Industry

<body stylesrc="industry_good.html" bgcolor="#FFFFFF"> <table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td><p align="left"><font size="6"><strong><img src="ic-flag.jpg" width="107" height="64"> Industry </strong></font></p> <p align="left"><a href="#Fishing" target="frmain"><font size="4">Fishing</font></a><font size="4"> | </font><a href="#Tourism" target="frmain"><font size="4">Tourism</font></a><font size="4"> | </font><a href="#Iceland's New Economy" target="frmain"><font size="4">Iceland's New Economy</font></a><font size="4"> | </font><a href="#Geothermal Resources" target="frmain"><font size="4">Geothermal Resources</font></a></p> </td> <th align="left" valign="top" colspan="3"><p align="right"><font size="6"><strong><img src="picofcargoport.jpg" width="200" height="147"></strong></font></p> </th> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" colspan="3"><p align="left"><font size="4">Icelands economy is basically capitalistic, yet mirrors other Scandinavian countries with regard to an extensive welfare system, low unemployment, and an even distribution of income. The service sector dominates the regional economy, with 77% of the work force. Unemployment is low, 2-3% in the Reykjavík area. Construction is an important industry in the rapidly growing capital area, while manufacturing largely centers on food production and light industry, along with high-technology fields. According to 1999 figures, the Reykjavík labor force as a whole is divided between manufacturing (12.9%), fishing and fish processing (11.8%), construction (10.7%), other services (59.5%), and agriculture (5.1%). </font></p> <p align="left"><font size="4">Sheep and maritime products have been the lifeblood of Icelanders for over 1000 years, and the fisheries sector is still the single most important part of the Icelandic economy. However, the Icelandic economy has greatly diversified in the past 50 years. Other industries include the sale of minerals such as aluminum, ferro-silicon, cement and nitrates. Reykjavík has traditionally been attractive to foreign investors because of low unemployment rate, a highly educated work force and low energy costs.</font></p> <p><a name="Fishing"><font size="5"><strong><u>Fishing</u></strong></font></a></p> <p><font size="4">Fish products account for about 75% of Iceland's exports and earn more than half of the country's foreign exchange. The government remains opposed to membership in the European Union because of Icelandic concerns about losing control over their fishing resources.</font></p> <p><font size="4">The harbor approach is unrestricted and ice-free year round. The two main harbor areas are </font><a href="oldharbo.html"><font size="4">Gamla Höfnin</font></a><font size="4"> (Old Harbor) and </font><a href="sundapor.html"><font size="4">Sundahöfn</font></a><font size="4">. The old harbor mainly handles smaller ships, recreational cruise ships, and other smaller crafts. Sundahöfn is the primary commercial port of Iceland. The majority of large commercial and container traffic is handled in this harbor. The harbor is the 5th largest among Nordic countries and handles 60% of imports and 40% of exports. </font></p> <p align="center"><MAP NAME="FrontPageMap"><AREA SHAPE="RECT" COORDS="11, 90, 96, 159" HREF="oldharbo.html"><AREA SHAPE="RECT" COORDS="175, 7, 327, 96" HREF="sundapor.html"></MAP><a href="_vti_bin/shtml.exe/Ind_frames.html/map"><img src="rey_ports.gif" width="345" ismap usemap="#FrontPageMap" height="222" border="0"></a></p> <p><a name="Tourism"><font size="5"><strong><u>Tourism</u></strong></font></a></p> <p><font size="4">Tourism is Reykjavíks most important source of foreign revenue after fishing and has been targeted by the government as a source of growth, especially recent trends in ecotourism and whale watching.The aim is to increase the number of visitors to the city by 8% so that overall income from tourism will amount to 710 million dollars by the year 2005. More people annually visit Iceland than the entire population of Iceland.</font></p> <p><a name="Iceland's New Economy"><font size="5"><strong><u>Iceland's New Economy</u></strong></font></a></p> <p><font size="4">The "new economy" of Iceland, and especially Reykjavík, features biotechnology, software production, tourism and other service industries of the 21st century.</font></p> <p><a name="Geothermal Resources"><font size="5"><strong><u>Geothermal Resources</u></strong></font></a></p> <p><font size="4">Reykjavik has maintained close connections with the geothermal heat and hot springs abundant within the region. Vikings used the natural hot springs to bathe in and todays population both profits and utilizes this resource. Reykjavik Energy, an independent utility owned by the city, is responsible for distributing geothermal water, electricity and drinking water to residents of the region. Geothermal water was first used for heating houses in Reykjavik in 1930. At that time the majority of houses were heated with coal fires, casting a gray grime upon the city. By 1970, nearly all houses in Reykjavik were receiving electricity and hot water for heating and washing, and sales began to nearby municipalities. Today, 99.9% of homes within the Reykjavik municipal region obtain hot water from geothermal energy.</font></p> <p><font size="4">Armed with these abundant and clean natural resources, Reykjavik (and Iceland) has the potential to become an oil-free society. Plans are underway to use renewable hydroelectric power to produce hydrogen fuel cells which will supply vehicles and eventually the fishing fleet. The Reykjavik Municipal Bus Service is looking into converting its vehicles using electric motors, driven by hydrogen fuel cells. Other uses for geothermally heated water include pipes laid under pavements and parking lots to keep snow at bay and the creation of a summer swimming resort by pumping hot water into the ocean at Nauthólsvík on the citys south coast.</font></p> <p align="center"><strong>Figure 1 <img src="energyconsumption.jpg" alt="Primary Energy Consumption in Iceland" width="200" height="134"> Figure 2 <img src="hydropowerpotential.jpg" alt="Hydro Power Potential of Iceland" width="200" height="133"></strong></p> <p align="left"><font size="4">Figure 1 illustrates the progression Iceland has followed with regard to primary energy consumption. At the turn of the century coal was the primary energy component, by 1999 energy consumption was a mix of geothermal (primary source), hydro-power, and oil. The blue dots in figure 2 represent potential (undeveloped) hydro-power sites. Green dots indicate hydro-power sites currently in use.</font></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="4"><p align="center"><a href="geography.html"><strong>Geography</strong></a><strong> | </strong><a href="viking.html"><strong>Viking Settlement</strong></a><strong> | </strong><a href="urbanhistory.html"><strong>Urban History</strong></a><strong> | </strong><a href="urbanplanning.html"><strong>Urban Planning</strong></a><strong> | </strong><a href="industry.html"><strong>Industry</strong></a><strong> | </strong><a href="transportation.html"><strong>Transportation</strong></a><strong> | </strong><a href="housing.html"><strong>Housing</strong></a><strong> | </strong><a href="maps.html"><strong>Maps</strong></a><strong> | </strong><a href="links.html"><strong>Links</strong></a></p> <p align="center"><a href="index.htm"><font size="4"><strong>Home</strong></font></a></p> </td> </tr> </table>  </body>