Norway hopes to see global consensus on a target to limit the increase in global average temperatures to a maximum of two degrees Celsius, compared with pre-industrial levels. To achieve this target, global greenhouse gas emissions will have to be reduced by 50–85% by 2050.
As Prime Minister Stoltenberg has said, “the switch to a low-carbon society will require major research and development efforts related to renewable energies and energy efficiency.”
Nevertheless, it is realistic to expect that fossil fuels, including coal, will be used for many decades to come. This is why the Prime Minister believes that CCS technology will play an important role in reducing energy-related emissions, which are currently the largest contributors to global climate change.
Since 1996, StatoilHydro has successfully captured and stored more than 10 million tonnes of CO2 at the Sleipner petroleum field in the North Sea. Photo: Alligator film / BUG / StatoilHydro.
A key technology
CCS is a technology for capturing and storing CO2 from coal- and gas-fired power plants and from emissions-intensive industries and other consumers of fossil fuels. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has assessed that apart from measures to improve energy efficiently, this technology holds the greatest potential for reducing global greenhouse gas emissions.
Discussions at the Bergen conference will serve as useful input to the UN Climate Conference in Copenhagen in December 2009 and to other international processes such as the G8 meeting in 2010. Journalist Mr. Qiu Dengke of Private Economy News, Guangzhou, will be one of many journalists covering the conference.