Dr Rajendra Pachauri received the Nobel Peace Prize 2007 on behalf of the United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), who shared the prize with climate campaigner and former vice president of the USA, Al Gore.
Dr Pachauri arrived in Stavanger on Sunday evening and began the following day with a breakfast meeting at StatoilHydro’s guest villa outside Stavanger.
Among the participants at the meeting were chief executive Helge Lund, Margareth Øvrum, executive vice president for the Technology & New Energy business area, and special adviser and expert in carbon capture and storage Olav Kårstad.
Following the breakfast Dr Pachauri was full of praise for StatoilHydro.
“I realise that the company is looking for new, good ideas, and wants to be a part of the solution to the climate challenge,” he said.
He did not hide the fact that StatoilHydro must solve many challenges in the climate struggle, but stressed the company’s willingness to contribute. He asked Mr Lund to speed up the process of developing renewable energy sources.
During the breakfast meeting Olav Kårstad presented his book Keeping the Lights on – Fossil Fuels in the Century of Climate Change to Dr Pachauri. Mr Kårstad is one of StatoilHydro’s leading experts in carbon capture and storage. Photo: Øyvind Hagen, StatoilHydro
“I proposed several areas in which StatoilHydro could take more responsibility,” he continued. “The company has enough money to carry out research in renewable energy or finance the research of others.”
Dr Pachauri stressed that the climate challenges must primarily be solved at an international, political level.
The eight StatoilHydro representatives spent the meeting telling Dr Pachauri about the company’s commitment in several areas, including the combined heat and power station (CPH) project at Mongstad near Bergen.
The tone between Dr Rajendra Pachauri and Mr Lund was extremely cordial, and they agreed on several meetings in the future work.
“It was a very stimulating meeting in which Dr Pachauri’s extensive knowledge was of huge benefit,” stressed Mr Lund.
At the same time, Mr Lund promised to keep the pressure up on both the Mongstad CHP project and the commitment to renewable energy.
Later in the day Dr Pachauri held a lecture at the University of Stavanger, before returning to Oslo where his Norwegian visit will continue.