What we do?

Global warming is probably the greatest challenge of our time, and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions is of highest priority for Bellona. This is reflected in the thematic areas on which we are concentrating our focus:

•Energy efficiency
•Renewable energy
•CO2 capture and storage
•Reduction of emissions in the transport sector
•Elimination of toxic waste
•Environmentally correct waste treatment
•Nuclear challenges in Russia
•Sustainable fisheries  
•Preventing petroleum activities in the High North

The ice is melting

Climate change, which is caused by human activities, is extremely serious. The consequences are especially dramatic in the Arctic, where the temperature is rising faster than anywhere else in the world. Glaciers are melting and the ice covering the North Pole is disappearing at an alarming rate. Within only a few decades, the North Pole could be ice-free during the summer.

Since pre-industrial times, the global average temperature has increased by 0,75 degrees Celsius. In the Arctic, the temperature has increased by twice as much. The polar bear can feel the ice melting underneath its paws. Meanwhile, southerly latitudes are experiencing draught, flood or other kinds of extreme weather. Already, more people are displaced due to climate change than due to wars.

Global warming and climate change are caused by a variety of factors. The single most important, however, is the human consumption of oil, coal and gas.

Although the outlook is not bright, it is possible to do something. We can solve many of the problems; we can slow down global warming. There are numerous solutions readily available; from solar energy and hydrogen to energy efficiency and improved public transportation. We must make a concerted effort to use all of them. The renowned Stern review has concluded that postponing action is far costlier than acting now.

What needs to be done?

Bellona recommends that Norway and other nations implement three comprehensive initiatives in the fight against global warming: energy efficiency, renewable energy and carbon capture and storage.

First, energy efficiency targets should be established for each country with specific targets for each sector. There is a significant potential for energy efficiency that is underutilised. Electricity and heat are being wasted, and at the same time a lot of energy production is inefficient.

Second, renewable energy should replace fossil fuels. A major effort must be made to develop new technologies and commercialise them. Many technologies already exist, but need to be tested and made more cost-effective.

Third, carbon capture and storage (CCS) should be implemented at large emission sources, such as gas and coal power plants, while we work to replace fossil fuel sources with renewable ones. Global CO2 emissions can be decreased by as much as one third through CCS.

The world needs to make major investments in climate-friendly technologies now. We can’t depend on low-cost initiatives and postpone the costly ones that can really make a difference.

Nuclear energy is not an alternative

Ever since nations began taking greenhouse gases seriously, nuclear power has been discussed as an alternative to conventional fossil fuels. However, given the inherent risks of nuclear accidents and the radioactive waste produced, nuclear energy is not a good solution to our global climate challenges and should not be considered equal to other available, sustainable, and certainly cleaner, renewable energy sources.

Bellona is fundamentally opposed to advancing nuclear energy as a way of reducing greenhouse gasses, and recommends that nations invest in more durable forms of clean energy that are ultimately cheaper. Considering the prolonged damage to the environment from the nuclear fuel cycle, the heightened risk of nuclear weapons proliferation in unstable regimes, and the unresolved issue of permanent safe storage of nuclear waste, the short term benefits of nuclear power are diminished by the graver environmental and security concerns they raise.

Bellona urges nations relying on nuclear energy, and the officials and corporate interests lobbying for its use, to reconsider their planned investments in the nuclear renaissance and allocate resources for development of ecologically clean renewable energy. In contrast to nuclear energy, renewable energy leaves no environmental footprint, nor does it entail hazardous health costs or security risks to the worlds’ citizens for generations.

Carbon capture and storage

Inevitably, it is going to take time for a global shift from fossil fuels to a renewable energy supply. In the transition period, carbon capture and storage must be implemented at gas and coal power plants to ensure that global CO2 emissions are sufficiently reduced before it’s too late.

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) includes capture, transport, and geological sequestration of CO2 in stabile formations to ensure the gas is not released into the atmosphere. The potential for reduction of CO2 emissions through the use of CCS is very significant. According to Bellona’s estimates, if implemented globally CCS can cut CO2 emissions by as much as 33 percent. The technology for capturing CO2 is already developed for smaller plants, but large investments are needed to establish large-scale plants.

Bellona is working with safe storage of CO2. Along with other experts, we firmly believe that provided a secure site is selected, and careful monitoring occurs, CO2 storage is safe. Bellona has published several reports and papers on how safe sequestration of CO2 can be established.

Since 1996 the Norwegian oil company Statoil has been injecting CO2 into a deep saline aquifer called the Utsira-formation beneath the North Sea floor. Each year one million tons of CO2 is stored. Similar projects exist in other parts of the world.

Bellona has promoted the importance of CCS in Norwegian politics, the European Union, and the industry and made CO2 treatment a part of the international environmental debate. Bellona will continue informing decision-makers and the public on the opportunities provided by CCS technology in order to create optimism and faith in its use as a good short-term solution to our climate problems.

ZEP

The European Technology Platform on Zero Emission Fossil Fuel Power Plants (ZEP) was established by the European Commission in 2005. ZEP unites more than 200 experts from European industry, research institutions and NGOs to establish measures for carbon capture and storage (CCS). The aim of ZEP is to enable the European power industry to build gas and coal power plants with no CO2 emissions by 2020.

ZEP’s work is the result of extensive collaboration between different European actors including energy suppliers, technology providers, research institutions, environmental nongovernmental organisations, government officials and public authorities. Together, these stakeholders are working to establish strategies on how to implement zero emission fossil fuel power plants. Recommendations made by ZEP will affect EU policies on energy supply and climate change.

ZEP is led by an Advisory Council (AC), where Frederic Hauge, the Founder and President of The Bellona Foundation, is the Vice President. Four taskforces have been established to assist the AC. Bellona co-chairs two of these and is represented in all four. Through its participation in ZEP, Bellona is in a unique position to influence EU policy mitigating climate change. Bellona is working actively to ensure large-scale implementation of fossil fuel power plants with no CO2 emissions throughout Europe.

From pollution to solution — B7 programme

In all of its pursuits, Bellona understands that it is important to work with industry. Members of the business and industrial community, as well as scientists, can cooperate with Bellona to find more ecologically sound methods of operation. Bellona strongly believes that through such cooperation, new solutions to environmental problems can be found and implemented.

Companies are therefore welcome to join our business cooperation B7 programme. You can help make environment good for business and business good for the environment.