SWEDEN is aiming to become the first country to kick the oil habit and is taking the lead in Europe to reduce dependence on fossil fuels.

The Swedish Oil Commission, a broad group of representatives from trade and industry, the forest and agriculture sectors, and research and energy industries, plans to halve the amount of oil used by the country’s four million vehicles by 2020.

The target has broad political consensus. “Sweden will not be free from oil by 2020 but we will not be dependent on oil in any sector,” says Göran Persson, the Prime Minister.

The commission, which is led by Persson, aims to replace fossil fuels with greener alternatives. The goals agreed on will lead to major changes, the biggest of which concerns the transport sector, where fossil fuels constitute 97 per cent of national usage.

“We must make energy use more efficient and we need to encourage the use of vehicle fuels other than petrol,” Fredrik Reinfeldt, the leader of the opposition Moderate party, says.

Sweden already encourages drivers to switch from traditional petrol-fuelled to alternative fuel vehicles. Drivers making the switch benefit from several incentives such as free parking in the big cities, lower motoring taxes and an exemption from Stockholm’s congestion charge that was imposed at the beginning of the year.

“We are selling a lot of bio-ethanol cars. Drivers can save a lot of money by choosing these green cars,” says Lars Svensson, a car salesman.

Last May the National Police launched the first emergency services vehicle driven by ethanol, a Saab 9-5 BioPower. Until its introduction, bio-powered police cars were not considered powerful enough for police work.

The forestry and agriculture sectors will play a key role when the demand for new bio-fuels increases.

“Areas that lie fallow ought to be used for this kind of production,” Persson says. Production of bio-fuels will rise by an estimated 20 times, requiring a 20 per cent increase in forestry growth.

Swedish industry, meanwhile, is targeted to cut oil consumption by 25 to 40 per cent by 2020. The country also wants to make heating of housing and other buildings oil-free.