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Swedish electricity production is essentially carbon neutral. There’s a 50/50 split between nuclear and renewables. At times, there’s imports from the European

Swedish electricity production is essentially carbon neutral. There’s a 50/50 split between nuclear and renewables. At times, there’s imports from the European grid, which does include coal and gas &c, so by that accounting it may not be fully neutral. However, the mining industry is in the far north which has an abundance of cheap hydropower, so it’s probably true that the ore can be mined entirely using renewable energy in Sweden.

yesbut 5y ago
"can" doesn't mean they are. Sweden produces ~80 million tons of ore per year. I can say with 100% certainty that they are not doing the heavy lifting with renewables.
- oxymoron 5y ago
  I’m sure there’s machinery in use which is powered by fossil fueles. You did mention separately that the mining industry is a heavy user of electricity, though, so I was referring to that aspect in particular. Apologies for not making that clear.
- VoxPelli 5y ago
  They do have a test mine that is carbon free and are working actively on scaling it up: https://www.lkab.com/en/about-lkab/technological-and-process-development/research-collaborations/new-world-standard-for-sustainable-mining/ https://www.lkab.com/en/about-lkab/technological-and-process...
moogly 5y ago
What is often forgotten, when mentioning the imports of "dirty" power from abroad, is that Sweden exports way more electricity per year than gets imported (for 2020, 37 TWh exported and 12 TWh imported). Sweden has had an electricity surplus since 2011, mostly due to wind power.
- belorn 5y ago
  Finding someone willing to buy excess power when weather conditions are optimal is not the same thing as burning fossil fuels in order to generate power. Describing the two as being equal is dishonest and it harms the very important goal of stopping climate change. Sweden export more textile that is produce by non-child labor than they buy textile that is produce by child labor. They have a surplus in ethical produced textile.

yesbut 5y ago

"can" doesn't mean they are. Sweden produces ~80 million tons of ore per year. I can say with 100% certainty that they are not doing the heavy lifting with renewables.

oxymoron 5y ago
I’m sure there’s machinery in use which is powered by fossil fueles. You did mention separately that the mining industry is a heavy user of electricity, though, so I was referring to that aspect in particular. Apologies for not making that clear.
VoxPelli 5y ago
They do have a test mine that is carbon free and are working actively on scaling it up: https://www.lkab.com/en/about-lkab/technological-and-process-development/research-collaborations/new-world-standard-for-sustainable-mining/ https://www.lkab.com/en/about-lkab/technological-and-process...

moogly 5y ago

What is often forgotten, when mentioning the imports of "dirty" power from abroad, is that Sweden exports way more electricity per year than gets imported (for 2020, 37 TWh exported and 12 TWh imported). Sweden has had an electricity surplus since 2011, mostly due to wind power.

belorn 5y ago
Finding someone willing to buy excess power when weather conditions are optimal is not the same thing as burning fossil fuels in order to generate power. Describing the two as being equal is dishonest and it harms the very important goal of stopping climate change. Sweden export more textile that is produce by non-child labor than they buy textile that is produce by child labor. They have a surplus in ethical produced textile.