Sweden: Breaking Dependence on Oil is “A Matter of Political Will”

[Horse with no Name]

If other countries can do it, why can't we?
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2006/05/sweden_breaking.html

Speaking at the “Peak Oil and the Environment” conference, Sweden’s Minister for Sustainable Development, Mona Sahlin, outlined some of the approaches the country is taking in pursuit of its recently articulated policy target: the creation of the conditions necessary to break Sweden’s dependence on oil by 2020.
>>>snip
Sweden, which already has a high percentage of hydropower, has set up an ambitious target to increase the use of electricity from renewable energy sources. Wind power, the Minister noted, is probably the renewable energy source with the greatest potential in the short- and medium-term in the Sweden. To that end, a high-level wind-power council has been established and tasked with the responsibility for the overall coordination of the continued expansion of wind power.
>>>>snip
Environmental technology has become Sweden’s 8th largest export trade, and the environmental sector in Sweden is the industrial sector with the largest economic growth. By leading in development, Sweden intends to be in a position to succeed in the export market as well.

Breaking the dependence on oil is, in my view, a matter of political will. A consistent policy will turn obstacles into opportunities. To hide behind excuses of ignorance or economic considerations is not leading us to a sustainable future.

[BrklynLiberal]

1. If we had stayed on the course that Carter tried to set us on, we would

probably be totally independent of foreign fuel sources by now...and air pollution would be down, we would be driving cars that got 60mph, and ...

It IS just a matter of political will, and not caving into the corporatists that make money from oil and other sources of pollluting energy.

[Horse with no Name]

2. Correct.

And we see how politics played their part in making Jimmy Carter AND Al Gore look like they were clueless when they were the ones that were right all along.

[daleo]

3. But Carter wore a sweater

And that meant he was weak.

[wookie294]

4. LOL

Sick, but true. Repubs have a way of turning their opponents into "wimps." They can create a "wimp" out of a paper bag, if they wished. A political psychologist wrote that, for the GOP, "the most important thing about being a man is not being a woman." LOL. More here....

http://www.buzzflash.com/interviews/05/03/int05011.html

[BrklynLiberal]

5. Great article. Thanks for the link.

[AndyTiedye]

6. It's Simply a Matter of OWNING the Media

Repubs have a way of turning their opponents into "wimps." They can create a "wimp" out of a paper bag, if they wished.

[eleny]

7. K&R

thanks!

[Stockholm]

8. Good speech

I wonder who wrote it :eyes:

[suziedemocrat]

9. Here's a recent article about a company now turing garbage into oil.

Link: http://www.plastic.com/article.html;sid=06/05/13/14115053

Shovel just about anything organic into one end of Brian Appel's processing plant, and two or three hours later, the other end gives down a surprising quantity of what amounts to No. 2 fuel oil — usable as-is or easily refined into diesel fuel, gasoline, or most any other light petroleum product, with modest amounts of sterile fertilizer and raw carbon as by-products.

This isn't the first time someone has turned trash into oil. This is, however, the first commercially viable process. Or so says Appel, chairman and CEO of Changing World Technologies, whose first commercial-scale plant in Carthage, Missouri is producing 500 barrels of oil per day from 200 tons of turkey-processing waste, supplied by the Butterball Turkey plant next door. Appel claims that CWT's process could turn just the agricultural waste produced by the United States into 4 billion barrels of oil annually, at a cost of just US$8 to $12 per barrel. Coincidentally, the US is currently importing just over 4 billion barrels per year. And paying about $70 a barrel for it.

In theory, at least, this is a dream come true for oil-thirsty Americans - indeed, for the entire world. As usual, though, the road between theory and practice is a bumpy one. CWT's production costs are far higher than predicted. Appel expected his company to be paid about $24 per ton of feedstock as a disposal fee; CWT is instead paying upwards of $30 a ton. Expected government subsidies were late in coming. The Carthage plant has been beset with complaints of foul odors which have led to repeated plant shutdowns, and forced installation of $2 million worth of scrubbers, biofilters, and other odor-control measures. All this has pushed actual production costs to as much as $80 per barrel, although Appel claims that optimizations in the process plus the recent granting of subsidies has enabled the Carthage plant to show a small profit.

While CWT still plans to expand USA operations with a plant expected to be based in Michigan (processing plastic scrap and other automobile-recycling leftovers), its main focus is shifting to Europe, where disposal costs and oil prices - and government subsidies - are higher. CWT subsidiary Renewable Environmental Solutions expects to have a biofuel facility operating in Ireland by next year, and is planning projects in Wales, England, and Germany.

More at link. I think this process is very promising, even though their first plant has had problems.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

10. False promise

First of all, burning garbage as fuel does nothing to combat global climate change.

Second, the negative effects of cars go far beyond using up oil or even polluting the air: urban sprawl that eats up agricultural land and wilderness, cities torn to pieces by freeways, the anonymity of the strip mall culture, lack of exercise.

Third, what fuel do they plan to use to convert this garbage?

[suziedemocrat]

11. They don't "burn" this garbage and the process fuels itself.

One of the by-products is natural gas - which is the fuel used for this process. I've been following it for a while - but here at DU the attitude seems to be "if it sounds too good to be true...". But this process is actually working today - although it is still too costly. We are fools to ignore this, it can turn garbage, sewage, practically ANY waste into usable products like oil and minerals. Since the carbon is separated from the oil, the gas created from this process is less polluting.

[4dsc]

12. Political will or cultural change??

I believe its not the political will that will change culture or break our dependence upon foreign oil. I believe it will take a cultural shock, the likes we have witnessed in our lifetime, to get everybody to change the way they view our wasteful society..

That's not saying politic's doesn't play a role in our cultural view as we witnessed the conservation under President Carter to the outright greed and the "ME FIRST" attitudes that followed.. But we were all eventually caught up in the greed and now we are going to pay the price in the near future..

[goforit]

13. A plan for the future..........WOW!!!

[Chrisduhfur]

14. Aye?

How do some of the envirowha... err protection groups feel about the windmills and hydro dams though? I remember when I lived in Oregon there was a huge deal about the hydro dams on the rivers because they kill fish... It always struck me as a damned if you do damned if you don't situation when it came to some people. Same thing with the wind farms killing birds...

I'm all for clean power generation and even more for getting rid of dependency on oil, but there seems to be people on both sides who wish to fight it one way or another.