Peak oil & Sweden: what a small country can do

[jpak]

http://www.energybulletin.net/15922.html

Sustainable development is the overall goal of Swedish Government policy. This means that all political decisions must take into consideration long-term economic, social and environmental consequences. I would like to give you a picture of why and how a small country could try to act in this global world.

In the west, we all live in economies that are heavily dependent on oil. We use oil for transport, for heating and for electricity. But oil is not an endless resource. The price of oil has actually tripled since 1996! Furthermore, the use of fossil fuels is contributing to global warming - the most serious environmental hazard of our time and already a fact. To add to that, the World Bank last week reported that as a result of the increase in oil prices over the past few months, poverty in a number of already poor countries has increased by 4-7 per cent. We act as though we are the last generation on earth - and we leave nothing to those who come next.

Our dependence on oil also has implications for security of supply as well as security policy. Many international conflicts today revolve around energy issues. As we know, oil reserves are not distributed equally around the world. Being able to rely on domestic and sustainable energy would also be beneficial in terms of security policy.

In light of all these factors, the Swedish Government has set a new policy target: the creation of the conditions necessary to break Sweden´s dependence on oil by 2020. And there is, indeed, an increased sense of urgency. If we prepare now, the transition to a sustainable energy system can be smooth and cost-efficient. If we wait until we are forced by circumstances, the transition may be costly and disruptive. No country can escape from this transition; to act sooner or act later are the only options.

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[thunder35]

1. maybe people should walk more and they may lose wieght.

[cliss]

2. We spent 3 weeks in Sweden last year.

I'd like to highlight my observations.

In Stockholm, I was amazed at how many people were on bikes, scooters, vespas. It seemed the town was full of pedestrians. This city is designed so that you do not need to travel across town to get your necessities. Every part of the city is divided into districts, and each district has a video shop, a fish store, pharmacy even pizza shop. We never needed to go very far to get everything we needed.

If we did want to go somewhere, there was a subway entrance about 50 feet from our rented apartment. Close, convenient. You even had your choice of transportation: there was subway, buses, commuter trains, even rail cars. We were close to the Central station which connects with trains all over Europe.

We didn't need a car while we were in Stockholm. Our apartment had radiators by the windows. Every apartment is heated by a central heating system down in the basement.

In the grocery store, I was amazed at how many products had deposits on them; like pop bottles, even glass bottles and things like vegetable oil bottles had to be returned.

The garbage was divided into very careful groupings, and you were expected to sort your own garbage. The town was spotless; not a scrap of litter in sight.

Needless to say, there are countries which are ahead of the US in terms of planning for the future. Look at Brazil.