While Europe struggles to get enough energy, the United States is in a better position. After the passage of Biden’s climate package in the Senate, green investment firm ACER is looking toward America. They are not alone, says senior analyst Thina Saltvedt.
We are very concerned about what is happening in the US, says chief economist Fridtjof Onander at Aker Horizons, Røkke’s green investment firm.
Along with a group of business people, he was present during the Bellona event on the upcoming Climate Summit (COP27) at the Valhalla of Oslo City Hall.
In November, COP27 will be held in Egypt, and in cooperation with a number of players, Aker Horizons will travel to meet potential partners.
Onander says the company will use the Climate Summit as a platform to do business, and is interested in projects in offshore wind, hydrogen and carbon capture and storage.
The United States is particularly interesting, according to Onander, after the adoption of the Biden climate package in the Senate. The package contains, among other things, $370 billion that will help reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
Claim in Europe
Aker Horizon’s chief economist says the company is particularly studying how heavy industries such as cement and steel production can reduce greenhouse gas emissions, including through hydrogen, ammonia and carbon capture and storage.
While the demand in Europe due to higher energy demand and higher prices, the situation in the United States is different.
The United States is largely self-sufficient in energy. Onander says it gives Americans more wiggle room to seize markets for new green technology.
– The political package that Biden went through is very important. It contains several support schemes that can be combined to develop the green industry, he says.
Labour, capital and power
When asked if more people are looking to the United States, Thena Saltvedt, chief analyst for sustainable finance at Nordea, answered a definite “yes.”
– Biden’s deal is concrete and there is a lot of money on the table. They also have labor and capital and are ready to produce more power to do what the energy-intensive industry needs here at home, Saltvedt says.
Norway’s energy-intensive industry is now struggling to get enough energy to electrify its heavy-emitting products. At the same time, a number of new energy-intensive projects, such as batteries and hydrogen plants, are expected.
An account from E24 shows that restructuring in the industry and new projects will consume a lot of energy in the future, while little new power generation is being developed.
It is believed that the work is limited by oil
Saltvedt believes that the United States is now clear on its climate policy, unlike Norway.
– It was a little unclear where we were going in Norway, she says.
Among other things, it points to wind energy developers waiting to gain access to onshore and offshore areas, while employment in the oil and gas sector is constrained as a result of a generous oil tax package.
In Norway, the transition is slow, and a lot of resources will be restricted in the oil and gas sector. She says it may have contributed to an increase in the number of people looking to the United States.
He singled out Saltvedt Equinor, which focuses on hydrogen and carbon dioxide capture and storage in the United States, which stated that it wants to “turn the rust belt into a green belt.”
The United States has been fighting for several years for a similar policy package while supporting climate measures. This is, among other things, to create jobs in the former coal areas and accelerate the transformation of the transportation sector, says Saltvedt.
Supported by investment analyst Eric Nasby at KLP.
Climate investments in the United States certainly gained more momentum after the adoption of the Inflation Reduction Act, of which Biden’s climate package is a part. But Europe has its own REPowerEU program and there is a lot of good momentum there as well. Nassby says there is a lot more to do and it is good that there is now a good framework for making climate-friendly investments in both Europe and North America.
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