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Sweden presents plan to break oil dependency by 2020
AFP
STOCKHOLM
Petroleumworld.com 06 29 06
A Swedish commission presented a report Wednesday on how to end the country's oil dependence by 2020 but the head of the body, Prime Minister Goeran Persson, said it would not be entirely oil-free by that date.
"We will not be free of oil in 2020. But we will not be dependent on oil in any sector, in the sense that there are no alternatives," Persson said as he presented the report, TT news agency reported.
The commission, created in December 2005, proposed four national targets to be reached by 2020.
They are: rendering energy use 20 percent more efficient; reducing the use of petrol and diesel in road transports by 40 to 50 percent; reducing the use of oil in industry by 25 to 40 percent; and entirely eliminating oil as a heating method for homes and offices.
The report showed that oil products were primarily used in Sweden for road transports, and called therefore for greater emphasis on biofuels and alternative-fuel cars.
It also called for energy-efficient buildings to be built and for the forestry and agriculture sectors to be expanded to increase production of biofuels, such as ethanol.
It noted that the business sector and the state would have to make hefty investments in order for Sweden to reach the goals. For example, the report called for the state to invest in more high-speed train connections between large cities.
"This report is an important first step towards Sweden becoming free of its dependence on oil," Persson said in a statement, refusing to predict when Sweden could be totally free of oil.
"The pace will be affected by a number of factors that are external to our national policies. But the direction ahead as laid out in the report is a good basis for a positive development," he said.
The goals are needed to confront an expected oil crisis, the commission's secretary general, Stefan Edman, said.
"We are showing that it is possible, with measures taken now, to confront a future oil shortage and rising oil prices in a way that stimulates development, growth and employment," he said.
In addition to Persson, the eight-member committee consists of business executives, energy experts and professors, and includes Volvo chief executive Leif Johansson among others.
AFP 28 1137 GMT 06 06
Copyright ©2006 AFP. All Rights Reserved.
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