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Resource Consumption · National

Iceland

Almost all electricity and heating from geothermal and hydro, because of where it sits.

How this page works

Six sections are filled in: the parts that are stable and factual. Four are yours — evidence, perspectives, evaluation and the current connection. Those four are where the marks are, and they are deliberately empty. A case study only counts once you have completed them.

↧ Download the Iceland template Word · ready to fill in · the six given sections already completed
Before you write about this one

Ask what is transferable and what is not. Most countries do not sit on a mid-ocean ridge.

§ 01

The ten-part record

01 · Location Filled in for you

Iceland
64.9°N 19.0°W · scale: National

See this case in context on the case study map.

02 · Geographic context Filled in for you

A volcanically active North Atlantic island with abundant geothermal heat and glacial meltwater, and a small population. Its energy position is a direct product of physical geography.

03 · Processes Filled in for you

What is changing here, and the mechanisms driving it.

  • Geothermal energy from active volcanic geology
  • Hydroelectric generation from glacial rivers
  • District heating distributing geothermal heat directly
  • Energy-intensive industry attracted by cheap power
04 · Evidence You build this

Find these, and write the year beside every figure. A statistic without a date is not evidence.

  • Share of electricity from renewable sources
  • Share of heating from geothermal
  • Per capita energy consumption, compared internationally
  • Proportion of electricity used by heavy industry
Your figures go here
05 · Stakeholders Filled in for you

Who is affected, and separately, who holds the decision-making power.

  • Icelandic households and their heating costs
  • Energy-intensive industries drawn by low prices
  • Environmental groups opposed to new hydro schemes
  • Countries looking for a replicable model

Named above as a starting list. For each one, add what they actually want, and note where two of them want incompatible things.

06 · Perspectives You build this

Find two sources that disagree about this case — not two summaries of the same view. Record who each is, what they claim, and what interest they have. A perspective without a holder is not a perspective.

Your notes go here
07 · Concepts Filled in for you

Which of the six apply here, and what each one reveals.

  • Place. The physical setting explains the energy mix almost entirely.
  • Possibility. A genuine success that is only partially transferable.
  • Power. Cheap energy attracting aluminium smelting and data centres.
08 · Evaluation You build this

How significant is this? How effective was any response? What are the limitations of your evidence? What else could explain the pattern? Reach a judgement and defend it.

Your notes go here
09 · Current connection You build this

One dated development from the last twelve months. Does it strengthen, weaken or complicate the case as recorded above? Update this every time you revisit the case.

Your notes go here
10 · Exam use Filled in for you

Energy security, renewable transition, and the role of physical geography in making it possible.

Now go and build the other four

Reading this page is not the same as having a case study. Take the template, find the evidence, and fill in sections 4, 6, 8 and 9 in your own words.

↧ Download the template Or take the blank version for a case of your own
§ 02

Where to look

Start here. Prefer the organisation that produced the data over anyone summarising it.

Links checked 27 August 2026 · external links open in a new tab

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