StatoilHydro chief defends oil sands project
Helge Lund. Photo: StatoilHydro.
StatoilHydro’s involvement in Canadian oil sands has aroused debate in the Norwegian election campaign.
Currently, StatoilHydro has no production from oil sands, but they are working on establishing a demonstration plant in Alberta, Canada, with projected start-up in 2010.
The company has been harshly criticized for investing in this project, it has been widely viewed as environmentally destructive. It will generate huge carbon emissions and constitute a defacing of the landscape, the media writes. StatoilHydro states “they use the most environmentally-recognized technology.”
StatoilHydro CEO Helge Lund has consistently defended the project by saying “we need oil sand!”
Lund says: “The world’s energy demand is expected to increase sharply in coming decades. For the foreseeable future, fossil fuels will be the primary energy carriers in the world’s energy supply.”
The company is working in Canada and Norway to realise carbon capture and storage (CCS) which is a very demanding technology and also very expensive.
“In time, renewable energy will make a larger contribution, but it takes time to develop an industry in the scale we are talking about here,” explains Lund on StatoilHydro’s website
Click here to read the entire “Article on oil sands in Canada by chief executive Helge Lund”
