Lögberg-Heimskringla - 03.10.2003, Page 1

Week at a glance
A soul-stirring concert Special Feature: New lceland
Youth Choir Tours lceland
Page 3 Pages 5 to 8
Friday, 3 October 2003 • Number 34 / Númer 34 • Föstudagur, 3 október, 2003
Lögberg
Lögberg stofnað 14! janúar 1888
Heimskringla stofnað 9. september 1886
Sameinuð 20. ágúst 1959
Heimskringla
The Icelandic Weekly
www.logberg.com
PAP Registration no. 08000
Agreement no. 1402161
117th year /117. Árgangur ISSN 0047-4967
Manitoba and Iceland Sign MOU to Promote Hydrogen Development
Valgerður Sverrisdóttir (right) and Tim Sale (second from
left) sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between
Manitoba and Iceland
Manitoba’s leadership in
transportation and hydro-
gen production has been
enhanced as Energy, Science
and Technology Minister Tim
Sale and Iceland Minister of
Industry and Commerce Val-
gerður Sverrisdóttir signed a
memorandum of understanding
(MOU) on hydrogen develop-
ment last week.
“Manitoba and Iceland
share many cultural and busi-
ness ties as well as a common
interest in renewable energy
and hydrogen,” said Sale. “Ice-
land has taken a leadership role
and gained considerable profile
globally in the area of hydrogen
development. The agreement
will promote greater partner-
ships in this area between our
two jurisdictions and will
enable Manitoba to build on
Mark Myrowich found his
inspiration in the
strangest place, it was while sit-
ting in the bottom of a ditch
next to a buming field of straw.
our recently unveiled initiatives
including a preliminary report
on hydrogen development and
a unique hybrid fuel cell bus
demonstration project.”
The MOU states that Man-
itoba and Iceland will pursue
the potential for joint initiatives
on hydrogen development. The
two jurisdictions will also
investigate the benefits of the
exchange of people and infor-
mation, and joint research and
training initiatives, in relation
to hydrogen development activ-
ities. The agreement could lead
to an important mutual bridge
between North American and
European markets.
“Manitoba and Iceland
have strong cultural ties all the
way back to the 1870s and share
a similar focus in many fields
like energy,” said Valgerður.
The president of Win-
nipeg-based ErosionControl-
Blanket.com explained that
when he and some co-workers
were installing a California-
“One element of our policy
is to create here in Iceland a
favourable Platform for Inter-
national Hydrogen Research.
We in Iceland and Canada have
possibilities to realize our plans
for hydrogen development by
using our vision, technology,
opportunities, co-operation and
knowledge. We have long way
to go - but nothing happens
without a dream, and we must
have a dream for a better
world.”
The Government of Iceland
has made public its plans for
enhancing development
towards a future hydrogen
economy including the produc-
tion of hydrogen, the use of fuel
cells for transportation purpos-
es, and the development of
hydrogen related expertise and
technology. Iceland has made
made, erosion-control blanket
in a ditch near Killamey four
years ago when he noticed a
farmer burning straw in an
adjacent field.
strides to establish itself as an
intemational leader in adoption
of hydrogen including impor-
tant intemational partnerships
with companies such as Shell,
PHOTO COURTESY OF MORGUNBLAÐIÐ/JIM SMART
Norsk Hydro and Daimler-
Chrysler.
Please see Manitoba and
lcetand sign on Page 4
Icelandic Entrepreneur Wins an Award
PHOTO BY JEFF DE BODY/WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
Mark Myrowich, (left) President of ErosionControlBlanket.com with Dennis Deley, acting
regional director, display samples of product
The imported blanket they
were installing was made from
straw and netting, Mark said,
and wasn’t very well made.
“That’s when it kind of
went, ‘Bing! That’s when I
started thinking, ‘Why are we
bringing these straw blankets in
from so far away when we’ve
got all of this unused straw right
here.? We’ve got so much,
they’re buming it!’.”
So within about a year,
Mark Myrowich launched his
own erosion-control blanket
manufacturing company
ECB.com featured in the L-H
recently for the grand opening
of their new Riverton plant. In
the three years since, the com-
pany has gone on to develop
two more products — a sedi-
ment-control device for trap-
ping sediment in ditches and a
cover for earthen manure-stor-
age lagoons.
That ablity for developing
innovative, environmentally
friendly new products eamed
ECB.com the honour of being
named the 2003 winner of the
Prairie Regional Innovation
Award for Sustainable Develop-
ment. The award is presented
jointly each year by the Nation-
al Research Council Industrial
Research Assistance Program
(NRC-IRAP) and the Canadian
Manufacturers and Exporters to
recognize innovative excellence
related to sustainable develop-
ment.
ECB.com is now in the mn-
ning for the National Award for
Sustainable Development with
the six other regional winners
chosen from across the country.
The award will be presented
during the CME’s 2003 annual
conference next month in
Toronto.
The company exports about
ninety fíve per cent of its prod-
ucts to the United States, most-
ly to distributors in the Mid-
west. The other fíve per cent are
sold in Western Canada.
Although he has been talking to
distributors from Iceland, Mark
said he expects most of the
company’s future sales growth
to come from the North Ameri-
can market.
Source: Winnipeg Free Press,
Murray McNeil
Creoting Community • Sköþum Sámfélag