The Swedish government was warned on Monday that it is unlikely to reach its 2030 emissions targets due to recent policy changes. In an effort to alleviate the cost-of-living crisis, the coalition government backed by the right-wing Sweden Democrats has cut the amount of biofuel that must be added to diesel and gasoline.
Mixing biofuels from renewable sources into fuel is a proven method for reducing emissions from cars, but the government has announced that the required percentage of biofuel will be cut to 6% in 2024 and will remain at that level until the end of 2026.
This decision has come under fire from environmental groups, as well as the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, which says that the move will make it nearly impossible to achieve the country's transport policy goal of a 70% reduction in emissions until 2030. The agency's Director of Department of Climate, Stefan Nystrom, said, “A year ago we were on track to with a high probability reach all of our 2030 goals, but with this decision, the conditions have worsened significantly.”
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The government argues that people living in rural areas are being unfairly penalized by the regulations, which have led to some of the highest diesel and petrol prices in the world. The Sweden Democrats have even gone so far as to threaten to bring down the government if biofuel levels were not cut to zero.
However, the move has been met with criticism from the opposition as well, with Marta Stenevi, leader of the Green Party, warning that the decision would “push the entire bill to our children” by worsening the effects of climate change.
Sweden's current regulations require that diesel contains 30.5% biofuel and petrol contains 7.8%, with the percentage increasing each year. By reducing the amount of biofuel required, the government hopes to cut the cost of a litre of diesel by 5.5 Swedish crowns, which currently costs around 20.3 crowns ($2.00) per litre, and petrol by 18.8 crowns. However, the cost savings may come at a high environmental cost, as the country struggles to meet its ambitious emissions reduction goals.
