Government plans to make country first fossil fuel-free nation in history

folarin okunola

October 6, 2015 4:30 PM

Considering that Sweden already makes two-thirds of its electricity from non-fossil energy sources, the governments statement seems very reachable.

Sweden

The Swedish government recently announced that its aim is to become one of the first nations in the world to end its dependence on fossil fuels.

The country has announced that it will be investing an extra $546 million into renewable energy and climate change in its 2016 budget.

Quite recently, UBS, the largest private bank in the world, began to encourage its investors to join the clean, renewable energy movement.

The banks analysts are already predicting that power plants in Europe might become entirely extinct within the next 10 to 20 years, and this doesn’t seem to far-fetched.

Considering that Sweden already makes two-thirds of its electricity from non-fossil energy sources, the governments statement seems very reachable. The government has also announced that it will be spending money on smart grids, an electric bus fleet, subsidies for green cars, and climate adaptation strategies.

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“2015 is our opportunity, a chance to, in dialogue with all the countries of the world, change course towards a new development path where we can succeed in generating welfare for all, not at the planet’s cost but in cooperation with it,” says Johan Rockström, one of the Swedish Prime Minister’s key advisors.

In addition to Sweden, other countries are also getting behind the renewable energy train. Hawaii recently announced plans to become the first US state to be completely powered by renewable energy.

Earlier in 2015. Costa Rica was powered with 100 percent renewable energy for 75 days, with Denmark successfully producing 140 percent of its electricity demand from wind power alone in the month of July.

folarin okunola