25x’25

The viability of bioenergy as a large part of our energy future is readily demonstrated by newly published statistics from Sweden. According to the Swedish Bioenergy Association (Svebio), bioenergy in 2009 made up a larger share of that nation’s energy use than oil. The organization, citing preliminary statistics from the Swedish Energy Agency, says 31.7 percent of the nation’s energy consumption came from biomass, compared to 30.8 percent from oil. The findings from Sweden offer all nations an example of the forward thinking needed to reach a new and clean energy future.

The Svebio analysis, which includes all sectors of the Swedish society, including industry, transportation, residential, services and agricultural, among others, also shows that Sweden’s total share of renewable energy, using the definition called for in the European Union’s renewable energy directive (RED), was 46.3 percent in 2009. The total percentage is well ahead of the EU target trajectory, and only 2.7 percent short of the EU target for Sweden of 49 percent in 2020. The major renewable energy source beside bioenergy is hydropower. Wind power also makes a contribution to the nation’s energy supply.

Analysts say Sweden has seen a rapid rate of growth in the renewable share of total energy consumption, attributable in large part the steady growth of bioenergy use, which has risen from a little more than 10 percent of total energy supply in the 1980s, to 19 percent in 2007, to 28.7 percent in 2008. Put another way, bioenergy was not yet commercial in the 1980s and a major part of the nation’s bioenergy was used internally in the wood industry. However, from 1980 until today, the development of bioenergy in Sweden has been impressive, more than doubling from 48 terawatt-hours (TWh) in 1980 to 115.6 TWh in 2009.

In looking at Sweden’s bioenergy use, biomass is the primary energy source in the nation’s district heating sector, a system for distributing heat generated in a centralized location for residential and commercial heating requirements, and which supplies more than half of the total heat demand in the nation’s residential sector. The use of by-products and residues from the forest industry is another major component. Bioelectricity has expanded both with combined heat and power plants in district heating and in the forest industry. Pellets and fuel-wood play a major role in heating of single homes. Finally, more than 5 percent of transport fuels are biofuels, including ethanol, biodiesel and biogas.

It would be presumptuous to assume that the United States could mirror the renewable energy capability of Sweden, a nation of 9.2 million people living in an area a little larger than California. The Scandinavian country has inherent natural resources, including waterways that contribute to hydropower facilities that meet almost 17 percent of that nation’s energy consumption.

However, Sweden’s embrace of energy and climate solutions from the land provides a model for U.S. policy makers who are seriously looking to reduce our dependence on foreign oil and enhance our national security, boost our economy with green jobs and improve our environment. Sweden’s growing ability to sustainably generate power from wood, biofuels (including those generated from crops like Reed Canary Grass, energy hemp, straw, grains, corn, sugar beets and rape seed, or waste products from crop production), waste combustion and, to some extent, peat fuel, shows innovation and a determination to carve out a clean energy future.

The United States can take a cue from the Swedes by utilizing our own many and varied resources, from feedstocks to research to production capability, and take the global lead in the development of a new forms of energy. Our policy makers must understand what other countries like China or India already know – the aggressive pursuit of research and development of technology that will pace the world’s transition to a new energy economy will grant the winner of this race to global leadership huge, long-term economic benefits.

25x'25 Policy/Funding 25x'25 Vision, Agriculture, Biofuels, Biomass, cellulosic, clean energy, Forestry, Geothermal, green jobs, greenhouse gases, infrastructure, national security, renewable energy, Solar, Sustainability, switchgrass, Wind