GREEN SOLUTIONS

Minister
CoMbines
it and energy
in CleanteCh
initiatives
Sweden has one minister responsible for both IT and energy. This arrangement
is intentional and the minister, Anna-Karin Hatt, recognizes that the
two fields are becoming increasingly integrated. Apart from renewable
energy and energy efficiency measures, cleantech exports and research
into alternative energy sources are two more important issues handled
by the ministry.
The Swedish energy
minster’s genuine
commitment to environmental
issues is obvious
to anyone who knows her.
As an example, Hatt chose to highlight
the effects of climate change when
inaugurating a combined power and
heating plant in Helsingborg in
southern Sweden. On that occasion,
her remarks included the following
statement:
“We are living in critical times. If
the earth’s average temperature were
to rise by more than two degrees
Celsius, it would have dramatic effects
on our society. Here in Sweden, we
would experience longer and wetter
summers with more precipitation. We
would also see tropical storms and
drought in other parts of the world.
We might perhaps also see positive
effects, like larger crop harvests, but
also negative effects like more pest
damage to our forests, increased
water flow, and greater risks of
landslides along our waterways.
Without doubt, parts of the world
would suffer crop failure and famine
more often and epidemics would find
new ways of spreading. We would see
new streams of refugees, geopolitical
tensions, and increased competition
for dwindling natural resources. This
is what climate challenge is all about.”
Her speech at the power plant also
testifies to how seriously Sweden
takes its green energy supply. Generating
heat and electricity simultaneously
in combined power and heating
plants is a technique that Sweden
began pursuing in earnest during the
1980s and 1990s. Since then, electricity
and district heating, which were
initially derived from oil and coal,
have become increasingly greener.
Today, Swedish combined power
and heating is green and is based
almost entirely on biofuels and waste
collected from the forest industry and
on recycling household waste to
produce energy. Moreover, one in two
Swedes now lives in a house heated by
district heating. Forty percent of this
heat comes from combined power and
heating plants, and 13 percent of
Sweden’s electricity is produced in
these modern power plants.
“As the Swedish Energy Minister, I
am very proud that we have come this
far. And I am confident about the
future. Each day, the energy revolution
gains more ground. What’s more,
our energy evolution can also help
others. Because when countries
cooperate and when new discoveries
spread, in time it can create a real
revolution,” Hatt told the audience at
the inauguration.
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