Learning from Sweden

The following is cut from an article from today's Guardian on carbon reduction efforts in Sweden

"More broadly, is there anything Britain could learn from Sweden? "Homes have virtually no insulation in Britain. You could do a lot just by doing more of that," says Johansson. "When a building is renovated in Sweden, it can be properly insulated and renovated, cutting energy consumption by at least half."

"Impose a carbon tax," suggests Lindberg. "You would make it more attractive financially to go for green solutions than for carbon options."
"A carbon tax is the most cost-effective way to make carbon cuts and it does not prevent strong economic growth," adds Carlgren.

Cutting carbon emissions Swedish-style

• Swedes get a 10,000 kronor (£860) rebate when they buy a green car, ie a car that consumes less petrol, or runs on biofuels or natural gas.

• Stockholm introduced congestion charging last year. Cars going into or out of the inner city zone pay 10, 15 or 20 kronor, depending on the time of the day (the busier it gets, the more you pay).

• The government hiked the carbon tax by 2.6% in January to 2.34 kronor per litre.

• A climate change bill will be presented in September, which could include measures to promote freight transport by rail at home and a possible increase to the green car rebate. "We will be focusing on the transport sector," says the Swedish environment minister, Andreas Carlgren. In Sweden, most oil and gas is used for transport.

• Sweden gets all its electricity either from hydroelectric power or nuclear plants."