The price tag on CO2 cuts

Event 1:
In connection with the Nobel Peace Prize concert, I had the pleasure of attending a lecture by Unni Steinsmo (CEO SINTEF) and Torbjørn Digernes (Rector of NTNU). They represent some of the best climate-related research in Norway and title on the the lecture was "How to meet Norways challenges and opportunities in the climate crisis?".

They presented numbers which showed that Norway has to reduce our CO2 emissions by 16 million tonnes per year by 2020 - and the price tag for this is estimated at 7 billion NOK per year. This puts the price tag on CO2 cuts to NOK 4.500 per tonne of CO2.
(Note: 1 USD = 5.5 NOK)

They also presented areas we should focus on to achieve this goal - energy efficiency, renewable energy and CO2 capture (and storage). The greatest potential lies on energy efficiency they say, and have estimated that the potential is 12TWh per year. With sufficient capacity for the transfer of power to Europe, one can argue that 1TWh saved in Norway, means 1 TWh less from coal fired power plants in Europe. In this scenario 12 TWh will equal 12 tons of CO2 per year. Even though most of our electricity is produced without CO2 emissions (hydroelectric power) - they estimate that 12 TWh equals 6 tons of CO2.

If the potential is at 6 million tons of CO2 the politicians should, in the next 10 years, channel approximately 27 billion NOK to increase the energy efficiency in buildings (private, public and commercial buildings). A large part of the potential lies in the approximately 1.5 million private homes in Norway, which are not yet compliant with the low-energy standard (100 KWh/m2 per year). What do the politicians do to realize this potential?

We have converted our house to a "jahus" with the replacement of windows, extra insulation, ventilation with heat recovery and heat pump. Projected savings are approximately NOK 15.000 a year with the current level of electricity prices. With a total cost of about NOK 280,000, it is as much as 19-year repayment period.

If, however, the government helped make the package 135,000 NOK cheaper the repayment period would be halved (10 years). The estimated cuts in our house are 30 tons of CO2 per year and multiplied by the price tag at 4.500 NOK per tonne you get 135,000 NOK.

Unni Steinsmo and Torbjørn Digernes addressed the politicians with a "call to action" (ref Obama) and called for a strategy for industrialization of these technologies - both the results of research in renewable energy and technology for energy efficiency.

My specific request is a combination of interest-free loans over 10 years - as they have in France (for example from the Norwegian State Housing Bank), and tax exemption on products included in "jahus" projects. Both of these suggestions can be done within the 4.500 NOK per tonne of CO2 and I believe many families would initiate such projects if the hurdle of upfront payment was removed and the repayment period was reduced to 10 years.

A whole industry would be busy improving our houses over the next 10 years - giving us both lower unemployment and lower CO2 emissions. I agree with Unni Steinsmo and Torbjørn Digernes - what are the politicians waiting for?

Event 2:









Participants to the Global Day of Action try to prevent an inflatable globe from falling to the ground to dramatize their call to act now coinciding with the ongoing climate change summit in Copenhagen, Denmark Saturday, Dec. 12, 2009 in suburban Quezon City north of Manila, Phililppines. The activity coincided with activities from other countries calling on the world leaders for a fair, ambitious and binding deal to combat climate change. (AP Photo/Pat Roque)

Progress:
1 week from Christmas and we haven't seen the ventilation team since the hand-over metting. They promised to fix both functionality and noice issues as soon as possible....