Electric ferries in Norway

Last October, Mrs Don and I took the Hurtigruten ferry from Bergen around to Kirkeness and back again and had a thoroughly enjoyable time. One of the things that struck us was what a maritime nation Norway seemed to be. I realise that there was a large element of confirmation bias given that we were tip-toeing around the coast but a lot of Norwegians use a lot of ferries, both small and large, to get around.

There is a link to a BBC article below. The Norwegians are looking to replace some of their short-range diesel ferries with electrically powered ones or to upgrade the existing ferries.

Quote:

Following two years of trials of the world's first electric car ferry, named Ampere, ferry operators are busy making the transition from diesel to comply with new government requirements for all new ferry licensees to deliver zero- or low-emission alternatives. "We continue the work with low-emission ferries because we believe it will benefit the climate, Norwegian industry and Norwegian jobs," Prime Minister Erna Solberg said in a speech in April 2016, in which she vowed to help fund required quayside infrastructure.

http://ift.tt/2oviuNB

I applaud the Norwegians for taking this small, but significant, step. It's in stark contrast to the U.S. - and likely a post-Brexit UK where environmental concerns are not only ignored but IMO deliberately confounded. :mad:

And who knows, perhaps taking a technological lead on this will allow the Norwegians to export their expertise.

via International Skeptics Forum http://ift.tt/2oDIq6B