What are the key energy policies which make Sweden one of the best countries in environmental manage
Many countries are committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. According to US-Energy Information Administration (EIA) (2013, cited in Perez, 2016) European OECD countries are committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 20% (base year 1990) by 2020 and between 80% and 95% (base year 1990) by 2050. To meet these goals, the integration of renewable energy (RE) in the energy matrix has been identified as essential. According to Perez and Sauma (2016, cited in Perez, 2016) commonly used RE policies are carbon taxes, feed-in tariffs, premium payments, quota systems, auctions and cap and trade systems.
Sweden using a lot of energy policies in different sectors (Production of electricity and district heating, residential and service sector, industrial emissions from combustion and processes, transport, waste, agriculture, land use, land use change and forestry). Table 1 shows the critical energy policies that Sweden uses to reduce carbon emissions.
Table 1. Key energy policies/measures for Sweden
Energy & CO2 taxation system
The essentials taxes influencing greenhouse gas emissions in Sweden are the CO2 and the energy tax on fuels. The carbon dioxide tax was introduced in 1991 and aims at reducing the emissions of CO2 in sectors outside the EU ETS. In total, the tax has increased from SEK 0.25/kg (1991) to SEK 1.13/kg CO2 (2017). The tax level is proportionate to the calculated amount of CO2 emissions based on the fuel’s fossil carbon content. According to Shmelev’s & Speck’s (2018) economic approach to analyze the effectiveness of energy and carbon taxes in Sweden the results showed that taken in isolation a CO2 tax was not enough to result in a significant change in CO2 emissions in Sweden, except in the case of the petrol, but energy taxes for coal and LPG have been statistically significantly effective. The energy tax on petrol and diesel was introduced in 1924 and 1937, respectively.
The Electricity Certificate System
An electricity certificate system aiming to support electricity based on renewable energy was introduced in 2003. As a result, Sweden will finance more renewable electricity production within the electricity certificate system – totaling 30TWh by 2020 compared with the 2002 level. Sweden and Norway reached an agreement in modifying the common target from 26.4TWh to 28.4TWh by 2020 compared with the 2012 level. The system works as follows. Electricity suppliers are obliged by law to submit electricity certificates corresponding to a certain share, or quota, of their electricity deliveries. The quota is gradually being increased yearly up to 2020 electricity producers are allocated a certificate from the central government for every megawatt-hour of renewable electricity produced. The producers can sell the certificates in an open market where the price is set by the seller and buyer. The certificates thereby provide extra profit for the producers of renewable energy (Ministry of the Environment and Energy, 2017).
EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS)
The EU ETS is the EU’s most important tool to combat climate change. It was introduced in 2005 and has since been expanded to cover more sectors and greenhouse gases. The amount of emissions allowed within the system is limited by a cap, which is decreased every year. Approximately half of the allowances are allocated for free to the covered installations, and the rest are auctioned. At present, about 760 Swedish installations are included in the system. At the EU level in total, approximately 11,000 installations are covered (Ministry of the Environment and Energy, 2017).
Local Climate Investment Program
The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency (Swedish EPA) administers grants for local and regional investments to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Investments in all sectors, except those included in the EU ETS, and all types of organizations are eligible to apply for grants. Applicants compete based on the estimated greenhouse gas reduction of each investment program. The program granted approximately SEK 2 billion from 2015-June 2017. In total, the investments granted up until 20 June 2017 are expected to generate a reduction of approximately 0.7 Mt CO2-eq per year during the technical lifespan of the investments. The total effect of these investments is estimated to be over 10 Mt CO2-eq during the technical lifespan of the investments (Ministry of the Environment and Energy, 2017).
The Environmental Code
The Environmental Code contains general rules for consideration to be observed in all activities and measures that affect the environment. Greenhouse gas emissions from part of the permit assessment procedure and the Code also includes requirements to use the best available technology. In December 2016 changes to annual report legislation came into force. Large corporations must now comply with new regulations for sustainability reporting. Sustainability reports must include information needed to understand a company’s development, position, earnings and the consequences of their operations that concern the environment (Ministry of the Environment and Energy, 2017).
Climate Change Communication
The overall objective of climate communication in Sweden is to provide useful knowledge and tools on how to mitigate climate change and adapt to climate change. On a regular basis, the Swedish EPA conducts surveys that measure public awareness and attitudes towards climate change. The 2015 survey found that 8 out of 10 Swedes state that they can contribute to the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions. Swedes demonstrate a very high level of readiness to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and a growing number have done something in their everyday lives to reduce their climate impact (Ministry of the Environment and Energy, 2017).
References
Galvan, C. (2015) The top 10 most competitive economies in Europe. Available at: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2015/09/the-top-10-most-competitive-economies-in-europe/ (Accessed: 5 November 2018).
Karlsson, D. (2010) Is energy in Sweden secure? The use of quantitative indicators for analyzing energy security. Available at: http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:mSvVwHB2onMJ:www2.balticuniv.uu.se/index.php/component/docman/
Ministry of the Environment and Energy (2017) Sweden’s Seventh National Communication on Climate Change. Available at: https://unfccc.int/files/national_reports/annex_i_natcom_/application/pdf/6950713_sweden-nc7-1-swe_nc7_20171222.pdf (Accessed: 5 November 2018)
Perez, M. et al (2016) ˈRenewable energy policy performance in reducing CO2 emissionsˈ, Energy Economics, 54, pp. 272-280.
Shmelev, S. E., Speck. S. U. (2018) ˈGreen fiscal reform in Sweden: Econometric assessment of the energy taxation schemeˈ, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 90, pp. 969-981
World Energy Council (2018) WEC Trilemma: Country profile. Available at: https://trilemma.worldenergy.org/#!/country-profile?country=Sweden&year=2018 (Accessed: 10 November 2018)
