Nordic Green News – 20 August, 2020

January Agreement parties raise ambition for climate transition budget funds

Sweden currently has a minority government, consisting of the Social Democrats (S) and the Green Party (MP), supported by centre-left Centre (C) and Liberal (L) parties. On 21 September, the government will submit its budget to the Riksdag, but first it must be negotiated in stages, first between the S and MP and then with the C and L parties. All parties are therefore positioning their policies and their expectations.

 

The Green Party has now demanded reforms worth SEK 150 billion (€15b) over the next 3 years and SEK 250 billion over five years. Its list of demands includes funding for renewable energy and climate-smart transport. According to MP spokesperson and Deputy Prime Minister, Isabella Lövin, “in the last crisis the banks were saved… Now it's the climate's turn.” The Greens want investments in biorefineries for sustainable biofuels, to expand the charging system for heavy transport and an energy system with storage that allows us to now have 100% renewable energy system, according to spokesman and Minister of Financial Markets, Per Bolund, (MP).

 

The Centre Party also wants to develop Swedish biofuels. Centre party energy spokesman, Rickard Nordin said “We have fantastic conditions for producing biofuels. Sweden can export and become a hub for the world market," and proposes SEK 550 million to the state research institute, RISE, to accelerate development.

 

From a budget perspective, its package of reforms are far less costly, at SEK 3 billion over 3 years. C wants budget support for investments in negative emissions, a green tax deduction, biofuels and a broadening of Klimatklivet, an industry support mechanism. However, Cs system likely includes significant hidden costs, given that it has already said that Sweden should demand that the EU make permanent a temporary waiver that has been given for high-purity biofuels that can become a significant drain on Sweden’s tax base.

 

Further, C believes that a support system with reverse actions for negative emissions via CCS technology, could be in place by 2022, requiring investments of an additional 1 billion over the three-year period. The party also wants to phase out the existing solar cell support, replacing it with a green deduction for private individuals who install, for example, solar cells or charging points for electric vehicles. The deduction is estimated to cost SEK 600 million over three years. And the party wants to extend solar cell support to companies for an additional SEK 390 million.

 

SAS amongst leaders in pressing to adopt biofuels

In a feature article on the future of aviation, the Financial Times names SAS, alongside Lufthansa, as airlines that are offering customers the ability to offset the emissions from their flights. The FT notes that passengers flying SAS can choose to pay $10 for 20 minute blocks of biofuel, but that passengers may not have the luxury of choice for too much longer. Last week, the European Commission signaled that it was considering an EU-wide requirement for a minimum amount of sustainable fuel on all flights. In January, Norway set a 0.5% requirement, which will rise to 30% by 2030. Others are considering similar moves.  SAS has set itself a target of 10% by 2025 and 17% by 2030. With sustainable fuels costing up to four times more than conventional fuels, “the cost is quite high”, said Lars Andersen Resare, Head of Sustainability at SAS. “At the end of the day we need to include these costs into the price of the flights.”

 

Quantafuel buys into plastics recycler

Quantafuel ASA is a Norwegian technology company that develops, designs and operates production facilities to produce high-quality synthetic fuels and chemicals. Quantafuel has acquired a 49% stake in Replast AS, a leading provider of mechanical sorting and recycling solutions based in Kristiansund, Norway, to build production capacity for chemical recycling of mixed waste plastic. Quantafuel´s chemical recycling technology is complementarity with mechanical recycling solutions and has the capability of processing post-consumer fractions that until now have been difficult or impossible to recycle. Combining these two technologies in one production facility, increases both the efficiency and recycling rate and the supply and control of feedstock for a new chemical recycling plant in Norway. The parties have the ambition to gradually build out a total processing capacity of 20,000 – 30,000 tonnes per year over the next 18 months in Kristiansund, using the investment as a model for a potential Scandinavian roll-out.

 

Powercell sales increase

PowerCell Sweden AB, a maker of fuel cells, increased its sales during 2Q20 by 42%, from SEK 15.5 million to SEK 22 million. Behind the improvement are continued high deliveries of fuel cell stacks to Bosch and the order for a megawatts system that PowerCell received from a leading European shipbuilder during the quarter.

 

Malmö to build wooden parking garages - first in southern Sweden

Malmö Parking has received a building permit to create an extraordinary wooden parking garage. The new residential area in Kirseberg will be a forerunner and a showcase for sustainable urban development, with Malmö Parking contributing. The car park in Sege Park, is planned to be six stories high. In addition to space for about 600 cars, there will be space for a bicycle garage with "bicycle kitchen" and a mobility pool, where residents can rent a car, bicycle and box bike.

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