Unleashing the potential of electrification

With fossil free electricity becoming more and more affordable, the scales are starting to shift in favour of electrification as opposed to fossil based technologies. Aside from a continued rapid expansion of fossil free electricity production and the development of the grid to handle much larger loads than today, the price on carbon needs to increase as well. Carbon emission trading systems such as the EU ETS have to be refined and tightened, as well political measures are necessary on sectoral level to steer the market towards fossil free solutions. An example is Fossil free Sweden, which is the sectoral roadmap for decarbonization launched by the Swedish government in 2015.

Fossil free Sweden – sectoral roadmaps for decarbonisation

In 2015, the Swedish government launched the Fossil Free Sweden initiative, with the aim of showing how enterprises, cities, municipalities and organisations can contribute to the climate agenda. In order to reach the goal to make Sweden climate neutral by 2045, Fossil Free Sweden has encouraged the development of sectoral roadmaps for carbon neutrality.

By the first half of 2019, 13 sectors have presented their roadmaps to decarbonisation by 2045, and three more are under production. The roadmaps clearly outline what each sector intends to do to reach carbon neutrality, and what regulatory changes they see as necessary to make it possible.

In the 13 roadmaps presented so far, electrification is seen as part of the solution in a majority of them.