Emissions from road traffic decreased despite increased traffic
today at 1:10 p.m. Agneta Elmegård
Photo: Biofuels will be decisive for Sweden to reach its climate goals, says the Swedish Transport Administration.
Greenhouse gas emissions from traffic decreased by five percent last year compared to 2021. It shows preliminary statistics from the Swedish Transport Administration.
According to the Swedish Transport Administration, there are above all three reasons that have been decisive for the development: Increased proportion of biofuels, energy efficiency and electrification of the vehicle fleet.
Carbon dioxide emissions from new passenger cars decreased sharply during the year from 88 g/km in 2021 to a preliminary 70 g/km in 2022. The decrease is mostly due to the fact that the share of electric cars in new car registrations increased from 18 to 32 percent. Plug-in hybrids and more energy-efficient non-chargeable cars also contributed, states The Swedish Transport Administration.
– It is positive that so much of the energy used in road traffic is fossil-free and renewable. In 2022, the proportion increased from 26 to a preliminary 29 percent, which is a record, says Sven Hunhammar, director of the environment at the Swedish Transport Administration in a press release.
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The investment in wild pollinators has yielded results
The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency believes that the investment in national pollinating projects has yielded results Photo: Agneta Elmegard
Wild pollinators have received an increased supply of food, more habitats and more and better dispersal routes thanks to a three-year project. It announces The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency.
Between 2020 and 2022, the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency has coordinated and guided the work, where 157 municipalities have worked with local measures to benefit wild pollinators.
Through the three-year investment with extra budget funds, the Environmental Protection Agency has been able to allocate funds to measures to improve the conditions for wild pollinators. 157 municipalities around Sweden have been granted project funds. In total, 309 pollination projects have started, consisting of approximately 1,100 measures.
– We assess that the investment has yielded results and that awareness has increased about the condition of wild pollinators, what their needs are and what can be done to reverse the negative trend. It is important to remember that everyone can do something to benefit wild pollinators, says Maria Widemohead of the Species Unit at the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency.
Horse manure should warm Scandinavium
84 tons of horse manure collected during the recently concluded Gothenburg Horse Show in Scandinavium will now be used to heat the arena, reports P4 Gothenburg.
The collected manure from the 240 horses that were on site in Scandinavium will be enough to heat the arena for just over four days, according to project manager Erika Olsson.
The reuse of the manure is part of the organizers’ ambition to reduce the event’s climate footprint. (TT)
Heat waves force herring piglets to abandon their young
Researchers use thermal imaging to study the herring piglets. On some occasions over 47 degrees were measured in direct sunlight. Then many of the adult birds left their eggs and young alone on the rock, something they otherwise only do in the event of major disturbances or food shortages. Photo: SLU
In line with ongoing climate change, summer heat waves are becoming both longer and stronger. It can have direct and serious consequences for several animal species. Particularly vulnerable are animals that find it difficult to seek shelter. Scientists have studied how high temperatures and sunshine affect herring porpoises, a seabird adapted to arctic and subarctic environments.
The new study has been done on Stora Karlsö off Gotland, which has the Baltic Sea’s largest colony of herring porpoises.
Many seabirds nest during the warmest months of the year on rocks and beaches, where they are exposed to the changes in weather.
– This makes the birds very vulnerable to high temperatures and sunshine. During the heat waves at the end of June 2020 and 2022 it was really bad and several eggs and chicks from our study area were lost. With ongoing climate change, everything points to the fact that heat waves will become an increasing problem, comments Agnes Olin, researcher at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, SLU in a press release.
Seed banks in the soil do not protect the flora from climate change
With climate warming comes difficulties for certain plant species to ensure survival. Photo: Alistar Auffret/SLU
Plants have developed several clever ways to cope despite the changing environment. A new study led by two researcher at SLU shows that a common strategy – storing seeds in the soil while waiting for better times – probably won’t save the flora from the ongoing climate warming.
– We already knew that species with a more northerly distribution can be threatened by climate change and now we see that they also lack this important strategy to be able to stay when the warming continues, comments Alistair Auffret in a press release.
The results are bad news for species that do not thrive in higher temperatures.
The study shows that the strategy of storing seeds in the soil is more common among species that have a warmer, more southern distribution in Europe. This means that seed banks will not be able to help certain species hang on. On the contrary, there are already seeds in the soil from species adapted to higher temperatures, which is not necessarily a good thing for biodiversity.
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Ask us
check Ask your questions to the editors here!
When will politicians learn the difference between environment and climate?
The climate is the relationship with the sun, the movements of the earth which are the major factors. Sweden’s role in this does not exist at all, in contrast to China, which emits enormous amounts of carbon dioxide and increases the burning of fossil substances every year by 33 times Sweden’s total emissions. Our politicians strain mosquitoes and swallow elephants. The attack to save the environment & climate is not about Sweden at all, but rather countries like China.
Lena Karlsson
Haven’t read in the online newspaper about the new findings from SLU about bald cutting, why?
Anders Eriksson
What responsibility do municipalities have for the climate? In my vicinity, I see a municipality in an expansive phase where they don’t even seem to have thought about e.g. emissions from traffic, noise, access to groundwater, the impact on nearby watercourses.
Annie
The truth is that many municipalities are lagging behind in this work and there is no regulated “agreement” between the state and municipalities to act against Agenda 2030 or the national climate goals in 2045.
I’m a little tired of trudging around among washed-up plastic and other trash here on the west coast. There is a beach cleaner map and many cleaners but it must be stopped at the source. What is being done on that front?
Pray
Have you done a brainstorming session in the food industry? I see that shrink wrap around cans has been replaced by a paper solution by some suppliers. I don’t want anything at all, I can count, if I want 6 cans or 3 cans, I’ll buy it.
Thought dump
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The climate battle
check All around Sweden, conflicts are growing in the wake of climate change. Reduced emissions are pitted against destroyed nature. How far are we prepared to go to save the climate?
Statliga Sveaskog wanted to fell centuries-old natural forest. But the Sami forced the forest company to retreat. “It’s far from over,” says artist and reindeer owner Sofia Jannok, 38.
Copper is a key metal in climate change. Outside Älvsbyn, Boliden wants to open one of Europe’s largest mines. The price: a ruined valley and several obliterated lakes.
Londoner Alexander Pohl left his banking career – to live a simple life with his family close to nature. Now he leads the opposition to wind power in Jämtland.
The company Cementa wants to change. The factory in Slite – Sweden’s second largest emitter of carbon dioxide – will be the first in the world to use fossil-free cement. So what are the Gotlanders afraid of?
The high-speed train is the big prestige project when Sweden’s is to change. But resistance is growing – where the railway is to be pulled forward. “They want to run the tracks right through my house,” says Åsa Nilsson, 54.