Swedes aim high with renewables in transport

Swedes are well aware of what dependency on imported oil means and the oil crises of the 1970s forced them to reduce their usage dramatically. The use of oil in the residential and services sector has fallen by 90% since 1970 largely due to the transition to electricity and district heating. Energy use in the transport sector, however, has proved harder to rein in. Despite taxes, subsidies and other incentives, oil products still supplied 91% of the country’s energy for transport in 2010 and continues to rise. It represents 23% of the country’s final energy use.