REYKJAVÍK, Iceland — Few countries can compete with Iceland when it comes to renewable energy. The island nation gets nearly 100 percent of its electric power from green sources, and Iceland has championed the use of both geothermal energy and hydroelectricity.
That makes the country a model for a world trying to fight climate change — which is ironic because Iceland’s electric grid is only going to get stronger as the world gets hotter.
The reason? Hydroelectricity. Or more specifically, melting glaciers.
Iceland gets more than 70 percent of its power from hydroelectric stations fed by glacial meltwaters. So as the Earth heats up and glaciers melt faster, hydroelectric stations will have more water to spin turbines and power the grid — a silver lining for a country mourning its glacial decline.
