Norway’s Prime Minister, Erna Solberg ducked any immediate reaction to yesterday’s IEA report. She said that “There have been many IEA reports with different assumptions and objectives. Norway will continue with the main line we have.
The Minister of Petroleum and Energy Tina Bru said in a statement that “it would not have made any difference in a global perspective if Norway alone had cut exploration for oil and gas now. On the other hand, we will lose important technology and expertise we need to manage the restructuring the report points to.”
Meanwhile, NGO Bellona critiques that the Norwegian line that Solberg points to is for an active exploration policy. “The basis for this policy no longer exists. Now the government is completely alone in its argument that we need more new license allocations, new developments, more production.“ Bellona also said that there was no longer a window for natural gas to be used as a transition fuel, as a gas plant commissioned today had an economic life that would last it to 2040.
Norwegian papers expressed a view that the report marked a critical moment for Norwegian policy. (Microsoft News, Bellona press release, Dagsavisen)
Dagens Industri interviewed two Swedish experts from WWF about their views on the forest. Peter Roberntz, a forest expert said “We think it is unfortunate that the climate issue is used as an argument to intensify and extract more from the forest, when it is perhaps as much or more a consumption issue. We are not against forestry like most others in the environmental movement. But on the other hand, we have to set boundaries, frameworks for what is sustainable.” “We think it is important that we preserve biodiversity and ecosystem services and not just stare blindly at timber production. But it is also very important that we adapt the forestry to the climate. To do this, we believe that the extraction of biomass from forestry needs to be reduced. ”
Asked where he thought forest biomass should be used, Ola Hansén, a climate expert said “We do not mind bioenergy, for residual products it can be a great idea … For example, aviation, which is a sector where climate emissions grow when emissions from other sectors decrease. We need to reduce flying and implement other measures. At present, it is difficult to find other technical solutions, so it could be a fuel that is justified, but it is not as motivated to make biofuel for cars where electricity is now still developing very fast. (Dagens industri)
Horizon Energi and Equinor have entered into an agreement to further mature the Polaris carbon transport and storage project off the coast of northern Norway. The Polaris project is expected to have a total carbon storage capacity of over 100 Mt. In the first phase, the plant will convert natural gas from the Barents South region into carbon-neutral blue ammonia, an easily transported hydrogen carrier that can be converted to hydrogen at the reception site or used directly for many applications. It is expected that an investment decision for the Polaris and Barents Blue project will be made towards the end of 2022, the companies report. (DN Investor)
At a plant in Porsgrunn, CO-eating bacteria will produce chemicals that can be turned into new products. The PyroCO₂ platform is coordinated by Sintef, and consists of 20 partners from 11 European countries. A five-year project will start this autumn. The goal is to scale up biotechnology that can transform CO₂ into useful products, and contribute to the EU's goal of zero emissions and a sustainable economy. (E24)
The Nordic countries are some of the most dynamic and successful economies in the world. They are also leaders in sustainability, from renewable energy, biofuels, carbon capture and storage and the hydrogen economy, circular economy business models and battery development, the Nordics are pioneers in policy design, technology development and consumer uptake. Mundus Nordic Green News is covering this transition for the international community. Every day we clip the stories of most relevance to international businesspeople and policy experts from the flow of news. We supplement these with our own opinion pieces and commentary, in English.