Norway wants Will Ferrell and America to Beat Them in the Race to Electrify
Will Ferrell may be coming for Norway, but we welcome the challenge. Norway has become a “testination” — a country that creates an attractive framework for testing new technology that will address the UN Sustainability Goals. Norway has already come far in exploring sustainable solutions and we hope to scale what we’ve learned to the broader global market.
If we look at the transportation sector for example, it is in transition all across the world and transport is one of the largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions in Norway, accounting for 31% of the country’s emissions. Reducing these emissions will require innovations in all segments of the transport value chain.
Norway has long been the established global leader in using electric vehicles (EVs) — though Will Ferrill, Awkafina, and Keenan Thompsen get Norway hilariously confused with our Nordic neighbors. This is due in great part to a longstanding incentive scheme encouraging people and businesses to switch to EVs.
As a result, Norway has by far the largest market share of EVs of any country in the world. In 2020, for the first time, more than 50% of new cars sold were electric cars. In total, approximately 10% of cars on Norwegian roads are EVs, and this number will continue to climb as electric car sales continue to rise.
In Norway, ships and ferries are making the transition from polluting fossil fuels to hybrid-electric and fully electric solutions. Opportunities for creating a market for new green marine fuels such as ammonia and hydrogen are also being explored.
The private and public sectors in Norway have joined forces and established the Green Shipping Programme. One of the program’s most ambitious projects is the Yara Birkeland — the world’s first fully electric, autonomous container ship. The emission-free ship will replace 40,000 road freight trips annually to transport Yara’s fertilizer from the company’s factory near Porsgrunn to terminals further south in Brevik and Larvik. This will reduce carbon emissions by 750 metric tons. The launch of the Yara Birkeland was originally scheduled for 2020, but has been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
As for passenger transport by sea, requirements for energy efficiency and emissions are now weighted in all public procurement tenders for ferries in Norway. Thanks to this, there will be a total of 70 all-electric and hybrid ferries in operation along the Norwegian coastline by 2021. The first electric ferry went into operation in 2015. Now the Norwegian company Brødrene AA and its partners have developed a hydrogen fast ferry for longer routes that cannot be covered by battery-powered ferries.
There are a myriad of benefits to a green transition in the public transport sector as well. New technology will not only reduce emissions, but it can also improve freedom of movement and boost safety and security.
Ruter — the company that covers the greater Oslo region — has set a clear standard for environment-friendly public transport in the future. Ruter has stated that all the modes of transport it operates, including buses, boats, minibuses and taxis, will become entirely emission free by 2028. The company calls this an ambitious, yet realistic goal.
The Norwegian Centre of Expertise (NCE) Maritime CleanTech is developing the high-speed, zero-emission Urban Water Shuttle. The Urban Water Shuttle will run on battery power and connect city populations without needing roads. Given that eight of the 10 largest cities in the world are located by the coast — and most major inland cities are located by a river — such solutions can make a substantial difference.
Though maybe it’s not GM and Audi (the two companies behind the viral ads) that are coming for Norway — though indeed we hope that they will test and grow their presence in our market. Perhaps it is the State of California, who under Gavin Newsom’s Sept 2020 Executive Order is requiring that all new passenger vehicles sold to will be EVs by 2035. We know that CA has the largest car market in the US so this will move not only the State but will also start to shift gears in other markets, pun intended.
What remains to be seen is how California will achieve this ambitious goal. As an EV driver myself, I can say that charging infrastructure is key. Equity and access are important issues to tackle as well in order make sure that no one is left behind in the net zero transition. Norway stands ready to assist and share experiences — with hopes that California and regions around the world will also look to electrifying the other key parts of the transportation sector. Our hope is that if tested successfully in Norway, California and the US will have scalable frameworks for these innovations to achieve resounding business success.
