Climate-Neutral Europe: the Role of Renewable Energies in the Arctic to decarbonize Europe and enhance energy independence

The European Union consumes about 60 Exajoule (16.6 Peta Wh) of primary energy per year. In the past years, about 10% of this energy originated from natural gas (CH₄). The dramatic developments in Ukraine and the accentuating climate crisis call for an eminent replacement of imported Russian natural gas with climate-neutral alternatives. Consumption reduction, enhanced energy efficiency, electrification, and industrial symbiosis should be prioritized. Being part of the European Economic Area, Iceland annually produces almost 20 TWh of green renewable electricity, using domestic hydropower and geothermal sources. About 80% of Icelandic electricity is exported in the form of energy-intensive products, namely aluminum and silicon. Due to the use of renewable energies, the exported Icelandic products disclose a very low carbon footprint. In regard to EU energy security and climate change targets, the Icelandic example may be used as a demonstration case for other energy products, namely hydrogen and power to X products. It may also be applied to other Arctic regions, namely Greenland, which is also part of the overseas countries and territories of the EU. In this presentation, we will demonstrate the following: i) how to assess the hydropower potential of remote Artic areas (Finger, 2018), ii) how excess hydropower can be used for green hydrogen production and subsequently converted to carbon-neutral CH₄ (Cabalzar et al. 2021), iii) compare the life cycle analysis results of hydrogen produced in Iceland and mainland Europe (Vilbergsson et al. 2023) and iv) show the potential of Greenland to become a key player in decarbonizing the EU. While the first three topics have been well described and published (see references below), the potential of renewable energy production in Greenland is currently being investigated by the University of Greenland. One single fjord could yield an electricity production of over 2 GW and an annual yield of around 5 TWh. While exploiting such natural resources should consider local environmental, social, and economic aspects, the production of climate-neutral energy in the arctic can be an essential part of decarbonizing Europe – and be an alternative to other fossil-based foreign energy sources.

References:

Finger D. (2018) The value of satellite retrieved snow cover images to assess water resources and the theoretical hydropower potential in ungauged mountain catchments, Jökull, 68, 47-66. doi.org/10.33799/jokull.2018.68.047

Cabalzar U., Blumer L., Fluri R., Zhang X., Bauer C., Finger D., Bach C., Frank E., Bordenet B., and C. Stahel (2021) Projekt IMPEGA - Import von strombasiertem Gas, Aqua & Gas 6, 40-45, Schweizerischer Verein des Gas- und Wasserfaches

Vilbergsson K., Dillman K., Emami N., Ásbjörnsson E., Heinonen J., and D.C. Finger (in press) Can remote green hydrogen production play a key role in decarbonizing Europe in the future? A cradle-to-gate LCA of hydrogen production in Austria, Belgium, and Iceland, International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, in press