Disturbing eco-trend

Consumption of energy, emissions to air and the amount of household waste have grown substantially in recent years, according to this year's edition of Naturressurser og miljų ("Natural Resources and the Environment"), which will be published at the end of April. The book documents eco-trends in a number of fundamental areas.

Energy consumption outside the energy sectors has increased by an average of 2.5 per cent per year since 1993. Despite the mild weather of 1997, CO2 emissions increased further in 1997, after increasing by a record amount in 1996. The amount of household waste per inhabitant increased 3.7 per cent in 1992-1996. This is far higher than earlier prognoses indicated.

One factor behind this development is Norway's booming economy. Overall private and public consumption increased by nearly three per cent in 1997, while investments in fixed capital increased by 15 per cent from the year before. Investments in the oil sector increased substantially, by 27 per cent, and an increase in oil production is therefore expected in the months to come. In 1997 Norway was the world's seventh largest producer of oil and ninth largest producer of gas.

Source
Naturresurser og miljų 1998.
The book will be published at the end of April. For more information, contact: Henning Hųie, tel. +47 21 09 49 43, e-mail: henning.hoie@ssb.no, Karin Ibenholt, tel. +47 21 09 49 82, e-mail: karin.ibenholt@ssb.no or Annegrete Bruvoll, tel. +47 21 09 49 48, e-mail: annegrete.bruvoll@ssb.no.

Weekly Bulletin issue no. 14, 1998