photo Mackerel Press

Norway’s emissions of greenhouse gases were up 11 percent in 1997 over the levels seen in 1990, the base year used by policy makers to “enforce” climate-gas reductions.

The country’s Kyoto-treaty target is to cut to one percent above 1990 levels by 2012.

An increase in oil and gas sector emissions was blamed at StatoilHydro’s Snoehvit liquefied natural gas plant Melkøya on the Barents Sea coast. Oil and gas emissions were up 10.5 percent in just one year, according to the record keepers Statistics Norway.

The years since the Kyoto benchmark year have witnessed the Nordic country’s exponential expansion of offshore oil and gas production. The power required to produce oil and gas has meant gas- and diesel-powered generators operating at full throttle.

The country’s oil and gas industry and its manufacturing industries share the burden of blame and both racked up around 14.5 million tonnes of carbon-dioxide “equivalent” emissions in 2007. But, while manufactuers have cut their emissions by over 24 percent since 1990, the march of oil and gas has produced a 91.6 percent increase in the sector’s emissions over the 17-year span.