[LONDON] An Icelandic entrepreneur says his company may have a novel solution to the world's water shortages: Transport the North Atlantic island's abundant supplies in supertankers to where they're needed.

Aqua Omnis ehf, a Reykjavik-based company, plans to ship water from aquifers beneath Iceland to sell to drier lands as well as in Europe, managing director Thorsteinn Gudnason said in an interview. Iceland has vast amounts of spring water naturally filtered by mountains and lava terrain for hundreds of years that otherwise goes to waste, he said.

Aqua Omnis's plan offers an alternative to costly water desalination and recycling as supplies are reduced by climate change and rising demand from the agricultural, and oil and gas industries. By 2030 almost half the earth's population may face water scarcity, according to the UN.