UNESCO has declared the Geiranger and Nærøy fjords on Norway’s west coast as World Heritage Sites in 2005. This aims to protect the natural heritage in the fjord environment. In order to help ensure the protection of the fjords, Norway is reviewing a law to reduce emissions and discharges in the area. This will be achieved through stricter regulations to ensure a better environmental footprint.
As more and more environmental regulations become stricter globally, Norway has decided that fjords must be free from cruise and ferry emissions no later than 2026.
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As Helge Hermundsgård, Business Development Manager, DNV GL says, tourism is already being well developed in the sensitive fjords, while a 40% increase in tourist traffic is expected by 2030. Regarding tourism, it has been proposed that the tourist traffic could be spread over a longer season, which would last from early spring to late autumn, while also including the winter months.
State Secretary Atle Hamar in the Ministry of Climate and Environment, stated:
Growth at this level will be unsustainable unless we find new ways to manage tourism in the heritage fjords. The tourism industry will have to take a role in the clean-up, and the government’s assignment is to implement rules and regulations that place responsibility where it belongs
The new Norwegian law is expected to be approved in the first months of 2019, covering measures to reduce emissions to air, discharge of grey and black water. In addition, cutting SOx and NOx is very important, as it raises larger challenges.
Namely, the regulations will ban the use of scrubbers for removing SOx and NOx from emissions. This means that ships that do not use clean energy, such as batteries or hydrogen, will have to use low-sulphur fuel, catalytic converters, or other alternatives.
Moreover, another vital goal of the regulations is to reduce health risks for area residents. To meet this target, a key measure will be the instalment of shore power for all ships to limit emissions while in port, including supplying enough power where grids do not have the necessary capacity.
Mr. Hermundsgård explains that this could be done by using power dock energy storage, which is already available in Gudvangen in Nærøyfjord. This concept allows charging over longer periods of time and supplying power as needed to the ships.
Finally, creating hubs further out in the fjords and shuttling passengers in to the protected areas, is also under consideration. On this aspect, Mr. Hamar believes that batteries which are already in place on the hybrid Vision of the Fjords and the all-electric Future of the Fjords, could someday power a shuttle craft.
