– It’s just a matter of looking around, you would think we had enough of stone ourselves, says Jørn Kristian Engebø, construction owner at the Norwegian Public Roads Administration. Not long ago, they announced a tender to pave one of the streets in Sogndal. One of the criteria was that Norwegian stone should be used. But this was not the case: – We received a clear message that such a stone could not be recovered, says Engebø. Instead of Norwegian stone, they have therefore been content to collect granite slabs and several kilometers of curbs from China. – It’s silly. Both in terms of local workplaces and the climate, says Engebø. BAD: Even though Jørn Kristian Engebø, construction owner at the Norwegian Public Roads Administration, did not get Norwegian stone, he says that they use Norwegian product, among other crushed stone. Photo: Sondre Dalaker / news A note from Future Built shows that the carbon footprint of Chinese granite is nine times larger than if it had been collected in Norway. Historically, the light granite in Indre Sogn has «attracted attention as an excellent and particularly beautiful building material» (John Oxaal, 1916), and, as Sogn Avis recalls: Grand Hotell in Oslo is built with white granite from Årdal. – Seems like a contrived conflict It is the company Beer Sten in Fredrikstad that delivers the foreign stone to Sogn. Sogn Avis’ daily leader in the company, Monica Sander, tells us that it is the further processing and production capacity in the Norwegian stone industry that stands in the way of large enough deliveries in Norway. Historically, “conflicting conservation interests” have also been an obstacle. – There is no doubt that short-haul stone is best. But the biggest enemy is still consumption and over-consumption. Norway is at the top of the world, and our strategy is actually that we will sell less stone and work for smarter resource utilization, says Sander to news (the case has been updated with this information). Norwegian conservation interests fall under the Norwegian Environment Agency and are anchored in the Nature Diversity Act. Last year, it attracted attention when the city of Porsgrunn fetched stone from India for an environmental project (!). – Of course, we can not accept quarries “anywhere”, and some gongs pay attention to climate and nature against each other. But this seems like a contrived conflict. Of course, there are rock sources in Norway, says Christian Steel, who is a member of the environmental organization Sabima. He adds that “the main problem is poor planning and incorrect pricing”. – The fact that it is cheaper to pick up stone in China is due to the fact that the environmental impact of transporting stone around half the globe is not the right price. Tenant in the Nature Conservation Association, Truls Gulowsen, points to the same thing: – I think it’s about it being cheaper to import, even though it is openly bad for both the environment and jobs, he says. TVEDALEN, LARVIK: – We have more raw materials than are imported from China and Portugal, says Torgeir Lingelem in the stone company Rocks of Norway. Photo: Heidi Fjørtoft Klokk / news Has enough raw materials, lacks capacity Guro Hauge, specialist in the environmental organization Zero, says that stricter requirements must be set for construction projects and greenhouse gas emissions. – This means that one sees the whole project as one and can cut emissions where it matters most. Torgeir Lingelem, daily camper in the stone company Rocks of Norway, describes the problem in the same way: – Only in Larvik do we have access to more raw materials than what is imported from China and Portugal, he says. He adds that Norway “must tolerate having natural stone extraction”, and utilize the resources where they are found. – I am in favor of a sensible protection of the area, but resources must be extracted where they exist. Photo: Sondre Dalaker / news
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Norway uses Chinese stone instead of its own – news Vestland
