Mission and Story

Bellona opens office in Germany

In 2021, Bellona Germany was officially founded in Berlin. As the largest industrialised country in the EU, Germany’s efforts to achieve its climate targets are crucial to the success of the EU’s climate plans. Therefore, it is of great importance for Bellona to advocate for ambitious climate management in Germany. Bellona Deutschland focuses on aspects of climate action in industry: CCS, CDR, hydrogen and green lead markets are among them. The team in Berlin works closely with Bellona Europe to benefit from this mutual exchange and collaboration.

Ensuring renewable H2 is indeed renewable

While Bellona’s engagement on hydrogen dates back to the early 2000s, our more recent work on the topic started in 2016 along with our analysis of e-fuels. From the get go, we prioritised the (usually missing) elephant in the room – the additional renewable electricity required to ensure that renewable hydrogen is indeed renewable. From 2018 to 2023, our assessments focused on establishing a real connection between renewable electrons generated and hydrogen produced. Our work, along with the input of other stakeholders, was reflected in the final delegated act which outlined these rules for H2 production. The Act requires a clear link between additional renewable electricity generation and hydrogen production, but unfortunately only from 2030 onwards.

Dangers of e-fuels

In 2016, the new Renewable Energy Directive proposal featured new support for e-fuels. Bellona engaged in that debate early on to expose their potential pitfalls to EU policy makers. Over the years, we reiterated the need to consider all of the impacts e-fuels could have, including the footprint of the electricity and the source of carbon used to produce the synthetic petrol, diesel, methane, methanol and kerosene. The first e-fuel projects, particularly in the automotive industry, focused on merely adding a drop of expensive e-fuel into the fossil fuel bucket. However, thanks to our recommendations and the valuable work of other stakeholders, the later iterations of the RED focused on the truly renewable inputs for the production of these fuels and their use only in sectors where they’re actually needed.

Directive on offshore safety

In 2010, the Gulf of Mexico Disaster, also known as the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, claimed 11 lives and oil gushed into the ocean for 87 days, equivalent to 2.5 to 4.9 million barrels, depending on the estimations. The Gulf of Mexico Disaster is the biggest accidental oil disaster in history. Working to ensure such a disaster could not happen again, Bellona was heavily involved in the 2013 Directive on offshore safety.
With Deepwater Horizon in mind, Bellona tirelessly highlights the disastrous consequences of that spill, emphasising that a similar disaster in the Arctic would have consequences beyond repair

First of its kind report on Bio-CCS

The EU Technology Platforms for biofuels and CCS, European Biofuels Technology Platform (EBTP) and ZEP respectively, launched a joint report during the first CCS-focused session at the EU Sustainable Energy Week in Brussels.

European Parliament calls for ban on heavy fuel oil on ships in the Arctic

The European Parliament adopted a resolution on January 20th 2011, titled “A sustainable EU policy for the High North,” which emphasised sustainability as a prerequisite for the EU’s future Arctic policy. The Bellona Foundation played a significant role in lobbying for these amendments.

Pioneering CCS on the EU agenda

In 2008, Bellona published a report titled “How to Combat Global Warming,” which highlighted the potential of technological solutions to achieve an 85% reduction in global CO2 emissions by 2050. The report closely reflected the IPCC’s 2007 4th Climate Change Assessment Report, which emphasised the urgent need for greater and immediate reductions in CO2 than estimated earlier. Bellona’s study illustrated the enormous potential of CCS to remove as much as half of Europe’s CO2 emissions and the growing risks of failure linked to the non- or delayed deployment of CCS technologies.

European Parliament slams Commission on hazardous substances

In 2004-2005, the EU-parliament and Council signed the Restriction of Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment (RoHS) Directive, which restricts the use of certain hazardous substances in such equipment. From July 1st, 2006, new electrical and electronic equipment put on the market could no longer contain certain substances such as lead, mercury, and cadmium. The Commission was allowed to add exemptions to the list but only when safer alternatives were not available. However, in April 2005, the European Parliament unanimously condemned the Commission’s draft decision to add exemptions for lead and cadmium, which had viable alternatives. The Parliament’s interference was in line with Bellona’s response to the RoHS directive’s stakeholder consultation.

The Beginning

About seven weeks after the Chernobyl disaster, on the 16th of June 1986, Bellona saw daylight in an occupied house. Six young men started their own independent foundation to be more flexible and efficient in comparison to the rest of the established environmental movement.

Bellona introduced environmental crime [miljøkriminalitet] as a new concept in the Norwegian public debate and launched a report on environmental crime in Norwegian industry. The press conference became the official launch of the Bellona Foundation as well.