ICELAND WILL LIKELY ATTEND WIREC 2008

UNCLAS REYKJAVIK 000308 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR EUR/NB AND OES/PCI SPECHT AND OES/FO HILL E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: SENV ENRG KGHG KSCA TRGY IC SUBJECT: ICELAND WILL LIKELY ATTEND WIREC 2008 ¶1. Officials in the Natural Resource Department at the Icelandic Ministry for Foreign Affairs conveyed strong interest in attending Washington International Renewable Energy Conference in March 2008 but were unable to give a confirmed delegation roster this far in advance. Ambassador engaged Minister of Environment Thorunn Sveinbjarnadottir directly on October 25 and the Minister said she would make every effort to attend. The Minister of Industry and his Director of Energy have also expressed interest in attending. ¶2. Given Iceland's nearly one hundred percent use of renewable energy for electricity generation and home heating, and their increasing overseas investment and experience in geothermal energy projects, we believe that an Icelandic delegation will be an essential contributor to WIREC. van Voorst