At every petrol and diesel pump there is a label with environmental information about the fuel in the tank. It has been a requirement since 2021 that consumers must be told how much greenhouse gases the fuel emits, what proportion is renewable energy and the country of origin of the raw materials.
But according to the industry organization Drivkraft Sweden, there are above all two shortcomings with this system.
– One is that the information on the pump does not match the contents of the pump, so it is misleading information. The second is that it is complex information and not everything fits on the label, says Jessica Alenius, CEO at Drivkraft Sweden.
“Huge backlog”
The environmental information is misleading because the labels, which are replaced every autumn, are based on the Energy Agency’s data from the previous year.
At the turn of the year, the reduction obligation is lowered from 30.5 percent in diesel and 7.8 percent in gasoline to six percent in both. This means that there will be more fossil fuel in the tank than what the label shows – and it will only be replaced in the autumn of 2024 and then based on data from 2023.
– Then there will be a huge backlog, it will absolutely not agree with what is written on the label, says Jessica Alenius.
Want to replace with QR code
To remedy the problem, Drivkraft Sweden wants to replace today’s labels with a QR code that leads to a website. According to Jessica Alenius, the website can contain more environmental information and the information is updated more often.
Isn’t there a risk that people choose not to read the QR code and then receive no environmental information at all?
– There is absolutely such a risk. We see with today’s system that there are few who even know that the label is there. But if you want to know more about what the content is, we think the best thing is to take the QR code and then you can sit down when you have a little more time to read, says Jessica Alenius.