EIB mentions Nilar as a practical investment in the future
On Wednesday November 18th, Thomas Östros, Vice President of the European Investment Bank (EIB), was invited to the radio show Studio Ett on the Swedish public radio station Sveriges Radio P1. The topic of the interview was how EIB will lead the climate work of the European Union and increase their investments in climate change projects, in which Nilar was mentioned as one of the companies being subject to investments.
An excerpt of the conversation is shared below, translated to English. Listen to the full interview with Thomas Östros in Swedish, starting at 1:35:50 into the episode.
Click on the link below to find the full episode in Swedish:
Listen to the full episode here.
An excerpt from the interview with Thomas Östros that took place on November 18th:
Interviewer: Environmental organizations are sometimes critical of the efforts. For example, Greenpeace pointed out that supporting motorways should also be able to be financed by EIB’s money. And that not all cars run on electricity yet. It may not be environmentally friendly to have vehicles run by electricity depending on what country you charge the vehicle in. Was it hard to draw the line? Such as to not support new airports but new highways are ok?
Thomas Östros: There are a lot of discussions, of course, of what we should do on the roadside, where we have a technology, and where electric cars are growing more and more. However, it is a tougher calculation when it comes to whether we should be involved in investments on highways or not; expecting an ever-increasing carbon dioxide price would mean that less highways will get our support. Not everything is black and white if you want to be a symbolic politician or make a change in reality; that’s what’s important to me. Then it’s important to find a balance that works.
Interviewer: Do you think you have found it?
Thomas Östros: I think so, but it will need to adapt as technology develops. Another example in Sweden where we have invested money is a small company in Gävle called Nilar. They manufacture batteries for households; so, if you have solar panels on your roof, you don’t need to use the electricity in the same moment as it’s being produced. You can have a set of batteries in your cellar that can be used when electricity is needed. That’s also the kind of technology development that we are a part of contributing to that I believe will be more practical and useful in the future.
Studio Ett is a daily radio show on current affairs in Sweden and the world. Through the public radio channel Sveriges Radio P1, they broadcast discussions and interviews associated with these daily topics.