Sweden! - International Federation of Agricultural Journalists

42 SOLUTIONS FOR A GREEN FUTURE
Renewable energy
Solar panels on barn roofs
Solar panels are just starting to be used in
Sweden, but it is not as common to have
them on barn roofs as it is, for example, in
Germany.
A wide variety
There are a large amount of companies and
projects working on producing different
types of renewable fuel. Among them is
the production of ethanol from cellulose,
the production of pine diesel and growing
hemp for heating.
Energy sources
Sweden used a total of 612 TWh (terawatt hours)
of energy in 2008. The energy came from these
sources:
Crude oil and oil products 194
Natural gas 10
Coal and coke 7
Bio fuels, peat, waste etc 123
Heating pumps 5.5
Water power 69
Nuclear power 184
Wind power 2
Export of electricity 2
Problems
Many farmers would like to lease land to
wind power companies. At the same time,
there is a relatively large resistance against
building more wind turbines in Sweden.
Lots of people, including farmers, think
that turbines that are built on neighbours’
land cause a disturbance and reduce the
value of their own properties. That creates
conflicts in the countryside. The organization
Föreningen Svenskt Landskapsskydd
(The Swedish Association for the Protection
of the Countryside) is working against
wind power.
Branches and tops from harvested
forests are good for burning in power
plants. The prices have in the last few
years reached a level where forest owners
can earn a small sum by selling what was
earlier regarded as waste. But it can be
bad business for the forest owner to take
branches and tops out of the forest. The
remains of the harvest fertilize the forest
and make the new forest grow better. If the
residue is taken out, it is necessary in many
cases to use fertilizer to compensate for the
loss.
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Contacts:
Swedish Energy Agency: Energimyndigheten http://www.energimyndigheten.se/en/
The Federation of Swedish Farmers: LRF http://www.lrf.se/In-English/
Ethanol from crops: Agroetanol http://www.agroetanol.se/Short-in-English/
Ethanol from cellulose: SEKAB http://www.sekab.com/default.asp?id=1484
Diesel from pine: Sunpine http://www.sunpine.se/