Climate and the environment
Unrewarding power-from-gas efforts
Processing oil and gas from the Norwegian continental shelf at home, rather than simply exporting it, has been a political ambition in Norway since the 10 “oil commandments” were specified as policy goals in the early 1970s. Natural gas landed by pipeline could be used to generate electricity, for example – as in other countries. Before any gas-fired power stations could be built, however, their profitability compared with abundant Norwegian hydropower had to be clarified. Another question which gradually acquired greater weight was the impact on Norway’s climate accounts.