Nordic Green News – 15 September, 2020

IKEA opens second-hand store

IKEA will open its first ever second-hand store in Eskilstuna, Sweden this Autumn, as part of IKEAs “biggest ever challenge” – to become a circular company. According to the company's Swedish sustainability manager, Jonas Carlehed, the store will sell used furniture and home furnishings. “It is mixed from all decades, but when the people of Eskilstuna choose to donate, it is not primarily the IKEA design classics that are sold expensively on auction sites. It will be about products you no longer need or have space for at home".

 

New Swedish centre to develop waste recycling

A new Waste Identification Testbed is to open in Skåne (in south Sweden) to increase the recycling of industrial waste. The test bed for identification of recycled materials will be an open platform where companies and researchers can test, compare and evaluate different types of sensors for identification of materials in a real environment. The project is made possible through a collaboration between several organizations and companies in Skåne with the support of a grant of USD 45,000 from Microsoft's data centre team 

 

Sweden’s Industry Step to increase recycling funding

At yesterday’s press conference, the Swedish government announced further funding for the Industry Step (Industriklivet) program, which has previously supported the development of solutions to reduce process-related emissions in industry. Now the investment is broadened and it will be possible to also provide support for other industrial projects such as plastic return refineries, recycling facilities, biofuels, hydrogen production, and battery production.

 

Sweden deepens existing measures to address emissions from transport

Yesterday the government also provided a range of further measures to address the challenging problem of emissions from transport. The total budget allocation was SEK 5.4 billion (EUR 520m). Solutions receiving funding, included;

1. The bonus-malus scheme, which incentivises consumers to purchase electric vehicles and penalises the purchase of a fossil-fuel vehicle. The highest bonus amount, which is given to vehicles that emit zero grams of carbon dioxide, will be increased from SEK 60,000 to SEK 70,000.
2. Fuel change obligation (Reduktionsplikt): The Government intends to make decisions on gradually increasing quota levels in the reduction obligation until 2030, with a focus on a linear path with indicative levels for 2030 of 28% for petrol and 66% for diesel, with a control station in 2022. By mid next year the biofuels level for petrol should rise to 6% and to 26% for diesel (compared with 4.2% and 21% respectively today, see press release).
3. Maintenance of public transport: To reduce the risk of congestion and increased spread of corona, the government will allocate an additional SEK 2 billion in 2021 in targeted support to the regional public transport authorities.
4. Environmental compensation for freight transport by rail: To continue to incentivise freight transport via rail instead of road, the Government proposes to extended the compensation scheme by SEK 400 million annually between 2021–2025.
5. Capital injection to GreenCargo: Green Cargo is the largest railway operator for freight transporters in Sweden, operating an electric rail network. The Government proposes a capital injection of SEK 1,400 million (EUR 130m) to Green Cargo AB to strengthen its financial position in order to continue to be able to conduct low carbon rail freight transport. 
6. Continued production support for biogas: The government wishes to spend an additional SEK 200 million to extend by one year support for biogas production.
7. SEK 100 million in strengthening the development of fossil-free aircraft, with research on electric aviation and aviation biofuels. The Government also intends to implement a proposal from the Biojet Inquiry Biojet for Aviation on a reduction obligation for aviation, increasing it from 0.8% in 2021 to 27% in 2030.  

 

Comments from stakeholders were mixed about the government’s proposals. Johan Kuylenstierna, Deputy Chairman of the Climate Policy Council, which has been very critical of past government policies indicated that it was a step in the right direction, and needed to be considered as part of other policies being developed. Johan Andersson, CEO of the Swedish Petroleum and Biofuels Institute (SPBI) said "It is a positive indication that the government sees biofuels as a sustainable and long-term solution to our climate policy and that it gives us the conditions we need to dare to invest." Mattias Bergman, CEO of Bil Sweden, believes that some older cars will need to be converted to withstand the higher mix that awaits later. However, a greater risk appears to be that the biofuels wont be available in Sweden to blend with fossil fuels. Jakob Lagercrantz, CEO of the interest group 2030 Secretariat commented, "The plan looks good , but we have to start domestic production. Not only does road traffic use biofuels, we also have shipping and aviation that need theirs.” And Teknikföretagen, the Association of Swedish Engineering Industries foresees major shortcomings in the expansion of the charging infrastructure, and in technical competencies. “It is about those who have been experts in internal combustion engines now becoming experts in electric motors and battery technology. The government is talking about a shift in technology, but then a shift in skills is also required in large parts of the Swedish profession.”

 

Sweden’s Centre Party claims green budget wins

The Centre party, which sits outside government, but negotiates to let the Government pass its budget has claimed several wins following Monday’s government announcements. Pointing at the Californian wildfires, Centre promotes the following government budget initiatives;

1. A green deduction to help individuals to choose climate-smart solutions: Private individuals who want to install solar cells on their roof, a charging post for an electric car or store their own, green energy will be able to use a green deduction. The purchaser will be able to receive part of the tax relief directly on the invoice. (see government press release for details)
2. Major investments in Bio-CCS; within the framework of the Industrial Step, SEK 50 million is budgeted in 2022 and SEK 200 million in 2023. In addition, the Swedish Energy Agency will be made a national centre for technology with negative emissions.
3. EU collaborations for innovative solutions in industry; EUR 200 million will be allocated in 2021 for industrial cooperation at EU level. The purpose is to highlight Swedish companies' innovative and green ability and at the same time accelerate the transition both in Sweden and in Europe. This can be, among other things, sustainable battery production, a carbon-neutral industry or electric, self-driving cars.  

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