Full electrification within our reach – and affordable
A new report from Sweco analyses how European consumers will be affected by electrification. The report concludes that it is one of our best tools to mitigate climate change and with limited costs to the consumer.
Electrification of transport and industry is a central element in achieving a pathway compatible with the 1.5°C-target stated in the Paris Agreement. Some of the costs will have to be paid by the end-user, the consumer. However, the costs in the long-run will only rise marginally. Electrification of shipping will increase the price of a 55-euro pair of jeans by 30 cents. The ticket prices for zero-carbon international flights will increase by 35–70 euros for a 6,500 km economy class flight.
“The cost of electrification is much lower than the cost of not taking action to decrease our emissions. A recent study in Nature, international journal of science, concluded that through restricting global heating to 1.5°C instead of 2°C we could save 18 trillion euros”, says Eirik Hordnes, specialist in designing infrastructure for e-mobility and energy-related topics at Sweco.
To measure which countries have come furthest when it comes to electrification, Sweco’s experts have introduced a new measure called “E-day”. This is the day of the year by which in theory, the amount of energy equivalent to the amount of electricity that a country can generate in a year, has been used. All energy consumed for the remainder of the year must be provided by other sources such as coal, gas, oil and bio.
For Norway “E-day” occurs on 7thof July. This can be compared to, for example, Great Britain where “E-day” occurs as early as 12thof March.
“Our hope is that Norway’s rapid development when it comes to electrification can serve as an inspiration to other countries. Although electricity is the fastest-growing means of using energy, the pace of development of electrification on the global level is currently moving too slowly,” concludes Eirik Hordnes.
Background
Urban Insight is based on a series of insight reports written by Sweco experts on various aspects of urban development from a citizen perspective. Read the report here.
For additional information, please contact:
Johnny Nylund, Head of Press, +46 (0)73 773 5189, johnny.nylund@sweco.se
Sweco plans and designs tomorrow’s communities and cities. Our work produces sustainable buildings, efficient infrastructure and access to electricity and clean water. With 16,000 employees in Europe, we offer our customers the right expertise for every situation. We carry out projects in 70 countries annually throughout the world. Sweco is Europe’s leading engineering and architecture consultancy, with sales of approximately SEK 18.7 billion (EUR 1.8 billion). The company is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm. www.swecogroup.com.
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