Norway's emissions up 80%
Just as Norwegian delegates to the UN's conference on climate change started heading home from Bali, came news that Norway's own carbon emissions rose 80 percent from 1990 to 2004. Statoil's refinery at Mongstad is the biggest contributor.
Environmental group Zero has made a list of the 25 largest generators of emissions in Norway. Not surprisingly, the country's oil and gas industry figures heavily on the list.
The Mongstad refinery on Norway's west coast spews out the most carbon, followed by the new gas power plant Naturkraft at Kårstø in Rogaland County.
Then comes the Statfjord oil platform in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea, now operated by StatoilHydro. Gassco's gas terminal is in fourth place.
The first non-oil offender landed in 10th place, the Norcem Brevik cement plant at Grenland on the coast of Telemark County. Yara's fertilizer plant at Porsgrunn was 12th and Hydro's aluminium plants at Sunndalsøra and Karmøy in 14th and 15th place respectively.
Erik Solheim, the government minister in charge of environmental issues who was in Bali last week, admits that Norway's own high level of emissions is "embarrassing." That's why the government plans to donate NOK 15 billion (nearly USD 3 billion) over the next five years to help preserve the world's rain forests. That's viewed as an efficient way of offsetting carbon emissions.
Meanwhile, some politicians found themselves in embarrassing spots as well. Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg had to admit to newspaper Dagsavisen that he still uses an old-fashioned and emission-generating oil heater in his home, even though his own government is strongly encouraging Norwegian households to replace such heating systems.
"We'll see, we haven't made any decisions yet," Stoltenberg said, when asked why he hasn't replaced the oil heater. "I don't really want to say any more about it."
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Good thing they signed the Kyoto Protocol, huh?
