Sweden Plans to Be World's First Oil-Free Economy





by John Vidal, The Guardian, posted on Commondreams



· 15-year limit set for switch to renewable energy

· Biofuels favoured over further nuclear power



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.

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