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https://www.thelocal.no/20180924/oslo-dwellers-divided-over-citys-drive-to-get-cars-off-the-streets
"Oslo is spearheading a broader trend, with other big cities like Paris, Madrid, Brussels and Helsinki all trying to reverse from the car-based society"
I suspect not here in England. The protests would be far too great and powerful.
(spotted in mikeswsmith's viking ship link.)
It's amazing how Norway is adopting green measures, leading the world in use of electric cars etc... whilst its all being backed by a country with a huge sovereign wealth fund built on oil. Very ironic.
Very much what Tony says....
Have a Norwegian friend who is very proud that the energy used in Norway is 100% green, that they have the highest percentage of electric cars per capita ....
Their vast oil reserves and low population density and vast emptiness meant that they have the money and space to build hydro dams and can subsidise the purchase of electric cars.
Bit ironic.
Haterz gone hate!
"Have a Norwegian friend who is very proud that the energy used in Norway is 100% green, that they have the highest percentage of electric cars per capita ….
Their vast oil reserves and low population density and vast emptiness meant that they have the money and space to build hydro dams and can subsidise the purchase of electric cars.
Bit ironic."
selling the dirty to other countries to use while keeping the clean for them selves.
smart move by a smart country that didnt squander their oil "luck"
It has to start with small steps in the UK, expand pedestrian zones, add more restrictions and make sure the options are there and they work.
There are very few reasons for having a private car in the centre of most cities, once the bulk are gone public transport and taxis etc can operate much more effectively.
Obviously somebody will be along to state they need to carry obscure sized heavy stuff to city centre locations every day but that ain't the norm is it.
Their vast oil reserves and low population density and vast emptiness meant that they have the money and space to build hydro dams and can subsidise the purchase of electric cars.
Makes perfect (cynical) sense, then when other countries start getting hit by fines for missing emissions targets they can tweek what they export to maximise profit.
Bit ironic.
I think the expression is "Don't get high off your own supply", which is ironic for you!
There is irony here. But to me, it also demonstrates what a government can do with a huge pile of money if it invests it back into the country instead of pissing it up the wall like we did.
It always amazes me how a tiny an amount of joined up thinking would bring large benefits to non car users in the UK - it's almost like designers are trying to achieve "we spent ££££ on X and nobody uses it" so they can justify doing nothing else in the future 😒 well done Norway.
Very much what Tony says….
Have a Norwegian friend who is very proud that the energy used in Norway is 100% green, that they have the highest percentage of electric cars per capita ….
Their vast oil reserves and low population density and vast emptiness meant that they have the money and space to build hydro dams and can subsidise the purchase of electric cars.
Bit ironic.
It's not irony it's just a lie and hypocracy....
Firstly examine the hydro power .... there is no gas heating in Norway... outside of bottled... so their peak demand is in winter... when the hydro reservoirs are frozen to several meters... the maths doesn't add up... how do you generate power once the non frozen water has been used? Of course the reservoirs are great fun to drive on...
You won't find the answer published in Norway but in Sweden where they publish the amount of exported nuclear generated to Norway....
or in Denmark where they sell the gas and the Danish generate power then sold back... to the Norwegians who then complain about the use of the gas and acid rain.
It always amazes me how a tiny an amount of joined up thinking would bring large benefits to non car users in the UK
Follow the money.
Driving makes money, cycling doesn't, and public transport costs.
Follow the money.
Driving makes money, cycling doesn’t, and public transport costs.
any only the direct spending, indirectly
Congestion costs money
Delays costs money
Road Infrastructure costs money
In the worst of the winter last year my boss took 45 mins to get about 1mile in stockport, my tram was delayed by about 3 mins as they had to go a bit slower.
Costs someone else's money though, not the exchequer's.
It's funny I've only been living in Copenhagen for a month but the replies to this just seem so classically British backwards facing, scoffing at others progress. The Danes seem to have nailed a good balance between cars and bikes, there's cycle lanes along almost every non residential street. The sight of thousands of cyclists pouring into the city at morning rush hour is quite something and must outweigh car traffic significantly. I think I read a stat that only 40% of then own cars but can't remember where that was.
Firstly examine the hydro power …. there is no gas heating in Norway… outside of bottled… so their peak demand is in winter… when the hydro reservoirs are frozen to several meters… the maths doesn’t add up… how do you generate power once the non frozen water has been used? Of course the reservoirs are great fun to drive on…
You won’t find the answer published in Norway but in Sweden where they publish the amount of exported nuclear generated to Norway….
Keep up at the back, there's at least two HVDC interconnectors in development between Norway and the UK alone to balance out their lack of winter hydro and our excess of winter wind power.
Nope not scoffing at the progress of others. I work in Denmark a lot and they have a great attitude to renewable energy and environmentally sound activities like cycling. However the Norwegians (and us in the UK) cannot shout too much about our environmental credentials when we are taking oil/gas out of the North Sea.
I live in Oslo most of the year, and although it's not perfect it's better than anywhere I've lived in the UK. Norwegian drivers on the whole (like most Europeans) are much more considerate of bikes and the city has a fairly good cycle infrastructure, nowhere near Copenhagen though. Norwegian people are generally very outdoorsy so are probably more likely to cycle than the average Brit although the cold weather and icy roads will reduce the numbers a bit as winter comes on. Also, the public transport is excellent, punctual and doesn't grind to a halt when it snows so people have a real alternative for commuting in bad weather. Unfortunately I don't ever see the UK changing, despite the health and congestion benefits that more people on bikes would bring, as a nation we seem to look back, not forward.
I don't get the whole 'Norway is rich from oil and gas, how dare they develop green technology' attitude. Doesn't it make sense for a country whose economy is reliant on a finite resource to look elsewhere as it starts to run out?
It does stevious, but it's cleverer to have a pop at them.
How important are the sales of new cars to these other countries compared to the UK? It seems that in the UK we have the car making side of things but also the crazy car finance side of things where as a nation we seem to have convinced ourselves we need a new car every two or three years and cars are fit for scrapping when they hit 100k on the clock.
It's no wonder we are behind.
and cars are fit for scrapping when they hit 100k on the clock.
Fact there or just a thought that fits your argument?
If you want root causes look at short term politics, an inability to make bold decisions. It's a collective state of mind problem that is being slowly overcome in some places.
I love the idea of largely car-less cities (Oslo is a fabulous city btw) and I can see the sense in a country with a finite resource looking to their future it’s just the irony of the Norwegian situation that makes me shake my head.
look at the first sentence of the OP linked article “Determined to go green, Oslo”. Fine so start by stop drilling millions (billions?) of barrels of oil/gas out of the North Sea. Going green in Oslo is a - pardon the pun - a drop in the ocean - compare to what the Norwegian oil/gas is doing.
I don’t get the whole ‘Norway is rich from oil and gas, how dare they develop green technology’ attitude.
It's not what they claim to develop but the lies they spread about being 100% green energy whilst importing energy part of which is generated from their own exports of gas whilst ignoring a large amount of their winter energy comes from nuclear which they don't count as green energy whilst talking about it but do when they make claims.
When they make these claims that itself leads to wasted energy... both houses I lived in were underfloor heating that took a day to warm up... so it had to go on in Sept and off at May.... and in-between any regulation was opening windows wide... but everyone thought this was all fine... "it's all hydro energy" ... it's the story told to them ...and they are happy to believe it... and not question it... in summer they see the reservoirs full of mel****er.. in winter the question of how the reservoir refills is not asked.