com.
“Like” the project on Facebook at http://www.facebook/faraheim

The areas for which search licences are being offered lie in the high Arctic; far north of Iceland and not too far from Svalbard. They are north of Scoresbysund between 75 and 79 degrees north. The areas are being offered in two stages; the first in 2012 and the second in 2013. Applications from oil companies to be permitted to take part must be received by the 1st March and for specific location licences, by the 15th December. The exploration licences will last for 16 years, with the option for extension up to 30 years.

It is now ten years since oil exploration licences were first offered off western Greenland and the country has since offered a new area for exploration on average once every two years, Vísir.is reports. There are some 20 licences currently active, which are held by companies including Statoil, ExxonMobil, BP, ChevronTexaco, Shell and Japan Oil. Canada’s Husky Energy has announced it will drill two test wells in Greenlandic waters in summer 2013.

The first company to find oil and gas in Greenland was the UK’s Cairn Energy in the autumn of 2010 off Disko Island, 200 km north of Nuuk. The company put its programme on hold this winter, however, after drilling eight holes at great cost, without finding enough evidence of fossil fuels to make it worthwhile.

This disappointment does not seem to have dampened the spirits of other oil companies. The head of Greenland’s oil and minerals directorate, Jörn Skov Nielsen, told reporters that all of the world’s oil giants are interested in the east Greenland prospecting auction. Norway’s now-successful oil industry had a similarly disappointing start and the idea was nearly dropped after three years of expensive and fruitless searching.

There is strong opposition to Arctic drilling among environmental groups who say the fragile Arctic ecosystem is less able to cope than other regions and that a major oil spill would be next to impossible to clean up.

The ten-month-old hooded grey pup, known as Eve, most recently paid a visit to Skegness after previously being spotted in Germany, where she was fitted with a GPS tracker, followed by Scotland and the south of England.

The Natureland sanctuary in Skegness is now caring for the intrepid pup and appealing for donations to help pay for her flight back to the Arctic region. Seals from Greenland, Iceland and Canada rarely make it as far as the North Sea.

“No one knows why Eve got lost and travelled so far,” said Cheryl Yeadon from Naturland in a Daily Mail report. “She is still a baby and we think she hasn’t learnt how to cope on her own away from her mum.

“Seals only feed on their mother’s milk for four days before they have to learn to fend for themselves. We are keeping Eve with other seals to teach her about competition for food. Our best option is to get her closer to where she would come from in the wild.

“It is not unusual for seals to travel long distances, but we have never known one to travel as far – and in the wrong direction – as Eve,” Ms Yeadon added.

The accident took place overnight on the shores of Hestfjörður in the southern part of the Ísafjarðardjúp fjord system in the Westfjords, not far from the towns of Súðavík and Ísafjörður.

The Shell fuel tanker, carrying 39,000 litres of petrol, span two or three times on the icy road and its trailer went off the road, dragging the cab down on top of it.

The driver escaped with minor injuries and was taken to hospital in Ísafjörður for examination. The tank did not rupture in the crash, but petroleum soon started leaking out of vents on top and down into the sea.

The road was quickly sealed off and all available fire engines and ambulances were sent to the scene, along with a crane and three other oil tankers with the ability to pump fuel out of the stricken vehicle.

The Icelandic Roads Administration covered the area in sand and fire crews covered the truck in foam before being able to remove the cab, and with it the biggest explosion risk.

The pumping operation began just before 07.00 and took roughly an hour, after which the crane was able to pull the tank trailer back onto the road and remove it.

According to fire fighters it was extremely lucky the lorry did not crash off the road the other side, over the rock wall and into the water below.

The road was closed for several hours but has since re-opened. Experts are on the scene, but it is still not clear how much fuel leaked out.

(Photo: Hafþór Gunnarsson // BB.is)