Stavanger

Stavanger is the fourth largest city in Norway, with 140,000 inhabitants. Stavanger is the administrative, economic and cultural centre of Rogaland county and seat for the University of Stavanger, the county governor, county administration and several national, and international businesses. The city has residents from over 180 nationalities.

Stavanger has ambitious goals regarding the climate and environment. It aims to cut greenhouse gases (GHG) by 80% by 2030 compared with 2015, and to be a fossil-free municipality by 2040. The city gets most of its energy from sustainable hydro power. The exception is road traffic which accounts for 52% of GHG emissions in Stavanger. Aside from GHG emissions, road traffic in Stavanger also accounts for hazardous gasses, airborne dust and noise. This can be largely attributed to the high proportion of transport carried out using cars, though buses and goods transport play a role too. For these reasons, the City wants to change travel habits, hoping to reduce the amount of transport for everyday activities. It also wants to promote renewable fuel and technology, including electric vehicles. 

Norway heavily incentivises electric vehicles. They pay less taxes, toll fees and parking fees and are permitted to drive in bus lanes. In 2018, 31% of all new cars sold in Norway were electric. The same year, 8% of Stavanger’s cars were electric and the municipality is investing heavily to increase that amount. Currently 32% of the municipality’s cars are electric vehices, which includes the first fully electric garbage truck. The goal is for entire municipal vehicle fleet to be electric by 2025.