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Reykjavik, Iceland: Bone-chilling air conditioning was the last thing we imagined craving in Iceland. But an hour after arriving in this kingdom of ice and fire we were already nostalgic for the goosebump-raising Australian winter we'd left behind.
There was plenty of chilly Arctic air outside. It might be mid-summer in the world's most northerly capital city but at 6pm it was nine degrees. Scouring winds and sleety rain made it feel colder. Iceland is a modern country. But it still employs Thor to intimidate tourists.
Our hotel room, on the other hand, resembled a Nordic sauna. My wife and I couldn't find the temperature control panel. Tempers frayed by jetlag and the sweltering heat, we frantically pulled the room apart. Puddles of sweat pooled at our feet. But there was no air-conditioning switch to be found.
Like a scurrying rat keeping you awake at night, the source of the heat lay behind the walls and out of reach. A network of pipes carrying steaming hot water from the very bowels of the island - a clean and cheap renewable called geothermal heating - now warms close to 100 per cent of Iceland's dwellings.
It also serves as a valuable lesson for Australia in how to make the most of your opportunities.
Beneath Iceland's surface lies a flatulent and violent giant fuelling more than 200 lava-spewing volcanoes. Sulfuric gases billow and leak from its ruptured terrain. In many places you can hear the earth moaning and grinding its teeth between belches.
After the oil crisis of 1973 when fossil fuel prices quadrupled around the globe, Iceland decided it would never be held hostage again by oil-producing nations. So it invested heavily in geothermal technology and now leads the world in producing this clean, cheap and sustainable form of energy.
Let's not romanticise Iceland too much. Famous for its innovative practices - with a population of only 400,000 it has dating apps to help prevent cousins unknowingly hooking up - it also shares many of Australia's problems, including a surging housing crisis and soaring grocery prices.
Forced to grow produce in geothermal-heated greenhouses, Iceland remains heavily dependent on imports. It is now one of the most expensive cities in the world. Petrol is $A3.50 a litre. Earlier this year tourism - so valuable to its economy - slumped by 16 per cent.
But when it comes to clean and renewable power - the cost of heating a home in almost year-round frigid temperatures is minimal - Iceland resembles the Jetsons, leaving Australia a sad version of the Flintstones.
Iceland is tormented by the wretched hell lying beneath its pockmarked surface. We, too, are pummelled by what lies above ours - a burning sun and churning winds.
But with the exception of Tasmania and South Australia - experts from around the globe are now closely studying how SA so quickly made renewables the driving force behind its energy industry - the rest of Australia remains mired in that old, endless debate over how to phase out fossil fuels.
Why are we so reluctant and slow to embrace sunshine and wind and turn it into cheap power? Part of it might have to do with our attitude to the land. For all its flaws and grotesque beauty, Icelanders have an intense relationship with their island. They feel a part of it. We stand apart from ours.
The millennial-old sagas and myths of Iceland with their rich Viking heritage are celebrated by locals. A phenomenal number of writers, poets and artists use their physical world for inspiration. We Australians remain largely intimidated by ours, still spooked after all this time by its vast emptiness and silence.
A few days before embarking for Iceland, my wife and I were feeling the effects of bill shock. In an unseasonably chilly start to the Australian east coast winter our power bill looked like we had subsidised every neon light on the Las Vegas strip.
At our local shopping centre we were approached by a salesman from an energy provider I'd never heard of before. His spiel was sharp and he guaranteed a minimum of 15 per cent reduction in our bills.
We signed up on the spot. A day after arriving in Iceland we received a message from our former provider. They were sorry to see us leave, they said, and were prepared to drop their pants and match any new offer - much like Foxtel whenever a disgruntled subscriber threatens to quit.
Too little, too late, we said. Let's pray it's not the same when it comes to powering Australia's future.
HAVE YOUR SAY: Should Australia invest more in solar and wind as an energy source? Do you remain loyal to energy companies or do you constantly shop around for better deals? What are you doing to lessen your energy bill? Email us: echidna@theechidna.com.au
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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
- Origin Energy will go ahead with the second phase of its big battery project on the site of Australia's largest coal-fired power plant. Announcing the $450 million investment decision on Thursday, Origin said the combined energy storage of the stage one and stage two batteries at Eraring in NSW would be more than two gigawatt hours, which would help to keep the electricity grid stable.
- Aussie stargazers are in for a rare celestial treat as two meteor showers are predicted to light up the southern night sky on the same evening. The annual light shows of Delta Aquariids and Alpha Capricornids will be visible in the Southern Hemisphere on July 30.
- A coal miner who developed black lung due to his employers' negligence has been awarded a landmark legal victory and a multimillion-dollar payout. Craig Keogh, a machine operator at NSW and Queensland mines, became the first Australian to win a black lung case at trial, paving the way for other sufferers to make successful compensation claims.
THEY SAID IT: "We know we'll run out of dead dinosaurs to mine for fuel and have to use sustainable energy eventually. So why not go renewable now and avoid increasing risk of climate catastrophe? Betting that science is wrong and oil companies are right is the dumbest experiment in history by far." - Elon Musk
YOU SAID IT: A loophole means Australians may be filling their vehicles with fuel that originated in Russia and inadvertently helping that country's war effort in Ukraine.
Peter writes: "When you think about all the conflicts around the world over the past century, a very large proportion of them have occurred because a pack of crooks have often succeeded at taking control of the natural resources of countries cursed with the abundance of those resources. If we could all wean ourselves off our reliance on fossil fuels then those crooks will have significantly less incentives to wage war on poor hapless civilians in areas cursed with an abundance of natural resources. We should all be buying electric vehicles so we don't have to buy petrol and diesel from these crooks."
It's a view shared by others.
"Drive an electric car and you don't fund the Russian war effort," writes another Peter. "Seems like yet another reason to drive an EV," writes Bruce. Andrea agrees: "This is yet another reason to end our reliance on imported fuel and make best use of our own renewable energy sources. Go electric!"
Mark writes: "How galling must it be for the Ukrainian diaspora sheltering in Australia knowing that every time they refill at the local Shell servo bowser, Putin is indirectly taking a cut to feed his Russian war machine destroying their homeland. Or maybe not, depending on the source refinery for the latest tanker-load. The Australian government must step up to the plate and ban petroleum imports from refineries using Russian crude."
Barney writes: "I wasn't aware of that, but I'm not surprised. And yes, we should be, and our government should be more vigilant about enforcing sanctions. But, hey, it's the oil companies and the fossil fuel lobby. Labor won't be wanting the 'donations' well to be drying up."
Bill's on the same page: "You have highlighted it once again: hypocrisy is abundant in politics. Now, I bet, if the information was readily available from the AEC, you might find political donations to both major parties from oil companies. We have to stop this aberration of our democracy."
"We can become all precious about importing Russian fuel via India, yet remain unconcerned about oil from the Middle East where women are still second-class citizens, if citizens at all, and if you are LBGT etc, you better keep that well under your hat," writes Murray. "When we fill our cars we know the fuel has been through several changes of hands before we put it in our tanks. It's like canned fruit grown in South America, processed in China and on supermarket shelves here. We shrug and put it in the trolley. Of more interest is why the oil companies were allowed to mothball the refineries here and make us totally reliant on imported fuel. A disruption to the supply line and in a week we are walking."
Ces writes: "I guess my immediate response would be, isn't this business as usual? This happens all the time. Sanctions don't work, there are always ways to subvert them. And if I'm filling my car up, I'm too concerned about the cost of the fuel than its origins, as well as the other increasing pressures on my way of life. We trust those in charge to deal with this stuff and do what's right. Sadly you know how that goes. Great article as always."
Another Mark writes: "It is good that you are hopefully making people more aware of the trade relationship between India and Russia; but you are in danger of opening pandora's box here. Do we stop buying anything that is made in China because we do not like their military actions in the South China Sea, or their threats to Taiwan, or their blatant disregard of human rights, or their increased political and military actions in the Solomon Islands and other parts of the Pacific (let alone what they have done in Africa)? And then what about companies who knowingly import surfwear from North Korea? Is the excuse that the orders were placed through a Chinese intermediary acceptable?"