Sweden to Become One of World’s First Fossil Fuel-Free Nations

[RiverLover]

Sweden to Become One of World’s First Fossil Fuel-Free Nations​
Published: September 27, 2015 | Authors: Lorraine Chow | EcoWatch | News Report

...“Sweden will become one of the first fossil-free welfare states in the world,” Prime Minister Stefan Löfven told the press. “When European regulations do not go far enough Sweden will lead the way.”

As broken down by Bloomberg, here’s how Sweden plans to completely abandon fossil fuels (no deadline has been set):

390 million kronor per year between 2017 and 2019 in photovoltaics, with a plan to spend 1.4 billion kronor in total
50 million kronor annually on electricity storage research
10 million kronor on smart grids
1 billion kronor to renovate residential buildings and make them more energy efficient
Subsidies and investment in green transportation such as electric cars and buses
Increase funding of climate-related projects in developing countries, raising its budget to 500 million kronor

Science Alert also pointed out that most of the budget increase will be financed through tax increases on petrol and diesel fuel.

According to Science Alert, “The move comes after Sweden suffered extreme heatwaves last summer, and one of the worst bushfires in the country’s history. The government has committed to taking action to protect its citizens from the effects of climate change in the future.”

Also see~
Five developing countries ditching fossil fuels
Costa Rica, Afghanistan, China, India and Albania are all embracing renewable energy sources – five experts give their opinion on what the future holds

Elsewhere in the world...

Underlying Reasons for the Raging Syrian War: Competing Natural Gas Pipelines



President Obama says we must get involved with the conflict in Syria to help destroy ISIS, but what if that is not entirely the case? Could a pipeline issue in Syria be the true reason the U.S. has gotten involved? As this crisis deepens we will find out.
Published: September 27, 2015 | Authors: Michael Payne | NationofChange | Op-Ed

[newfie11]

1. Oil money owns the majority of our politicians

I can't understand how they can live with themselves.
They have families, children but choose money over saving the earth.

[RiverLover]

2. I really don't get that either. And WE are subsidizing oil with our representatives' blessings.

There are 800 different programs around the world that subsidize fossil fuels, according to a new report from the OECD. The OECD released the report ahead of the international climate change negotiations set to take place in Paris in December, where the world has a “moral imperative to reach an ambitious and actionable agreement.”

Tackling climate change will be a monumental task, but key to the effort will be scrapping “lose-lose” fossil fuel subsidies, as the OECD calls them. Subsidizing oil, natural gas, and coal leads to distortions in prices, contributes to overconsumption of energy, and saps developing countries of revenues that could be used for much better investments in education and infrastructure.

They also lead to environmental fallout, with capital flowing to pollution-heavy industry and energy extraction. These investments, once made, can last for decades, essentially “locking-in” pollution for a long time to come.

That is one of the glaring downsides to subsidizing fossil fuels. “Because they change the stream of income investors expect to receive for holding a particular asset, those subsidies influence investment choices and change the allocation of capital across sectors.

In the case of certain fossil-fuel subsidies, there is therefore the risk that investors end up favouring sectors that produce fossil fuels or use them intensively, at the expense of cleaner forms of energy and other economic activities more generally,” the OECD wrote....

http://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/There-Are-800-Fossil-Fuel-Subsidies-Around-The-World.html

[raouldukelives]

7. Thanks to the best efforts of shareholders.

We live in the most democracy they can't afford to block.

[awoke_in_2003]

22. They think that when the shit

really starts hitting the fan, that their money will save them. They don't remember that money didn't help the French aristocracy, or somehow think this time will be different.

[TBF]

3. "Could a pipeline issue in Syria ...? "

Last edited Mon Sep 28, 2015, 09:57 AM - Edit history (2)

Historically it has been the reason for US involvement in many regions. Oil and other natural resources desired by the multi-nationals.

[RiverLover]

9. And its dressed up as patriotism & "fighting them over there" & support our troops...

[newfie11]

24. ++++++++++++

Very true

[Nihil]

29. So true. (n/t)

[Eric J in MN]

4. I wish we had electric buses so that I wouldn't have to breathe the diesel

...If it also helped with global warming, then that's even better.

[Dustlawyer]

5. Maybe your city should swap out the motors in the buses and install the "clean diesel"

engines made by VW!

[RiverLover]

10. ;)

LOL

[fasttense]

12. Are those the engines that passed the emissions test

or the ones that didn't. It seems to be the same engine if it is from VW.

[Dustlawyer]

14. they are the ones programmed to have emissions systems off during normal driving and turn on when

the car's computer senses an emissions test. Affects 11 million cars in the U.S. alone and more in Europe.

[fasttense]

16. It's amazing that a large and fairly popular corporation would think that is the way to do business?

Are all corporations psychopaths?

[Dustlawyer]

18. In my line of work that is all I see.

BP budgeting for the loss of life of their workers because they don't want to repair some known dangerous conditions in a refinery of theirs. They thought they would only kill one or two, they killed 15. Then killed 11 more 5 years later taking short-cuts again to try and save some money. In between those 5 years they killed several more one or two at a time.

Asbestos defendants knew in 1932 that their products were killing their own workers and the end users, but decided to cover it up because asbestos was so much cheaper and they didn't want to face lawsuits. Instead they threatened the research scientist and his family to prevent dissemination of the study they had commissioned and killed millions. Their Lobby created a special bankruptcy provision to avoid full recompense for victims and they vilified the attorneys who represented the victims and their families. Johns- Manville, Owens Corning, Owens Illinois, Metropolitan Life (Snoopy insured these companies such as the Pink Panther's) and the list goes on and on.

Drug companies covering up studies showing harmful effects, Regulatory agencies starved to the point they cannot regulate (refineries and chemical plants "self report" leaks and accidents) because the Lobbyists paid the legislators to cut their budgets and appoint industry insiders...

Us Trial Lawyers try to hold them accountable after the fact, but industry paid for "Tort Reform" which imposed caps that are too low to be a deterrent to bad practices by industry and cause us to have trouble making enough money to continue the fights. They get a double benefit from this as Trial Lawyers, along with unions, were the biggest supporters of the Democrats.

[fasttense]

31. Wow, what has happened? Have corporations and big business always been scoundrels, liars and cheats?

Or have they slowly evolved into monsters that can no longer be controlled?

I suspect it's capitalism that drives these businesses to commit crimes. If one corporation does it, they have a competitive advantage, so all the other corporations have to be criminals in order to compete with them. Like hiring illegally. If one business in town hires workers who are undocumented in order to get lower labor prices then all the businesses in town do it in order to be competitive and offer lower prices. I see a lot of this in farming.

[awoke_in_2003]

23. Corporations aren't psychopaths

The people that run them are. Mark my words- VW will not pay a high price for this. Yes, an exec or two will be sacked, and there will be fines- but it will be a slap on the wrist.

[newfie11]

6. I'm old enough to remember electric street cars

But we moved so much I'm not sure where that was. Don't know if their used still.

[RiverLover]

8. In Ohio, they use the "clean" burning natural gas in metro buses.

Last edited Mon Sep 28, 2015, 12:05 PM - Edit history (1)

From fracking...so clean.

(Editing out NoC's fracking spill photo in a diff country & replacing with Ohio spill pics...)

Morgan County OH Frack Spill






A new study, conducted by Earthworks, explores just how inadequate state oversight of drilling operations is today. It specifically looks at four states to discover exactly how well they are doing in overseeing the identification and handling of the potentially hazardous waste materials left behind after the shale has been fracked.

[oberliner]

13. That's a picture of an oil spill in Bangladesh isn't it?

Oil Spill In Bangladesh Wildlife Sanctuary Threatens Rare Dolphins

HAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Authorities in Bangladesh were urgently assessing environmental damage in one of the world's largest mangrove forests on Friday after an oil tanker sank, threatening wildlife in the UNESCO World Heritage site, officials and local media said.

The oil tanker carrying more than 350,000 liters (92,500 gallons) of bunker oil sank Tuesday on a major river flowing through the Sundarbans after being hit by a cargo vessel.

Officials said Friday the slick had spread over up to 70 kilometers (45 miles) of the Shela river, a major sanctuary for aquatic animals in the Sundarbans. At least 20 canals connected with the Shela as well as another major river, Pashur, have also been affected.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/12/oil-spill-bangladesh_n_6313802.html

[RiverLover]

15. That's what they linked in the article.

Here are some closer to home if its imp to you~

Broadview Heights, OH


North Dakota

Contaminated pond downstream from the million gallon fracking wastewater spill


The million gallon fracking wastewater spill in ND

Texas

Don Shively took this photo of an overturned oil tank at "Platte River East of CR 19 North of Hwy 66"

[oberliner]

17. Accuracy is important

That first picture definitely did not appear to depict Ohio, so I don't think it is wise for sites to suggest otherwise. Obviously there are countless photos that graphically depict the extent of the situation, including the several you posted here. It's not a great idea to include a photo of an oil spill in Bangladesh in an article about fracking in Ohio, with all due respect.

[RiverLover]

19. My only point was that fracking gas

ISN'T CLEAN.

Not an outline of what's going on in Ohio specifically. That would have to be an OP, and a very long one that I don't have the time or stomach for.

Wanted to make that clear, for accuracy.

[oberliner]

20. I definitely agree with that point

I think that second group of photos you posted illustrate the problem quite effectively.

I would just ditch the Bangladesh one.

[RiverLover]

21. Done. /nt

[daleanime]

11. Now if more nations would simply follow their lead....

[StevieM]

25. Can someone explain to me what they will use for space and water heating? (eom)

[kristopher]

26. Electricity is the preferred energy carrier

So it will probably be most common. Although, if they are going to burn biomass for dispatchable generation they might use waste heat in some community systems.

It might help to conceptualize the process if you know that heating/cooling air/water presents a number of different opportunities for cost effective energy storage. If you refer back to the OP you'll notice that the second largest line item is research into storage.

[StevieM]

27. Can you explain how biomass is used for home and water heating? Does it have to be done at the house

or can it be run from a plant to all the different homes in the community?

In other words, oil and gas can be sent through the pipeline to heat homes. Can the same be done with biomass (converted to biofuel)? And would it require building a new set of pipelines or could it be done using already existing infrastructure?

[kristopher]

28. Do you understand how a distributed energy system is different from a centralized system?

If you don't, then it might be a struggle to see how in a distributed system the end users are a large part of the generating picture. For example, in a planned community all of the homes might have solar PV, the community might jointly own a wind turbine or 3, and a furniture factory nearby has - in addition to its own solar and wind, a standard thermal electric generator where they also burn their scrap wood to make electricity. That biomass system will eject about 70% of the energy content of the fuel as heat. That heat could be captured and sent to nearby homes.
The homes themselves, in addition to being highly energy efficient, could be equipped with something like a ceramic block or an insulated vault of stone to store several days worth of excess heat from all the variable sources.

There is no set best configuration as each contributor to the system builds on local strengths. Once you become aware of the possibilities you'll see there are many potential opportunities all around us. Just as a mental exercise let's try to save the family farm: envision a respectable sized family-owned agricultural operation and see how many ways you can think of to integrate energy production into their activities and resources.

[RiverLover]

30. Great explanation!

Don't get a big head kristopher, but you just impressed the hell out of me.

[StevieM]

33. Thank you for your terrific explanation. Sorry I didn't respond sooner, but I was traveling.

In the past I have put up posts asking for thoughts on this very issue, home and water heating. The solution doesn't seems as apparent to me as it is with electricity and transportation.

I guess what I am really wondering is how easy it is to come up with solutions in even conservative communities where they just aren't going to make too much of an effort. I realize that some effort will have to be made for any change to occur, but a place like Mississippi can be hard to bring on board, unless the amount of work is minimized.

You may be right....I may be instinctively thinking in terms of a centralized system. Using that paradigm it is easy to rush to some kind of solution involving biofuels.

[kristopher]

34. Turning to biofuels is fine if they're available...

...which was kind of the point behind my suggestion that you consider the potential of local farming as an energy platform.

On your other point, there can be many motives for adopting change but three probably dominate; status, environmental concerns, and financial benefit, with the most consistently dependable being money, of course. And while I might be wrong, I'm pretty sure that denizens of 'conservative communities' are among those motivated by positive economic considerations.

Some thoughts.
- This transition isn't going to happen all at once; it will take decades.

- Policies that shift where the end user's economic advantage lies will increasingly favor the transition to renewables even as they also continue to decline in costs.

- The role of energy efficiency in this matter can't be over-emphasized. Homes can be constructed which are so well insulate that they require no heat input other than that produced by the occupants in their normal daily activities. Even falling short of that we have "NetZero" homes that, when equipped with heat pumps and high-efficiency air exchange systems, are able to be easily heated and cooled with very little power.

- One policy prescription that Obama tried to install was an energy efficiency rating on all buildings. It would be similar to the EPA MPG rating on cars. It would help consumers at all levels make informed economic decisions about the actual aggregate value of a real estate purchase, lease, or rental. The ultimate effect, of course, would be to drive energy efficiency construction and retrofits of buildings so that sales would capture some of that value when properties are transferred. It didn't pass, but I expect to see it on the table repeatedly until it is enacted.

[happyslug]

32. The Syrian Gas line dispute has been discussed before, in September 2014

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1014&pid=903741

The Gas field in question:



The Competing gas lines: