2012Green energy - Stamp Booklet

Iceland has a unique position when it comes to energy. Icelanders use more energy per capita than any other country. The proportion of renewable energy sources is also unusually high. In 2008 approximately 80% of the total national energy consumption came from domestic and renewable energy sources. Geothermal heat has been used for heating by 90% of households in the country. Rivers are a great source of energy and Iceland has around 37 hydroelectric power plants and approximately 200 smaller power plants. Landsvirkjun was established for the purpose of constructing power plants providing electricity to heavy industries. Aluminum and related exports account for over 40% of the country’s total exports. Powerful geothermal areas in the South are used both for heating and for vegetable cultivation. These areas account for half of harnessed hydro-energy in the country and about 70% of harnessed geothermal power. With the use of electricity in horticulture farmers have been able to meet domestic demand for tomatoes and cucumbers. Major advances have taken place in hortculture in recent years which means that in ten years tomato-production has increased by 200% and the production of cucumbers doubled. Designer: Hlynur Ólafsson. Denomination: Letter 50g domestic (ISK 4x97=' 388),' letter 50g to Europe (ISK 4x175=' 700)