Sweden plans to be world's first oil-free economy

Sweden plans to be world's first oil-free economy

Sweden is to take the biggest energy step of any advanced western economy by trying to wean itself off oil completely within 15 years - without building a new generation of nuclear power stations.

The attempt by the country of 9 million people to become the world's first practically oil-free economy is being planned by a committee of industrialists, academics, farmers, car makers, civil servants and others, who will report to parliament in several months.

The intention, the Swedish government said yesterday, is to replace all fossil fuels with renewables before climate change destroys economies and growing oil scarcity leads to huge new price rises.

I'm impressed that everyone is jumping on this bandwagon.

I'm also somewhat surprised that even Bush appears to be chasing this possibility, as evidenced by his most recent State of the Union speech.

Makes you wonder what really changed on the political front? Does he buy that climate change is a problem now....or is it just about lessening the relevance of the Middle East?

[edit on 8-2-2006 by loam]

Yeah, its deffinetly a good step for Sweden and the rest of the planet if we follow them. I really feel its to late and the damage has been done to the atmosphere but I guess it could be worse and we could need sunglasses and spf +45 in the winter. I do think Bush is doing it as a cover-up though for his plan.

Good on ya Sweeden!

I hope it works out! I can't see many other country's moving over to this oil free economy tho at the moment!

This is a laudable move by Sweden

I support this decision all the way. Everyone has the right to cheap, clean energy, and renewable sources of energy are the way to go.

If all the developed nations followed in Sweden's apporach to energy, it will break the stranglehold corrupt oil-barons and middle-eastern despots have on world politics. It will make the world a better place not only in terms of enviromentalism, but also in the social arena. Maybe the proud Arabs will even realize that their leaders are as corrupt, if not more than foreign powers. Perhaps revolution will begin once foreign influences are gone and the despots are revealed for what they are.

Biodiesel and ethanol is the future.

I am not sure why anyone would be surprised about Bush's statements. I remeber about 2-4 years ago, a report came out, saying that there was only 20-25 years worth of oil left on this planet. I remeber that it was suggested that this was a linear oriented projection as well, and did not account for the world's current exponential increases in oil consumption, so that projected time frame could be a whole lot less than originally anticipated.

Since Bush & Co. have so much vested into oil production and consumption, they will take full advantage of the the rest of the oil on the planet while the profits are soaring. It would not be smart of oil companies to prematuerly shut off their income while the promises of even larger profit margins are sure to come in the next several years of oil wars around the world.
I am sure the technology to revolutionize our transport industry has existed for decades, but as long as the powers that be are making billions of dollars in profits, why bother changing anything until we "have" to. Once the oil companies set up other companies to research and implement (aka control) the new energy sources (cold fusion, EM, antigrav propulsion, etc), only then will the oil dictators allow us to slowly change our way of life to more efficient and modern measures of energy consumption.
Also to consider is the fact that the entire American economy exists because of the oil industry and the OPEC trading dollar. Bush has to prolong the change of the transport industry from oil to another energy source for as long as possible to secure and maintain America's prominence on the world's economic stage. (Afterall, that is America's biggest war; to keep the dollar worth more than toilet paper, which is really it's true value).

So to start thinking that Bush is some kind of hero for "forcing" us to become more independent of mid-east oil over the next 20 years is a bit of a farce. (If the world even lasts that long) Oil independence is coming anyway regardless of what Bush says or wants. The world will be forced to change energy sources anyway, and with Bush now "writing in stone", a timeline to achieve that oil independence, it almost stifles (reverse psychology like) any possible change from coming earlier than that set timeline.
So kudos to Sweden for pushing those boundaries set by Bush. Hopefully they come up with something practical and efficient way sooner than even they project.

Here is a nutty whacky sidebar theory:
Bush's challenge and timeline for oil independence and (hopefully) achieving an energy source that is "next generation" (aka antigrav engines), could coincide with the arrival of Apophis (an Extinction Level Event sized asteroid). Apophis is supposed to "narrowly miss" (yeah, right) Earth on about Sept 29, 2029.
The oil companies, having made their Quadrillions of dollars in profits from oil consumption over the last 20+ years (suggesting 2000 to 2025 or so), release a new type of energy system for the "well-to-do" masses, allowing us the initial "baby steps" into personal space travel vehicles that will allow the populations that can afford it to escape the boundaries of Earth and to live "Winnebago style" in the reaches of our solar system and eventually beyond.
This timeline will give the people of earth about 4-5 years of potential escape, allowing those that can afford to, to survive, and for all those with not enough money... well, you can hope that Apophis hits nearby you, so that it is quick and painless, as I am sure the after effects of the Post-Apophislyptic Earth will be very stereotypic Hell-like living conditions...

IronDogg,

I've never heard of this "Apophis" asteroid. Can you provide some links? I'd like to know more about it.

Yeah sure, here is one from wikipedia to get you started on the basics, I guess:
en.wikipedia.org...

Here is another "funny" one that I found near the top of the google list for apophis that is interestingly related:
www.touregypt.net...

I am sure there are alot more informative links on Apophis, but I agree it is not as well known as it should be... Don't take Doomsdayer's like me to seriously though, it is just a theory to amuse the mind with and make you think for a bit...

Yeah... they are swapping all their busses to busses that use gas, instead of oil and petrol...

Great News!

That will leave more oil for the rest of us.