Innovation in (almost) real-time: Decarbonising Oslo's construction industry

Oslo's push towards zero-emissions building sites has meant equipment providers have had to innovate in almost real-time to keep pace with the demand for pollution-free construction machines.

Euronews' Business Planet spoke to Marit Hepsø, a sustainable buildings/construction specialist at the Oslo Municipality, to find out how the industry overcame the initial challenges of decarbonising Norway's building sites.

"In the beginning, the challenge was to get the machinery and transport on the market because when we started procuring emissions-free machines in 2019 there was no such thing, there were no electric machines so they had to rebuild fossil machines, diesel machines into electric ones but now they are also starting more mass-produced," Marit explained.

"Secondly the electrical supply has been a big challenge for us because in some places in Oslo and probably other places the grid is not strong enough, it is not capable enough to deliver enough effect (power) for the machinery. We have to think differently, maybe also start using battery containers to find temporary solutions to the electric grid, so that’s a huge challenge and we see that other cities are also coping the same now like Barcelona.

"There are many barriers, of course, but there are also many opportunities in the lower air pollution and the lower noise, there are also huge benefits going electric, going emission-free," Marit Hepsø said.

Watch the video in the video player above