Hydro takes a step towards CO₂-free aluminium

The latest Møre og Romsdal news from the past 48 hours: On Monday 19 October, Hydro presented technology for producing aluminium without CO₂ emissions, calling it a historic step. The group operates a plant in Sunndal in the county. In culture, Vassendgutane celebrated 30 years with a concert in Ålesund, and Norwegian Nikolai Haram Svorte returned from Portugal as the world’s best sommelier. Police have also issued a new appeal for witnesses after a series of cabin fires in Sunnmøre.

Møre og Romsdal news: Hydro takes a step towards CO₂-free aluminium

Hydro presented a new technology called HalZero on Monday 19 October that could make it possible to produce aluminium without CO₂ emissions. It was unveiled at the group’s research centre in Herøya in Porsgrunn, attended by Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre (NRK Møre og Romsdal). “This is historic. The world will need aluminium. If it can be produced without emissions in the future, that is a major industrial breakthrough,” the prime minister said.

Hydro’s engineers have been working on HalZero since 2016. The technology is intended to replace the production process patented in 1886. Its principle is based on a carbon loop kept within the production process: according to the group’s explanation at the presentation, only oxygen is released at the outlet, not CO₂.

Hydro says substantial research remains to be done before industrial application (NRK Møre og Romsdal). The issue is closely tied to the region: the group operates an aluminium plant in Sunndal in Møre og Romsdal, where industrial emissions are closely monitored.

Other Møre og Romsdal news: Vassendgutane celebrates 30 years in Ålesund

The party band Vassendgutane marked its 30th anniversary with a major concert in Ålesund, NRK Møre og Romsdal reports. Fans from across the country queued in the rain. Solveig and Andrea, at the front of the line, had travelled about seven hours to attend the event.

The band’s repertoire combines party songs with titles played on public radio, including “(ungkar med) dobbeltseng”, “(ja, vi kjører) granada” and “masse pils”. Thirty years after its debut, the group still attracts audiences from across Norway to the county.

A Norwegian sommelier becomes world champion

Nikolai Haram Svorte, 29, won his first world sommelier championship in Portugal. He is the first Norwegian to take the title in the discipline, according to Henrik Dahl Jahnsen, president of Norsk Vinkelnerforening, quoted by NRK Møre og Romsdal. The winner landed at Gardermoen on Sunday evening to Norwegian flags, followed by champagne and balloons in his office on Monday morning.

“I dared to dream about it, and it was the goal in a way, but nobody outside Norway imagined it could happen,” he told public radio. “It’s very, very big.”

Rural ambulance and hotel project: two local issues

In sparsely populated parts of the county, private individuals and business stakeholders are using film in an effort to prevent ambulance services from being cut. They say discussions with decision-makers are like “throwing cold water on a goose”, NRK Møre og Romsdal reports.

In Romsdal, businessman Kjell Inge Røkke’s hotel project is to be scaled back, according to Romsdals Budstikke in its 19 October edition. The same newspaper reports that a local company declared itself “ready for deliveries” at a presentation, without providing further details.

📦 Local briefs

Cabin fires: Police are treating 10 unexplained fires as one series, on and around Sulafjellet in Skodje and, for the latest two, Emblemsfjellet in Ålesund. Two cabins burned to the ground between Thursday night and Friday. A witness reported seeing a car at 02:10 at the top of Eikenosen in Emblem (NRK Møre og Romsdal).

Ålesund police station chief Janne Woie believes residents may have information without knowing it and urges them to get in touch (NRK Møre og Romsdal). According to Sunnmørsposten, investigators entered a cabin on Monday 19 October.

A car and a bicycle collided in Molde on Monday (Romsdals Budstikke).

Sources: NRK Møre og Romsdal, Sunnmørsposten, Romsdals Budstikke — Period: 19 October 2026 and 20 October 2026