A world-leading effort to switch buildings heating to heat pumps, combined with a tightening of building regulations over recent decades has led to a steep decline in direct emissions from the buildings sector, falling by over three quarters between 1990 and 2019.¹⁷ This decline comes from a reduction in the combustion of liquid fuels, which declined by 62% over the same period, far outweighing the small increase in natural gas use for commercial building heating.

In 2020, over 96% of all heating systems sold in Norway were heat pumps, while over 50% of households have a heat pump installed, the highest rate in Europe.¹⁸ With Norway’s mostly decarbonised power sector, this means that over half of homes in Norway are operating close to zero carbon heating systems, a significant achievement. An agreement in 2012 by Norway’s parliament to ensure new buildings from 2020 would be near-zero energy has yet to be followed through on, though, as the requirements for achieving this status have not yet been defined.¹⁹

To be aligned with 1.5°C building sector pathways, Norway would need to continue along its current decarbonisation trajectory by eliminating the remaining oil and gas consumption through further electrification, mostly by 2030, and entirely shortly after. The use of hydrogen for heating should be utilised only if it is zero carbon. Norway is currently investing heavily in a pathway that is not Paris-compatible, in the form of so-called blue hydrogen which refers to hydrogen made from fossil fuels but using carbon capture and storage technologies.