Biofuel in Sweden
Biofuels are renewable fuels[1] that are produced by living organisms (biomass[1]). Biofuels[2] can be solid, gaseous or liquid, which comes in two forms: ethanol and biodiesel and often replace fossil fuels. Many countries now use biofuels[2] as energy sources, including Sweden. Sweden has one of the highest usages of biofuel in all of Europe, at 32%, primarily due to the widespread commitment to E85, bioheating and bioelectricity.
Sweden's energy usage is divided into three sectors: housing and services, industry, and transport and is used in three different ways: to produce heating, electricity and vehicle fuels.
Increased biofuel usage is the main reason why Sweden has managed to decrease greenhouse gas emissions by 25% between 1990 and 2014.[5]
History
Biofuel usage in Sweden has been increasing since 1970, growing from around 43 TWh in 1970 to 127 TWh in 2009. This increase is usually linked to the heavy expansion of biomass based district heating in 1980s.[6] The oil crisis between 1973 and 1979 has stimulated the transition from oil to other energy sources such as peat and biomass. Swedish government created financial incentives for transitioning from fossil fuels to biofuels.[7] Simultaneously the wood related industries were growing, using increasing amounts of wood as fuel and providing black liquor to the industry as bi-product. Finally, taxation of other energy sources, has contributed to the increase of biofuel usage, as taxes on fossil fuels have increased since 1990.[6] One of the examples is carbon dioxide tax, introduced in 1991, as a measure to reduce Sweden's environmental impact. Same year a three party agreement was signed to invest 950 million Swedish Krona in bioheat facilities.[7]
Bioenergy Sources
Wood Fuels
The forestry sector, which uses various forms of wood, makes up 90% of the biomass[2] in Sweden. This includes parts of trees that cannot be used for timber or paper production. Recycled wood is considered biofuel too.[8] The other 10% of biomass comes from waste, industry bi-products, biogas and farmable fuels.[9]
Waste
Only
On 1 January 2002, Sweden has enforced a law to make the sorting of
Industrial By-Products
A lot of wood related industries create bi-products. Forest industry uses its own residual products, such as chips, bark etc. Pulp industry burns its by-products, one of which is black liquor, to create steam to bleach paper and produce electricity.[11]
Biogas
In 2015, Sweden produced over 1.9 TWh of biogas in 282 production plants. The majority of biogas is used as vehicle fuel. The upgraded biogas is pumped into existing gas networks in areas of Bjuv, Falkenberg, Göteborg, Helsingborg, Laholm, Lidingö, Lund, Malmö, Stockholm and Trelleborg.[12]
Farmable Fuels
Farmable fuels are intentionally grown plants, in most cases monocultures. Farm land is used to grow fast growing crops, such as flax and hemp, and forests, mostly salix, which can be burned, used to produce biogas, ethanol, biodiesel or other types of biofuel.[13]
Types of Biofuel
There can be three different types of energy carriers produced from biomass:
Uses of Biofuel
Bioheat
Producing heat is the most common use of biomass in Sweden, more than half of indoor heating is produced this way. Biomass is used in both large-scale district heating and small-scale direct use in boilers; about 90% of Swedish houses are heated by district heating. This type of heating can be combined with electricity production to optimize energy use.[15] Even though all types of biomass are being used for bioheating, this sector is dominated by wood fuels.[16]
Biopower
Biopower is the electricity produced from biomass. It is the fourth largest electricity source in Sweden, corresponding to 7% of electricity production.[17] In 2016 there were 209 electricity plants and 20 were being constructed.[18] On average, biopower production in Sweden is estimated to be 3,900 hours of the total 8,760 hours per year, with a potential to increase to 8,000 hours, corresponding to 35TWh.[18]
Transportation
Sweden has committed to using more cars that require biofuels,[1] much due to the fact that the Swedish parliament has decided that Sweden should have a fossil free vehicle fleet.[19] However, it was reported in 2010 that only 4% of the biofuels[2] are being used within Sweden for transportation purposes. By people buying cars that run on ethanol, more E85 stations are now being utilized. By replacing cars that required ethanol,[19] less petrol[19] and diesel[19] are being used, which helps the environment. The goal is now to reduce emissions from transport by 70% by 2030 and then completely switch to fossil free traffic. According to Svebio.se,[19] this can be accomplished with a combination of improved efficiency electrification and fuel switching from fossil fuels[20] to biofuels.[2]
History of Transportation
Ethanol-powered ED95 buses were introduced in 1986 on a trial basis as the fuel for two buses in Örnsköldsvik, and by 1989 30 ethanol-operated buses were in service in Stockholm. SEKAB provided the fuel, called ED95, consists of a blend of 95% ethanol and 5% ignition improver and it is used in modified diesel engines where high compression is used to ignite the fuel.[21][22] Other countries have now this technology on trial under the auspicies of the BioEthanol for Sustainable Transport (BEST) project, which is coordinated by the city of Stockholm.[21]
Flexible Vehicles
Sweden has achieved the largest E85 flexible-fuel vehicle fleet in Europe, with a sharp growth from 717 sold vehicles in 2001 to 243,136 by December 2014.[25][26][27][24] Also, Sweden has the largest ethanol bus fleet in the world, with over 600 buses running on ED95, mainly in Stockholm[28][21][29] Dozens of municipalities have started producing biogas from sewage.[30] At the end of 2009 there were 23,000 gas vehicles and 104 public filling stations.[31]
The recent and accelerated growth of the Swedish fleet of E85 flexifuel vehicles is the result of the National Climate Policy in Global Cooperation Bill passed in 2005, which not only ratified the
Current Situation
Year | Gasoline | Diesel | Jet kerosene
|
---|---|---|---|
2020 | 4,2 % | 21 % | - |
2021 | 6,0 % (1 Aug) | 26 % (1 Aug) | 0,8 % (1 July) |
2022 | 7,8 % | 30,5 % | 1,7 % |
2023 | 7,8 %** |
30,5 %** |
2,6 % |
2024 | 6%* |
6%* |
3,5 % |
2025 | 6%* |
6%* |
4,5 % |
2026 | 6%* |
6%* |
7,2 % |
2027 | 10,8 % | ||
2028 | 15,3 % | ||
2029 | 20,7 % | ||
2030 | 27,0 % |
During 2004 the government passed a law that said all bigger Swedish
One fifth of cars in Stockholm can run on alternative fuels, mostly
By 2010,
Sales of E85 fuel and E85 cars decreased sharply between 2014 and 2015 due to lower price of fossil fuel. The Swedish government has decreased the biofuel tax.[39]
Taxation and Policies
Taxation
In 1991 Sweden's energy tax system was modified, with the introduction of a carbon dioxide tax, a reduction in the general energy tax, a tax on sulphur emissions and various value-added taxes on electricity and fuels. The present tax structure compromises three elements: an energy tax, a carbon dioxide tax and a sulphur tax. The energy tax and carbon dioxide tax are not levied on biofuels.[40]
The Swedish government has a policy, which aims at the reduction of the use of
Besides these direct energy taxations, the production and use of biofuels is promoted in an indirect way by green taxes. These fiscal measures seem to have a very positive effect on the production and use of biofuels. There are no subsidies provided for the use of biofuels in Sweden.
Policies
Sweden's policies on biofuels are part of the more general policies on energy and environment. The key actors in deciding policy are the Ministry of the Environment and the Ministry of Enterprise, Energy and Communication as well as the Ministry of Education and Research. Policy support is provided by The Swedish Energy Agency and by Vinnova. Biofuels became prominent in the political agenda in Sweden after 2000.[42]
The Pump Act that came into force in 2005 also improved opportunities to fill up with E85. The law requires all filling stations that sell more than a certain amount of petrol and diesel to also supply a renewable fuel. In 2008 a government grant was provided to help meet the costs of infrastructure and other costs for biofuels other than ethanol.[43]
Vehicle Fuel Taxation
In Sweden
Since 2005 the gasoline fulling stations, which sell more than 3 million liters of fuel a year are required to sell at least one type of biofuel, resulting in more than 1,200 gas stations selling E85 by August 2008.[24][32] Despite all the sharp growth of E85 flexifuel cars, by 2007 they represented just 2% of the 4 million Swedish vehicle fleet.[45] In addition, this law also mandated all new filling stations to offer alternative fuels, and stations with an annual volume of more than 1 million liters are required to have an alternative fuel pump by 31 December 2009. Therefore, the number of E85 pumps is expected to reach by 2009 nearly 60% of Sweden's 4,000 filling stations.[44]
Environmental Impacts
The unsustainable extraction of forest
However, while combustion of biogas, like natural gas, produces carbon dioxide (CO2), a greenhouse gas, the carbon in biogas comes from plant matter that fixed this carbon from atmospheric CO2. Thus, biogas production is carbon-neutral and does not add to greenhouse gas emissions.[47]
The assumption is that the replacement of
Biofuel companies
Bioheat
Svensk Fjärrvärme is the main provider of district heating in Sweden.[49]
Biopower
Electricity production in Sweden is highly localized, increasing the supply reliability. To produce more environmentally friendly energy Sweden and Norway share electricity certification system, which increases revenues from renewable electricity production.[50]
Transportation
SEKAB is a major Nordic producer and importer of Bioethanol.
See also
- Climate change in Sweden
- Renewable energy in Sweden
- Wind power in Sweden
- Biofuel
- District heating
- Energy content of biofuel
- Sustainable biofuel
- List of renewable energy topics by country
- Biofuels by region
- Ethanol fuel by country
- Flexible-fuel vehicle
- BioEthanol for Sustainable Transport (BEST)
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