Reykjavík Grapevine - 12.09.2008, Blaðsíða 8

8 | REYKJAVÍK GRAPEVINE | ISSUE 14—2008
INTERVIEW BY DeSIRee AnDRewS
What was your reaction when you were
asked to come to Iceland to speak at Driving
Sustainability?
I was psyched. You know, Iceland’s got a reputa-
tion for a lot of renewable energy, which is the
missing link on electric cars. I’ve always wanted
to come to Iceland, so this was a big opportunity,
and then I saw the program and it looked like
they’d put together a tremendous group of Euro-
pean, Icelandic and American expertise on these
issues. It sounds like a great conference.
What does it take to make alternative trans-
portation work?
The three secret ingredients are battery technolo-
gy, renewable electricity, motivated consumers—
well, I just said three and I’m already up to four—
and wise government leadership. Just looking at
the conference, those elements all seem to be in
place.
Over 90% of Iceland’s electricity comes from
renewable energy so it makes sense for the
country to go electric in terms of transporta-
tion. Do you think it makes as much sense for
the rest of the world?
Absolutely. I mean there’s no one transportation
solution for everything you need to do, but for
pure electric, for any place where you have 100
miles or less in a day of driving, which is really
almost every urban area and every place where
the daily commute of people is 60 miles or less,
it’s just perfect. That is a gigantic percentage of
transportation.
In addition to coming to Iceland to speak at
Driving Sustainability, you’re also coming to
film your sequel to Who Killed the Electric
Car?
We’re calling it a new film. The last film was sort
of a case study about why it’s so difficult to cre-
ate change. Especially when you’re up against
entrenched interest like petroleum and the auto
industry and consumer habits. It’s just difficult for
people to say: “Oh am I going to start plugging my
car in? Am I going to stop going the gas station?
What does that mean?” These are difficult hurdles
and industry doesn’t want to change the way peo-
ple make money so you’re threatening industry: “I
don’t want to give up my oil revenues,” or “don’t
let the utilities take over,” So,
the movie was about why it’s so
difficult to change.
Now that oil prices have gone
up so much even Americans
are dialling into global warm-
ing. A huge renaissance is hap-
pening with electric drives for
cars. That’s why were calling
the next film The Revenge of
the Electric Car—the coming
back from the dead, as it were.
Who killed the electric car
seemed to provoke a sense
of outrage and foul play. Do
you think this film will be
more optimistic or are you
finding things that are just
as daunting that stand in the
way of moving forward on
renewable energy in trans-
portation?
It’s much more optimistic. It’s
about people saying to hell
with it we’re just going to do
it. We’ll do it with or without
industry. If industry is not go-
ing to get onboard we’ll do it
anyway. It’s about making a
better future come hell or high
water and to do it smartly. We
want to make sure that electric
transportation does not end
up building coal plants every-
where, which really isn’t a lot
better than making gasoline.
What do you hope to find when you come
to Iceland/ Driving Sustainability when it
comes to content for your film or the future
of renewable energy in general?
I want to look at your geothermal plant. I want
to talk to ordinarily folks, Icelanders, about their
attitude about their cars. I know a lot of people
drive Range Rovers and trucks and sort of manly-
men-cars that go from place to place and I’m very
much interested in the projection that cars have.
Men want tough cars because they radiate a lot
of power and women are attracted to that. I think
there’s a lot of primal stuff in cars. I’m interested
in what the general population has to say about
their willingness to embrace either smaller cars or
bigger cars that use electricity.
I’m interested to see what the balance is on hydro-
gen. I’m very sceptical about hydrogen fuel cells. I
know there’s been a hydrogen push in Iceland and
I want to sort of investigate what the reality is on
hydrogen versus batteries. I fear that the world has
been severely misled about hydrogen fuel cells for
cars and that this is a stalling strategy, a very ex-
pensive stalling strategy, and batteries are ready
to go today for short trips. Is Ice-
land buying the hydrogen hype
and if so who’s pushing it?
Why is the push for hydro-
gen a stalling strategy? What
is it stalling for?
I think there’s a lot of people in
hydrogen that have very good
intentions and it’s certainly a
beautiful vision for transpor-
tation in 100 years. But, the
problem is there’s only so many
dollars for alternative transpor-
tation because new technology
is expensive and batteries can
do it now. Initially, the oil com-
panies were pushing hydrogen
because they want to control
electricity as a fuel. Hydrogen
is basically electricity as a fuel
so they get to keep playing the
game. They get to ship the hy-
drogen around in their trucks,
but the problem is that it’s very
inefficient and very energy in-
tensive way to do it. We don’t
need the fuel companies ship-
ping hydrogen. We already have
the infrastructure for electricity
and when we use batteries and
existing electrical infrastruc-
ture, we don’t need the oil com-
panies. We can do it ourselves
and at a big savings. If the oil
companies have convinced Ice-
land that they want hydrogen, I
think that Iceland will lose more time in efficiently
getting off oil.
It’s good that hydrogen is an option it just shouldn’t
be on the front burner. It should be on the back
burner. What should be on the front burner are
plug-in hybrids and plug-in electrics, in my view.
Do you think a small country like Iceland can
be a role model for the rest of the world?
Of course, Iceland can definitely be a role model.
I think it already is and that’s why I’m looking for-
ward to coming, to see how that role model plays
out.
Chris Paine is the director of the
acclaimed 2006 film Who Killed
the Electric Car, a documentary
about the decline of a technology
that seems to be making a come-
back in Iceland. He will be coming
to Reykjavik to speak at Driving
Sustainability, an international
conference about alternative
energy sources in transportation.
In addition to screening his hit
film, he will also be speaking at
the conference and getting footage
for his upcoming documentary The
Revenge of the Electric Car. We
gave him a call in his Los Angeles
studio to find out what we can
expect.
It’s Electric
Chris Paine talks about the future of energy alternatives for cars in Iceland and his new film.
those electric cars sure look complicated
ARTIClE
The second conference of its kind, Driving
Sustainability will bring together some of the
most high level and powerful minds in science
and technology from around the world. They’re
meeting in Reykjavík to confront the serious and
immediate international issues of depleting fossil
fuels and the future of transportation.
The three-day summit will offer seminars on
groundbreaking tools that will jet us forward into
the dawn of a green day, and you’re invited.
Iceland is the ideal place to hold this summit,
not only because it holds a treasure trove of
renewable energy but, as managing partner Teitur
Þorkelsson says, “Icelanders are early adapters
and we love technology.”
If you think it’s going to be boring, think
again. There will be high-tech innovations that
would make James Bond jealous, speakers
who are out of this world, and a glimpse into a
sustainably bright tomorrow. The star-studded list
of attractions include an opening address from
Iceland’s President, a look at plans for a solar
powered plane that can fly around the globe, and
a visit from the man behind the fastest electric
motorcycle on the planet.
THAT MAGNIfICENT MAN
AND HIS flYING MACHINE
Bertrand Piccard, world famous astronaut and the
first man to ever circumnavigate the world in a hot
air balloon, is scheduled to be the first keynote
speaker. He will discuss Solar Impulse, a project
that is underway to build a plane that is propelled
by solar energy and can stay in the air for days at a
time while producing no pollution.
ENTER, THE KIllACYClE
If you think of dinky golf carts and powerless
compacts when you think of electric vehicles, Bill
Dubé, creator of the world’s fastest electric motor
cycle, has a surprise for you. No one, from the
speed junkies to the mechanically curious, will
want to miss Bill’s design of high-performance
electric vehicles. And while there has been no
confirmation, the Killacycle itself might make
special appearance on the only drag strip in
Iceland.
INVASION Of THE ElECTRIC CARS
Director of the blockbuster documentary Who
Killed the Electric Car, Chris Paine, will share his
talent of taking titbits of news and turning them
into stories people actually care about. “We made
that first movie a murder mystery and for this
next film we’re going to try and make a monster
movie. I’ll talk a little bit about keeping things fun
because if the environment and going green is a
drag, people can tune out.”
Start Your
Engines
BY DeSIRee AnDRewS
CHRIS PAINE
“Who killed the electric
car” premiered at Sundance
Film Festival in 2006 and was
later distributed worldwide
by Sony Pictures Classic.
His other film credits include:
Faster, executive producer
2003
No maps for these ter-
ritories, executive producer
2001
He has also directed seg-
ments for the MTV television
series BuZZ and online con-
tent for apple computer.
In addition to his work in
media, he is also an entrepre-
neur, environmentalist and
an activist.
He will be screening “Who
killed the electric car” at
Driving Sustainability Satur-
day 20, followed by a Q&A.
Check www.driving.is for
time.
Iceland is going
green and there’s
no looking back.
WHEN
18, 19, and 20 September
WHERE
Hilton Reykjavík Nordica
Suðurlandsbraut 2
108 Reykjavík
HIGHlIGHTS
Thursday 18, September
9:05 Opening Address from
Olafur Ragnar Grimsson
9:50 Bertrand Piccard
14:00 Bill Dubé
friday 19, September
9:15 Ted Miller, Senior Manager
at Ford Motor Company
12:15 Sven Thesen, Director of A Better Place
Saturday 20, September
Screening of Who Killed the Electric Car
followed by Q&A with Chris Paine
For a full schedule check out www.driving.is