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Page last updated at 11:07 GMT, Monday, 9 November 2009

Shale gas could be greener alternative

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Next month, world leaders head to Copenhagen searching for solutions to climate change and ways to reduce carbon emissions.

Conventional energy providers such as Statoil, Norway's oil giant, are searching for greener alternatives. One possible solution could be unconventional gas sources such as shale gas, which can be found in shale rock, a prehistoric clay, which has hitherto been deemed too expensive and tricky to recover.

Large deposits of the gas are being exploited in the US, where new hydraulic fracturing technology has made it viable, and it is hoped that it could provide 50% of supply in the country in 20 years.

CO2 emissions are typically one to two thirds less than a conventional coal-fired power station.

The BBC's Jorn Madslien spoke to Rune Bjørnson, Statoil's executive vice president for natural gas, and asked him about the impact of the US discoveries.

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