“When we gathered here for the first time four years ago, we thought that oil prices would be over 100 dollars a barrel in 2030. We’ve now gone way past that figure and bioenergy is higher priority than ever before.” Professor Tomas Kåberger did not have to say any more to prove that the 2008 edition of the World Bioenergy conference and trade fair has in one fell swoop become more important than anyone could ever have imagined. Kåberger is Director General of the Swedish Energy Agency and chairperson of the conference.
The list of speakers for the opening session clearly indicated the importance placed on bioenergy today. The inaugural speech by Crown Princess Victoria was followed by Sweden’s Minister for Enterprise and Energy Maud Olofsson, who spoke to an audience of delegates from all corners of the earth.
“Here in Sweden bioenergy is no longer an alternative source of energy,” she said. “Forty per cent of our energy balance is renewable energy. With the exception of transportation, our energy system is almost fossil free.”
The Minister then referred to the past when her parents were young and Sweden was an agricultural nation transforming rapidly into a leading industrial nation powered by fossil fuels. She said that route has now come to an end:
“Economic progress had a hidden price and we are now paying it,” she said, but stressed that she does not envision any doomsday scenario: “I see the future as positive. Climate change also offers opportunities for new jobs and growth. But we must act now. Time is not renewable.”
There was a similar message from the next speaker, Poland’s Minister of Economy and Deputy Prime Minister, Waldemar Pawlak:
“The Swedish example is an inspiration to us and this is an extremely important issue to me personally.”
Poland has had a cooperation agreement with Sweden since 2006 to develop renewable energy. But Poland has a long way to go – 60 per cent of its energy comes from coal, 32 per cent from oil and gas and the remaining 8 per cent from renewable energy.
Poland is not alone in needing to leave the fossil fuel path. All of Europe faces the same challenge, said Alfonso Gonzalez Finat, principal adviser on energy issues to the European Commission. “Europe has committed itself to reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 20 per cent by 2020. Bioenergy is the most important route to achieving that goal, and we predict that by 2020 two-thirds of renewable energy will come from biomass.”
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