2nd edition

Unit 8 Culture clip

8E Energy in Iceland: Worksheet

1 Watch the video report. What do the following numbers mean?
1 320,000
2 1,800
3 89%
4 $8 billion
5 120
6 2003

2 Watch the report again and answer the questions.

1 What is the largest city in Iceland?


2 How often do the geysers erupt?


3 How much power can the Nesjavellir geothermal plant produce?


4 How else does Iceland generate electricity?


5 How did Iceland generate power before 1970?


6 What two things still use oil in Iceland?
1
2

© OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS • PHOTOCOPIABLE Pre-Intermediate DVD clip Worksheet  

 2nd edition
Unit 8 Culture clip

8E Energy in Iceland: Answer key

1
1 Population of Iceland
2 Litres of hot water produced per second by the Nesjavellir geothermal plant
3 Percentage of houses in Iceland that are heated by geothermal power
4 The amount of money that Iceland has saved since 1970 because of geothermal power
5 The number of megawatts of electricity produced by a hydroelectric plant
6 The year when the first hydrogen filling station opened
2
1 Reykjavik
2 Every few minutes
3 120 megawatts of electrical power per second
4 With hydroelectric plants
5 With imported oil
6 Cars and fishing boats

© OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS • PHOTOCOPIABLE Pre-Intermediate DVD clip Answer key

 2nd edition
Unit 8 Culture clip

8E Energy in Iceland: Script

Iceland is a beautiful island in the North Atlantic
Ocean. It has a population of around 320,000
people. 200,000 people live in the capital city of
Reykjavik.
Iceland’s landscape is extraordinary. It combines
beautiful waterfalls with amazing natural
phenomena like these geysers in the Golden Circle.
Iceland is volcanically and geologically active.
Geysers erupt every few minutes, producing steam
and hot water.
This geothermal activity can be harnessed to
produce electricity and domestic hot water.
This is the Nesjavellir geothermal plant. The plant
is near the Hengill volcano and can produce up to
120 megawatts of electrical power per second. It
also produces 1,800 litres of hot water per second,
which is supplied to the 200,000 residents of
Reykjavik.
Geothermal power currently provides heating
for 89% of the houses in Iceland. Before the
geothermal plants were built, Iceland relied on
imported oil. It is estimated that using natural
geothermal power has saved Iceland over 8 billion
dollars since 1970 and lowered carbon dioxide
emissions by 37%.
Iceland has also invested heavily in other
renewable energy sources, particularly in hydro-
electric power and in hydrogen fuel cells. This is
one of Iceland’s biggest hydroelectric plants. The
plant produces nearly 120 megawatts of electricity.
The country’s first hydrogen filling station opened
in 2003. Most cars in Iceland still run on petrol
and the country’s fishing fleet runs on oil. But the
Icelandic government hopes that the hydrogen fuel
cells – made in Iceland using geothermal power
– will eventually replace the country’s need for
imported oil.

© OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS • PHOTOCOPIABLE Pre-Intermediate DVD clip Script