Sweden aims to end oil dependency by 2020

ENVIRONMENTALLY progressive Scandinavian nation Sweden has announced one of its most ambitious goals yet: to completely end its dependency on petroleum - and do it in the next 15 years.

“Our dependency on oil should be broken by 2020,” said Mona Sahlin, the minister of Sustainable Development.

The target - announced in September by Prime Minister Goran Persson - has been met with applause from environmental organisations.

Officials here acknowledge that getting rid of oil completely in such a short time is close to impossible, but the aim is to ensure that Swedes will never be forced to use fossil fuels because a renewable energy source is not available.

“There shall always be better alternatives to oil, which means no house should need oil for heating and no driver should need to turn solely to gasoline,” Ms Sahlin said.

The ambitious plan is a response to global climate change, rising petroleum prices and warnings by some experts that the world may soon be running out of oil.

Mr Persson has said the target will be reached by boosting research on alternative fuels, giving financial incentives for people switching to “green alternatives” and increasing the annual electricity production from renewable sources.

Ms Sahlin and other experts point to several factors that give Sweden better chances than most countries to phase out oil.

The country of nine million people has coastlines stretching hundreds of kilometres, which have given rise to a number of wind power and water power plants. A large new wind farm is being built off Sweden’s southern coast, due to be online by 2009.

Sweden also has more forest per capita than any other EU country, allowing it to burn tonnes of biomass.

In 2003, 26% of the energy consumed in Sweden came from renewable sources - more than four times as much as the EU average of 6%. Only 32% of its energy came from oil - down from 77% in 1970. About one-third of Sweden’s energy is nuclear power, with the rest coming mainly from coal and natural gas.

A much bigger challenge will be the transportation sector. Only 1% of the about four million vehicles on Swedish roads run on alternative fuels.