Odinn Melsted traces Reykjavík’s transition from coal to geothermal energy. Melsted shows that, contrary to being an inevitable outcome in Iceland, the shift to geothermal energy was a carefully crafted strategy that required three key factors: sufficient available resources, suitable infrastructure and technologies, and most crucially perhaps, the creation of a new societal demand. This necessitated a strong partnership between government actors and energy users, who succeeded in rebranding geothermal energy as the most viable and desirable energy source.