The Research Council of Norway has announced that it will grant funding to eight national research centres for the development of environmentally friendly technologies. Each centre will receive up to NOK 20 million (EUR 2.26 million) a year for five years.
Various topics will be covered during this period, including solar, bioenergy and wind power, and carbon dioxide (CO2) capture and storage, said representatives from the Norwegian gas technology centre SINTEF/NTNU.
Under the programme, the eight research centres will work at developing high-quality technologies for energy that does not harm the environment. The researchers involved will also focus on strengthening skills and know-how in this area.
In order to meet its goal, each research centre will focus on three main strategies: to boost power generation from renewable sources including solar, biomass and wind; to handle CO2 emissions from fossil sources of energy such as oil and gas; and to ensure more efficient use of energy.
Ultimately, the goal is for the research centres to create jobs and fuel industrial activity, the SINTEF/NTNU representatives said. All the centres participating in the programme should be national leaders in their fields, they added.
‘These efforts will bring Norway into line with a widespread international trend that is being led by the US and the EU, with active efforts being made in environmentally friendly technologies,’ Research Council President Arvid Hallén commented.
SINTEF head Unni Steinsmo said: ‘The development of technology in this field will be one of Norway’s most important contributions in the field of climate improvement.’ The new centres will play a huge role in the country’s aims to fuel global efforts in the field of climate technology. According to Steinsmo, Trondheim-based research centres have already started working with leading groups in China, Europe, Japan and the US on climate technology.
‘Now, we will build on these contacts and develop both technology and a consciousness of what is needed to produce a technological revolution,’ Steinsmo remarked. ‘Together with our partners, we will contribute actively to ensuring that both Norway and the global community will benefit as much as possible from our efforts,’ she added. ‘As a supplier of knowledge and technology at [the] international level, Norway can contribute to making cuts in global emissions that will be several times as large as those we can make within our own territory.’