In a press release of March 21st, the Swedish Bioenergy Association annouced that Sweden has achieved its national renewable energy target introduced by the EC Renewable Energy Directive (RED) eight years ahead of time.
The target set by the Directive was a share of 49 percent by 2020, while according to official statistics from the Swedish Energy Agengy, in 2012 51 percent of Sweden’s energy supply was already from renewable energy sources.
– This is a fantastic development, which illustrates that it is much easier to transform the energy system in a sustainable direction than many believe is possible. It is now important that the Swedish government and parliament set even more ambitious targets, said Gustav Melin, CEO of Svebio, the Swedish Bioenergy Association.
The main driver behind the successfull growth of renewables is the use of general incentives like the carbon tax, introduced in 1991, which has strengthened the state budget and lead to investments and thousands of new jobs in the local jobs markets, according to Melin.
Bioenergy plays a fundamental role in meeting this target, accounting for almost a third of Sweden’s energy use,
while hydropower accounts for almost half of Sweden’s electricity supply. Wind power and geothermal heat pumps each supply less than 5 percent of the renewable energy, and solar energy less than one percent.
