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Non-fossil Energy Accounts for More than 3/4. What has Sweden Done?
Golden coast, green fields, quiet lakes... This is the true portrayal of the Nordic fairytale country - Sweden.Sweden is located on the Scandinavian Peninsula, bordering Norway to the west and Finland to the northeast. With a total area of about 450,000 square kilometers, it is the largest country in Northern Europe and one of the countries with the best air quality in Europe. In the "2018 Global Environmental Performance Index" released by the World Economic Forum, Sweden ranked fifth with an Environmental Performance Index (EPI) of 80.51.
The excellent ecological environment is due to Sweden's high-quality and high-intensity energy transformation. According to the report released by the World Economic Forum, Sweden has the highest energy transformation index in the world and is a leading country in energy transformation. Its energy consumption per unit of GDP is second only to Switzerland, the second lowest in the world, and its per capita carbon dioxide emissions are also the second lowest in the world.
It is understood that at present, Sweden's non-fossil energy accounts for more than 3/4, and coal-related electricity accounts for only 3% of the entire national power system. According to Sweden's medium- and long-term goals, zero emissions will be achieved in 2045 and "the world's first zero fossil energy country" will be created in 2050. From an initial dependence on oil of over 75% to the current reduction of oil energy to about 20%, Sweden's low-carbon and green transformation practices have undoubtedly become a successful example of the world's energy transformation.
Legislation first is a distinctive feature of Sweden’s energy transition development. As early as the 1970s, the Swedish government promulgated a series of mandatory laws and regulations to guide energy conservation and carbon reduction behaviors.
“For example, in 1977, Sweden introduced the Energy Planning Act, which required every city and municipality to prepare an energy plan; in the 1980s, Sweden began to implement energy-saving subsidies and levy regulations on buildings built before 1975. Most buildings were renovated with windows and insulation materials; in 1991, Sweden began to impose a carbon dioxide emissions tax. Currently, Sweden's carbon dioxide emissions tax is the highest among European countries, at 1.15 Swedish kronor/kg (approximately 0.88 yuan/kg). In early 2000, Sweden officially levied a landfill tax. "Recently, Anderson, chairman of the Chinese branch of the Swedish District Heating Council, held the "China International HVAC Summit Forum - Carbon Peak, Carbon Neutrality and Clean Supply" in Beijing. Introduced at the International Summit on Hot Green Development.
In addition, in 2009, the Swedish government also issued the Joint Climate and Energy Act, which clearly stated that by 2020, renewable energy should account for no less than 50% and greenhouse gas emissions should be reduced by 40%.
The intensive introduction of policies has accelerated Sweden's energy transformation. Through the implementation of a series of laws and regulations in the fields of energy, waste treatment and other fields, between 1990 and 2015, carbon emissions from building heating in Sweden were reduced by 86.1%, and fuel heating was reduced by 96.1%; Sweden currently has 500 district heating plants Biomass is used as the heating source; more than 90% of apartment buildings and more than 80% of office buildings and commercial buildings are heated by central heating systems.
Data show that in 2016, Sweden's renewable energy accounted for 52%, and the use of biofuels in the transportation sector exceeded 20%, completing the target ahead of schedule.
Now, in order to cope with climate change and achieve carbon emission reduction, Sweden has set more ambitious development goals: it plans to achieve zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2045 at the latest and build "the world's first zero-fossil energy country" by 2050.
When reviewing the effective measures for Sweden's energy transformation, Sweden's waste recycling system has to be mentioned.
In Sweden, through recycling and energy utilization, nearly 49% of the garbage is converted into energy after incineration, 36% of the garbage is recycled, and 14% is used as fertilizer, with a landfill rate of less than 1%.
Waste thermal power facilities have become an important part of Sweden's electrification and district heating infrastructure. "Sweden's garbage collection fees follow the principle of charging by volume. The less garbage a household produces, the lower the fee it needs to pay. Economic means can be used to encourage garbage recycling and sorting from the home. The collected garbage is burned or anaerobic fermented to achieve energy utilization, leaving only a very small amount of unusable garbage for landfill." Anderson said.
Relevant data show that Sweden has banned the landfill of combustible garbage since 2002, and further banned the landfill of organic garbage in 2005. Sweden began to impose a high landfill tax in the early 2000s, increasing from 250 Swedish kronor per ton to 520 Swedish kronor per ton in 2019, in order to promote the recycling of waste and achieve zero landfill. The reporter learned that by 2016, the energy generated by incinerators could meet the heating needs of 20% of urban households in Sweden, and provide cheap electricity for 5% of households.
Compared with Sweden, China plans to achieve its carbon neutrality goal 15 years later. As a global leader in energy transformation and carbon emission reduction, Sweden's many practices in the development of clean and low-carbon energy will provide useful reference for my country's development of centralized heating, cooling, and integrated energy.
In Anderson's view, looking at Sweden's practice over the past 30 years, the importance of energy system integration for carbon neutrality is particularly prominent, covering building energy conservation, building heating and cooling, and energy system construction and waste energy distribution, production and integration.
Industrial waste heat, geothermal energy, and cogeneration of domestic waste and biomass, and hydrogen production from hazardous waste can all provide the required energy for the city.
Take the city of Västerås as an example. The city requires most plastics and metals to be sorted once by residents and sorted again at the waste incineration plant; the city also uses food waste and sludge from sewage treatment plants to produce biomass gas, and distributes biomass gas to gas stations through the local gas pipeline network for use by buses, taxis and private cars, maximizing the energy potential of urban waste resources to achieve carbon reduction goals.
In addition to central heating, the city center of Västerås has also built a central cooling system, which uses the heat source of the regional heating network to produce cold air for offices, municipal buildings, etc. 365 days a year.
Talking about the reference of Sweden's central heating experience to China, Anderson suggested that while fully tapping the potential of waste heat for heating, it should be prohibited to build waste incineration plants that are only used for power generation in areas with heat demand, and promote waste heat and power cogeneration; heat pump technology can be further used to use treated sewage as a heat source for central heating; secondly, hazardous waste can be fully utilized to produce hydrogen that can be used for power generation and regional heating through plasma gasification. At the same time, central heating and central cooling should be marketized on the premise of meeting the requirements of relevant government regulations, so that enterprises have the enthusiasm and sufficient funds to carry out necessary maintenance and updates of equipment.
In addition, Anderson also suggested that cities should formulate energy development plans, compile guidelines, set goals and timetables for building energy conservation, and promote cities to gradually reduce carbon emissions.
