In the early 2000s, hope was placed on a green investment, a necessary climate change that would make Sweden a world leader.
When the then Prime Minister Göran Persson (S) inaugurated the municipal Sekab facility in Örnsköldsvik in 2004, he said that ethanol from forest products would create new “a giant industry” for northern Sweden.
What happened then is a clear is a clear example of a “green bubble” – and now the same mistake is being made again, the critics warn.
It is about the same strong political pressure, the same comprehensive support from tax funds – then as now, they say.
SVT has rewinded the tape 20 years to remember what happened – see the clips here:
But the ethanol did not provide new jobs or any green industry in Norrland, nor any technology that made Sweden a world leader.
20 years ago there was strong belief in a world-leading production of ethanol from the forest in Västernorrland – today the hope is tied to hydrogen and fossil-free steel.