Text: Ketan Joshi. Australian climate and energy analyst and writer, based in Oslo, Norway.
E is for Equinor
Hey there friends. Why don’t you check out the really cute and fun education game called “EnergyTown”? Spoiler alert: it’s actually propaganda sponsored by a massive fossil fuel company, Norway’s state-owned Equinor.
I played EnergyTown and it yelled at me for building too many wind farms (for killing birds), and insisted that we had to keep burning fossil fuels to “keep the lights on”. At one point, it claimed that my residents were ‘too happy’, and also pushed me to use AI to replace jobs.
This fossil fuel propaganda isn’t climate denial. The more fossil fuels get sold, the more money they make. So their main message is about PROLONGING fossil fuels, including by offering false solutions.
The most shameless part of this game comes in the form of hydrogen power. When you burn hydrogen for fuel it doesn’t produce greenhouse gases. But today, most hydrogen is produced from high-emissions processes using methane gas.
The developers claim the game is based on data from the International Energy Agency. But the IEA’s core 2024 scenario shows hydrogen for power at 0.11% of total by 2050, or 1.3% in the net zero scenario. Hydrogen power stations are simply not a thing - not now, and probably not ever.
Equinor is cramming a bunch of absurd and mythical hydrogen power stations in there because they want to be the company that sells the methane to make that hydrogen. They don’t deny climate science, but they downplay renewables and overplay fossil fuels - you can see a few examples in the videos they share, such as this one.
This game was made by the industry-funded “Association for School Science” in the UK, whose sponsors include ExxonMobil, and the PR company ‘We Are Futures’ (who are working with bp on a “future talent pipeline”). It is impossible to avoid Equinor when you watch the videos that come with this game:
I’m just going to say it. The reason this game exists is so they can convince young kids to go join the fossil fuel industry. I also reckon they’re using stuff like this to create a permission space for highly controversial fossil fuel projects like Equinor’s Rosebank field in the UK.
The reason I say that is very simply because that is exactly what their website said, before they quickly moved to delete it from their site:
The page also went on to say:
“With over two-thirds of teens believing the oil and gas industry causes more problems than it solves, the Wonderverse helps lay misconceptions to rest by exploring some of the challenges involved in a just energy transition”
Education is already under threat (from shrinking budgets and big tech chatbot scams). Predatory fossil fuel companies offer cashed-up resources to time-poor teachers, and the kids in those rooms end up paying the real price.
Equinor is buried deep in education, here in Norway. Klimakultur is a non-profit that works to increase cultural knowledge of climate - they’ve found education programs that let you build lego oil rigs, and lego competitions that feature enthusiastic young kids wearing huge Equinor logos.
I think subtle propaganda presented with the good vibes of education and science is more evil than the obvious stuff. Equinor wants Europe to keep burning gas as long as possible. They know what happens in these worst-case scenarios. They just don’t care.
Watch the video on Youtube here:
More coverage - English
https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/greenpeace-condemns-equinor-funded-computer-155309894.html
https://theecologist.org/2025/jun/06/hey-equinor-leave-them-kids-alone
More coverage - Norway and Denmark
https://www.tu.no/artikler/jeg-har-spilt-energytown-var-det-solcellene-som-knekte-meg/559315
https://www.nationen.no/energy-town-det-einaste-reine-equinor-gir-oss-er-propaganda/o/5-148-744611
https://e24.no/energi-og-klima/i/73OQXv/equinor-har-finansiert-energispill-for-britiske-skolebarn
https://www.nrk.no/vestland/regjeringen-ma-svare-pa-equinors-barnespill-1.17442739
https://danwatch.dk/equinor-til-skoleboern-olie-er-fremtidens-energiloesning/
