Is it climate-friendly to replace ferries with bridges and underwater tunnels? Supporters and opponents of a ferry-free motorway along the E39 in Western Norway have argued about this for a long time. Now a new report shows that bridges that replace far less trafficked ferry routes have a negative climate effect for forty years. – We cannot build bridges that we know will cause greater greenhouse gas emissions than ferry operations. This is the opinion of county politician Marthe Hammer (SV), who is otherwise a marked opponent of the Hordfast motorway bridge and the rest of the ferry-free E39. Willing to become climate neutral and remove ferries Last autumn, she took the initiative to have climate calculations and CO2 footprints analyzed for the six planned ferry replacement projects on county roads in Vestland: On the one hand, this county council has great ambitions for climate-friendly county roads and to remove greenhouse gas emissions from public transport, both buses, ferries and speedboats. The goal of the county council is to reduce the county’s direct greenhouse gas emissions and achieve net zero emissions by 2030. At the same time as the ambition is to make public transport and county roads climate-friendly, there are a number of plans to build bridges to get rid of many ferry routes in the county. People on Atløy are tired of being dependent on the ferry. But a new report concludes that ferries are more climate-friendly than bridges. Photo: Geir Bjarte Hjetland / news All bridges give emissions week The report Vestland ordered from Multiconsult in autumn is now ready. It shows that development of all bridge connections in the forty-year period after opening will lead to a net increase in greenhouse gas emissions, compared to emissions from the ferries. The cut in emissions from the ferries will be far less than the sum of emissions from the construction of bridges and bridges, increased car traffic and the reduction of forests and bogs. The figure shows how much greenhouse gas emissions are created (positive numbers) and saved (negative numbers) by building the six different ferry replacement projects. Photo: Multiconsult/Vestland county council Especially Sunnfast and Outer Nordfjord Sunnfast is the largest and most comprehensive of the investigated projects. It stands out with far higher greenhouse gas emissions than the other five. The bridges will connect an agricultural and work area with around 40,000 inhabitants in Stord and Kvinnherad. The Ytre Nordfjord bridge project – which will connect 10,000 residents in the Bremanger and Måløy area – will produce the second largest discharge. Together, these two projects will give an emission week of over 236,000 tonnes in forty years. This corresponds to the greenhouse gas emissions that 31,000 average Norwegians were responsible for in 2021. The other four bridge projects will produce less emissions, but just as fully double or multiply the emissions compared to ferry operation. This is how the emissions are calculated by ferry (the zero alternative) or bridge on the six connections: Atløyna connectionFjeldberg connectionHuglo connectionMasfjord connectionSunnfastYtre Nordfjord connection See also the fact box at the bottom. Atløy rejects the report The Atløy association is the project that has come the furthest into planning. There, the zoning plan has been approved. The other projects are still at the concept or sketch stage. The local population of Atløy has been fighting for generations to get a connection with the brut. The recent report shows that the Atløy association will also have a negative climate effect. In a forty-year perspective, the emissions will almost triple compared with ferry operations still in operation, according to Multiconsult. The Atløy association in Sunnfjord has been planned for several decades. This will almost triple greenhouse gas emissions in the next forty years, according to Multiconsult. Photo: Rambøll – It’s quite strange that people can come up with something like this at all. Scary that they can think along those lines. Chairman Frank Amundsen in Atløy thinks so. – Both the ferry I have and the larger ferry I need spew exhaust all the time. In order for people to live and thrive out here, we must get a bridge. – The report shows that bridges will lead to more traffic and emissions? – A couple of cars in addition do not matter, replies Amundsen. SV: – Bridge construction must be reconsidered Hammer in SV, on the other hand, believes that the report must have implications for whether the county council should prioritize building bridges to replace ferries. – This is essential information in the critical climate situation we are in. These are the total emissions we have to count on. Therefore, we have to consider which bridge project we should continue to work on. Following an application from Vestland county, the state has previously approved all six analyzed projects as ferry replacement projects. Marthe Hammer (SV) believes the report should lead to the Sunnfast and Ytre Nordfjord bridge projects in particular being shelved. Photo: Helena Viktoria Johnsen / news Section chief John Martin Jacobsen in the road department for Vestland county says the report will be an important knowledge base. – Vestland County Council has an ambitious climate plan to become carbon neutral by 2030, and the county’s roads are important in that. This report gives us facts to take with us further. Hammer believes the report is also relevant for the Hordfast project on E39. – This methodology implies that Hordfast should also be scrapped. We already have quite a few reports that show that greenhouse gas emissions are increasing and that the destruction of nature is enormous, she says. Greenhouse gas emissions from ferry and bridge traffic: Conclusion and method Multiconsult, commissioned by Vestland County Council, has estimated total emissions from six planned ferry replacement projects. The projects vary greatly in both size, traffic volume and cost. The project (from north to south): Ytre Nordfjord, will replace the Måløy-Husevågøy-Oldeide ferry and link together a residential and work area with around 10,000 inhabitants. Atløysambandet, will replace the Gjervik-Askvoll-Fure ferry for 450 residents. Masfjordsambandet, will replace the Masfjordnes-Duesund cable ferry for 325 residents. The Huglo association, will replace the Jektevik-Hordanes-Huglo ferry for around 100 residents. Sunnfast, will replace the ferries Ranavik-Skjersholmen and Hodnanes–Nordhuglo and link together the residential and work area with around 40,000 inhabitants. Fjelbergsambandet, is to replace the fast boat Borgundøy-Fjeldberg-Sydnes for less than 100 inhabitants. Conclusion All the ferry replacement projects will contribute to reducing emissions from ferry operations, but the cut will be far less than the sum of emissions from building materials and construction, increased car traffic and reduction of forests and bogs. Therefore, all the projects will lead to a net increase in greenhouse gas emissions. The largest emissions are linked to the construction of vegan bridges and bridges, as well as emissions from road transport because several of the connections will lead to increased traffic. Emissions linked to land changes make up a smaller part of the total emissions. Estimated emission figures Rounded figures in thousand tonnes of CO2 equivalent: ferry operation + increase = bridge (percentage increase in percentage) Sunnfast 1,192 + 145 = 1,338 (+12%) Outer Nordfjord 118 + 91 = 209 (+77%) Atløyna connection 12 + 31 = 43 (+264%) Masfjord connection 7 + 21 = 28 (+294%) Huglo connection 3 + 24 = 27 (+790%) Fjelberg connection 8 + 8 = 16 (+109%) The two largest (Sunnfast and Ytre Nordfjord) adds up to an emission week of over 236,000 tonnes. The other four provide an increase of a total of 84,500 tonnes. Total discharge week for all six: 321,000 tonnes. For comparison, the total greenhouse gas emissions in Norway in 2021, according to Statistics Norway (SSB), were 48.9 million tonnes of CO2 equivalents. This is a measurement unit in which the effect of various greenhouse gases is calculated as the corresponding climate effect of carbon dioxide (CO2). Method and assumptions Because the calculations are done in an early phase, there are many elements of uncertainty. This means that the results must be interpreted as an indication of the extent of emissions rather than a specific answer. The report compares the total emissions for forty years after the opening of the bridges. The zero alternative is the current situation predicted for forty years. The projections include changes in the amount of traffic, changes in the composition of electric cars and replacement of ferry equipment (including the transition to electric ferries). Other changes in traffic beyond expected traffic growth are not included. This means that tolls, road projects or other measures that may affect traffic volumes are not included, either in the zero alternative or the road project alternative. The emission calculations also do not include emissions from the production of ferries, cars and other motorized vehicles that use the routes. Any emissions linked to the operation of ferry quays are not included in the calculations.
ttn-69
A ferry is always better for the climate than a new bridge – news Vestland
