Sweden's Plan for an Oil-Free Future

Last year, Mona Sahlin, Sweden’s Minister for Sustainable Development announced a bold plan to break the country’s dependency on oil by 2020  – and without building any more nuclear power stations. In December 2005 the government appointed a “Commission on Oil Independence,” to draw up a comprehensive programme to reduce Sweden’s dependence on oil, and in June this year the commission published its report.   

Acknowledging that climate change is the greatest challenge of our time, the plan has also been motivated by concerns for energy security. The Commission expressed concern that world oil supplies are peaking, shortly to dwindle, and increasingly dependent on an unstable Middle East.  

“It is as though the idea that oil is a finite resource is only now seriously having an impact on the debate,” says Mona Sahlins, “A Sweden free of fossil fuels would give us enormous advantages, not least by reducing the impact from fluctuations in oil prices. The price of oil has tripled since 1996!…Sweden has the chance to be an international model and a successful actor in export markets for alternative solutions. But this requires conscious investments - not a reactionary policy that obstructs the transition to alternative energy sources and investments in the environment of the future. Breaking dependence on oil brings many opportunities for strengthened competitiveness, technological development and progress. The aim is to break dependence on fossil fuels by 2020. By then no home will need oil for heating. By then no motorist will be obliged to use petrol as the sole option available. By then there will always be better alternatives to oil.” Source

The country is following in the path of the Swedish city of Växjö where, in 1996, the City Council resolved to tackle climate on the local level, announcing that Växjö would become a Fossil Fuel Free City. A target was set for a reduction of CO2 emissions from fossil fuels by 50 per cent per capita by the year 2010 compared with 1993. By 2003 emissions had decreased by 21% per capita from 1993, with each citizen producing under half the EU average for CO2 emissions 

The national objectives set by the Commission are: 

• Society as a whole to make 20 per cent more efficient use of energy by 2020
• By 2020 in principle no oil should be used for heating residential and commercial buildings
• Road transport, should reduce use of petrol and diesel by 40-50 per cent by 2020
• Industry should reduce its use of oil by 25-40 per cent by 2020

Of course, the Commission’s proposals for achieving these objectives are specific to the Swedish situation. Sweden is a relatively sparsely populated country with vast forests. Several of the proposals are based on utilising Sweden’s forests for the production of biofuels and biopower. By international standards the country already has a small dependence on oil and a head start in its use of renewables. In 2003, 26% of all energy consumed came from renewables, compared with an EU average of 6%. Sweden gets the majority of its electricity from nuclear and hydroelectric power and already has a well-developed district heating infrastructure.  

Reading the report is a bit like reading a green wish list - proposed by the government! The report proposes major investment in forest fuels and energy crops for the production of a range of biofuels and a long-term strategy to increase forest cover by 15-20%. It proposes that the government and industry cooperate to achieve the more efficient use of electricity in industry and increase production of domestic renewable electricity. Support will be given to research and industrial plants for solar cells, wave power and hydrogen gas for fuel cells and there are plans to extend wind power.  

Amongst the innovative proposals is to increase installation of broadband Internet access to enable working from home and teleconferencing -therefore cutting commuting. A range of tax measures is proposed - such as property tax relief for energy efficient homes and carbon dioxide based vehicle and fuel taxes. 

To achieve change in the crucial transport sector there will be a drive to increase the proportion of efficient diesel engines in the national fleet, the use of indigenously produced biofuels and investment in plug-in-hybrid technology (with a commitment that increased electricity demand be provided from renewable energy resources). Since March 1st 2006 fuel efficient driving methods has become a compulsory part of driving school training. Increased investment in public transport aims for 30% growth by 2020. The report stresses “society should promote alternatives to air travel where possible” and urges that air travel “urgently needs to be included in the EU’s trade in carbon dioxide emissions” as well as proposing investment in technical development of “greener” aircraft.

Swedish Proposals for Greener Housing

What can we learn from the Swedish Commission’s approach to the challenge of greener housing?

One of the major differences in housing between the UK and Sweden is an extensive district heating infrastructure which puts Sweden ahead of the game.

District heating is mainly supplied to satisfy municipal heat demands for space heating and hot water supply and is managed by municipal energy utilities, which are mostly also responsible for electricity distribution. This provides the possibility of coordinating district heating and electricity distribution. All these district heating systems were planned and built for the purpose of utilizing heat from future combined heat and power (CHP) plants. CHP is central feature of Greenpeace’s recent alternative report on the UK Government’s Energy Review. Greenpeace argue that the current system of centralised energy - two thirds of the energy generated is wasted as heat, by contrast, a decentralised system of local CHP plants offers more than double the efficiency of centralised power stations. It also produces much less carbon dioxide than other ways of providing heat and power. According to the Combined Heat and Power Association if the level of CHP was increased to the UK Government's target of 10,000 MW, the UK could be one third of the way to meeting its international commitments to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Currently around 2% of Britain's houses are already heated by district heating.

The Commission suggests the district heating network make use of locally available energy resources that would otherwise be lost or be difficult to make direct use of in buildings – waste heat from industries, energy from waste, geothermal energy or different types of less refined or “difficult” biofuels. Existing heating plants will be converted to CHP plants to produce electricity in addition. Biofuel-fired district heating plants are at present available in many more than a hundred municipalities. The intention is to expand the infrastructure four fold by 2020.

Since the mid-1970s, Sweden has reduced its use of oil for heating by 70 per cent and the Commission aims that by 2020 oil should be phased out and the use of direct electricity for heating minimised. The Commission underscores the importance of replacing oil with biofuels (wood, chips and pellets for use in boilers and burners, supplied by sustainable forestry. from sustainable forestry) preferably in combination with heat from solar panels. An active energy policy has introduced both oil replacement grants and carbon dioxide charges on fossil fuels.

IT is seen as having great potential for major energy savings in buildings by means of intelligent control of lighting, heating and ventilation. 

The Commission proposes the following measures to achieve more efficient use of energy in residential and commercial buildings: 

• Low energy housing with little or no external heat supply - The Government and the building industry should jointly formulate incentives that stimulate construction of a high proportion of new low energy houses. By 2020 the share of low energy builds in new housing could be at least 75 %. These houses are slightly more expensive in the construction phase but economically advantageous to run since energy consumption is halved compared with the best conventional technology.

• Tightened building regulations relating to energy conservation. Weighting factors should be introduced for different types of energy when a building’s energy consumption is estimated so that the gross supply of energy is made visible just as much as the carbon dioxide load. 

• Installation of broadband should be encouraged in order to enable distance working.

• Energy-related deductions on real estate tax - Proposes that the size of the deduction be linked to the building’s energy performance, related to the weighting factors (see above), and that a similar arrangement also be considered in connection with investments to enhance energy efficiency in existing buildings.

• Measures to improve efficiency must be applied in the entire chain from extraction, processing and conversion of energy, and not just regarding end use.

• Improving efficiency in existing residential and commercial buildings - grants or tax relief to property owners who participate in a new energy efficiency improvement programme.

• A special effort to spread knowledge about energy efficiency improvement, methods, good examples and basic knowledge should be made for all social groups. The prime target groups are schools and preschools, consumers and tenants as well as all the actors in the building sector from purchasers and planners to entrepreneurs and craftsmen.

• According to the commission “the State leads the way”. Public sector buildings, such as schools and ministries must reduce their energy consumption. The state must also set a good example and promote growth and development of the market for the best products/applications, through public procurement and support to research and development in the area. Procurement should only be from the best performer quartile in energy efficiency.

Of course Britain and Sweden are very different places - but we can certainly learn a lot from Sweden’s positive and proactive approach to the challenge of living sustainably.

Dan Welch 2006

LINKS

“Making Sweden an OIL-FREE Society” Commission on Oil Independence (21 June 2006)

http://www.sweden.gov.se/sb/d/574/a/67096

The City of Vaxjo website

http://www.vaxjo.se/english

(UK) Combined Heat and Power Association  - The aim of the CHPA is to promote the wider use of combined heat and power and community heating.

http://www.chpa.co.uk/

Action for Sustainable Living, St Wilfrid's Enterprise Centre, Royce Road, Hulme, , M15 5BJ.

Email: [email protected] Tel: 0845 634 4510 Fax: 0870 167 4655.  

Page last modified: 04 March 2007