Hydro Talks

How does a Norway-based company with 34,000 employees operating in 40 countries around the world meet social responsibility challenges and obligations? 

Nina Schefte, Head of Social Responsibility in Hydro, and Beate Ekeløv-Slydal, political advisor with Amnesty International Norway, recently sat down for a Hydro Talks podcast to discuss the dilemmas in doing business in different countries and cultures.

“ESG – environment, social and governance – is an important, growing area for businesses like Hydro,” says Schefte. “We cannot succeed if the communities where we operate don’t succeed.

Sven Edgren, Head of Digital Assurance in DNV, joins Jørgen Hanson, CSR (corporate social responsibility) Manager in Hydro, to discuss the opportunities blockchain technology represents when it comes to instill trust in the claims and attributes of products. 

Customers and their customers want trusted information documenting the footprint from materials and production. A new pilot project with Hydro and DNV is exploring how this can be done. 

Morten Halleraker, Head of the Batteries unit in Hydro, joins Hydro Talks host Halvor Molland to explore developments in batteries for electric vehicles – and not least, recycling them – as well as for other applications like ferries and energy storage.

Norway is a hotspot for electrification these days, and Halleraker explains how Hydro is collaborating with Panasonic and the Norwegian energy company Equinor to explore the potential for a green battery business located in Norway, and with battery producer Northvolt on a vehicle battery recycling facility in Fredrikstad, Norway.

“We are seeing a historic possibility to build an entirely new industry in Europe, and everyone wants a piece of it. It’s a sustainable industry. It is the future. And it’s happening right now,” Halleraker says.

Our expert in energy technology, John Barry, joins Hydro Talks host Craig Johnson to discuss how greener energy, decarbonization and recycling address the so-called megatrends of climate change, eMobility and the circular economy. 

Removing CO2 from energy and production, developing batteries for transportation and energy storage – and not least, recycling of aluminium – will be key to creating a low-carbon, circular economy, John says. 

And the good news: all these ideas aren’t in some far-off future. They are happening right now.

Norway-based Brim Explorer started from a passion for the ocean. While working in Arctic ocean tourism, Brim Explorer’s co-founders, Agnes Árnadóttir and Espen Larsen-Hakkebo, saw the challenges presented by polluting, noisy and poorly designed ships that lessened the guests’ experiences and harmed the environment.

With an idea and dedicated partners, they set out to build a ship unlike any the world has seen. In March 2018, Agnes and Espen teamed up with designer Einar Hareide, the shipyard Maritime Partner and a team of daring suppliers to build a unique platform for ocean experiences.

In this episode, host Halvor Molland is joined by Agnes and Espen from Brim and our own market manager Thomas B. Svendsen in Hydro’s Marine & Offshore business to talk about Brim's project and discuss the use of aluminium in marine applications.

Light-weighting has been a focus in automotive and sustainability, especially for reducing emissions from combustion engines. With the introduction of electric vehicles (EVs) and hybrid technologies, though, life-cycle assessments are gaining traction in order to establish the real carbon footprint of a vehicle. 

Going from combustion engines to hybrid and electrical vehicles changes the sustainability equation for the automotive industry. When emissions from the tailpipe are significantly reduced or eliminated, it means the true footprint in the automotive industry must be measured by other parameters.

Lars André Moen, director of innovation in Hydro’s Primary Metal business area, discuss the true carbon footprint of cars with host Halvor Molland.

Are you building a new structure or renovating an existing building? Hear what experts Katharina Bramslev, general manager of Grønn Byggallianse (Norwegian Green Building Council), and Gøte Nordh from Hydro Building Systems have to say about trends, recycling, reuse, regulations and the EU Green Deal in this podcast on sustainability in construction.

Skal du bygge nytt eller renovere eksisterende bygg? Hør hva ekspertene Katharina Bramslev, daglig leder i Grønn Byggallianse og Gøte Nordh fra Hydro Building Systems har å si om bærekraftstrender, resirkulering, gjenbruk, reguleringer og EUs Green Deal i denne podcasten hvor vi diskuterer bærekraft i bygg.

This episode of Hydro Talks is an excerpt from a seminar at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo in September 2020, part of the ‘Real Business’ series hosted by Hydro and the Nobel Peace Center. Wind power on land is one of the largest areas of conflict in Norwegian politics and society today. Do we need land-based wind power as a source of renewable energy? 

The participants in the debate are Mikaela Vasstrøm from University in Agder, Andreas Sjalg Unneland from SV (Democratic Socialist Party), Dag Terje Solvang of The Norwegian Trekking Association and Arvid Moss, Executive Vice President for Hydro’s Energy business area and Corporate Development. The host of the debate is philosopher, author, and lecturer Henrik Syse. The debate is in Norwegian.

A recording of the full seminar can be seen on YouTube.
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Denne episoden av Hydro Talks er et utdrag fra seminaret «Krig, fred og vindkraft» på Nobels Fredssenter i Oslo i september 2020. Seminaret er en del av «Real Business» som arrangeres av Nobels Fredssenter og Hydro. Vindkraft på land er et av de største konfliktområdene i norsk politikk og samfunn i dag. Trenger vi landbasert vindkraft som kilde til fornybar energi?

Deltakerne i debatten er Mikaela Vasstrøm fra Universitet i Agder, Andreas Sjalg Unneland fra SV, Dag Terje Solvang i Den Norske Turistforening og Arvid Moss, konserndirektør for Hydros forretningsområde Energi og Corporate Development. Debattleder er filosof, forfatter og foreleser Henrik Syse.

Et opptak av hele seminaret kan sees på YouTube.

We see increased interest on sustainability in building and construction, but it is not easy to know what gives the lowest possible carbon footprint. To discuss aluminium as a material in construction, we have Erlend Spets from McKinsey and Executive Vice President for Extruded Solutions in Hydro Egil Hogna. Host is Halvor Molland. This episode of Hydro Talks is in Norwegian.