Ever since the industrial revolution, Raufoss Industrial Park has been a site of innovation, development and knowledge sharing. As one of the biggest industrial parks in the country, with close links to SINTEF, the Norwegian Centre of Expertise and the Norwegian University of Science & Technology, the park has developed into one of the fastest growing and most internationally-oriented industrial parks anywhere in Norway.
PLANET 2030
Through the Paris Agreement, Norway has committed to becoming a low-emission society by 2050. According to the Climate Committee, this requires Norway to reduce its CO2 emissions by 90–95%. Planet 2030 – Raufoss Industrial Park is a collaborative project where the companies in Raufoss have decided amongst themselves which goals must be achieved by 2030 to ensure the industrial park and the NCE Manufacturing-cluster are on track toward a low-emission society.
The main idea behind Planet 2030 – Raufoss Industrial Park is to communicate goals and results so that the surrounding community can judge whether the efforts are effective. We believe this approach will create a dynamic where the Raufoss companies collaborate to meet important climate and energy goals.
Norway is lagging behind in reaching its climate targets. The ambition at Raufoss Industrial Park is to inspire progress by creating a credible path toward climate neutrality.
Planet 2030 – Raufoss Industripark is a project where the companies in Raufoss have set their own climate and energy goals for 2030. We have based this on Norway’s goal of becoming a low-emission society no later than 2050, as outlined in the Norwegian Climate Act. The Climate Committee has defined this as a 90–95% reduction in CO2 emissions compared to 1990 levels. Most countries in the world have similar legally binding goals, anchored internationally through the Paris Agreement. To stay on track toward becoming a low-emission society, most countries have set targets of a 55–65% emissions reduction by 2030.
The Norwegian government recently announced that Norway is only on track to achieve a 26.3% reduction in emissions by 2030. At Planet 2030 – Raufoss Industrial Park, we want to demonstrate that it is possible for Norway to do better. An industrial park is like a small planet where the actors must collaborate if climate and energy goals are to be achieved. It is not necessarily natural for these actors to cooperate—they may even be competitors—but in helping the climate, only collaboration can lead to the desired outcome.
And what we, and the world, desire is to avoid the catastrophic consequences of global warming. We can achieve this if the world becomes climate neutral. This also represents a significant opportunity for the Raufoss companies. As of now, the share of renewable energy in the EU’s energy mix is 50%. Ours is almost 100%. When the raw material and transport suppliers for the Raufoss companies eliminate CO2 emissions from their value chains, there is a credible opportunity for Raufoss Industrial Park to become a zero-emissions industrial park where climate-neutral industrial production takes place.
The Climate Committee has stated that by 2050, Norway will have no emissions from industry and transport, and only small emissions remaining from oil/gas and agriculture. This also means that revenues from oil and gas will be minimal compared to today. What will be our source of income then? Raufoss Industrial Park has the potential to become a guiding star in the green transition if we achieve the goals of Planet 2030. Already, the Raufoss companies are experiencing demands for reuse and CO2 reporting from their customers. These demands will become even more pronounced in the years ahead.
With our energy mix, we have fantastic opportunities to capture an even larger market share when the demand for climate-neutral products and solutions fully takes hold.
Climate-neutral industrial production is both an opportunity for exports and domestic growth. Norway will become a much more attractive investment destination if this is something we can promise the rest of the world.
PLANET 2030
Planet 2030 – Raufoss Industrial Park is like a mathematical equation that must balance by 2030 to set the final course toward a low-emission society by 2050. Instead of merely adopting Norway’s transition goals, we have developed a holistic structure with a vision and objectives based on four pillars that Planet 2030 – Raufoss Industrial Park rests upon. Our vision is to become climate-neutral across the entire ecosystem by 2040. This means near-zero emissions across the entire value chain of all companies – essentially, a low-emission society. That’s 10 years ahead of Norway’s target. To achieve this vision, we depend on technological development and economic frameworks beyond our control. However, with this vision, we want to signal that we understand the urgency – and that we will do our part.
To allow the surrounding community to assess the value of our work, we have chosen to include only quantifiable objectives in the project. Nevertheless, we want to emphasize that consideration for nature goes far beyond mere emission reductions. The Do No Harm principle from the EU taxonomy is a fundamental principle for the project, even though it cannot be quantified.
Raufoss Industrial Park consists of over 50 companies. All of these companies have had the opportunity to contribute to the Planet 2030 – Raufoss Industrial Park project. The most active participants are those companies involved in the production of goods, with the largest number of employees and the greatest impact on energy use and climate, as well as service providers:
Benteler Automotive, Hexagon Ragasco, Isiflo, Kongsberg Automotive, Nammo Raufoss, Plasman, Raufoss Aluminium, Raufoss Technology, and Solør Bio.
