How is Sweden leading the pack on renewable energy in transport?

When it comes to ‘green’ transport in Europe, one country appears to be well ahead of the pack.

Sweden has the highest share of renewables in its transport at 33.7 per cent in 2023, according to the latest figures from Eurostat, which also show a gradual improvement across the bloc. 

That makes it the only country to have already achieved the EU-wide target of 29 per cent renewables in transport by 2030.

The Nordic nation has led the way with a quick uptake of electric vehicles. But there’s a catch, campaigners say, as most of the legwork is being done by biofuels – a controversial energy source. 

Here’s how European countries compare on renewable-powered transportation, and the role that biofuels are playing in the transition. 

How clean is EU transport?

In 2023, the share of renewable energy in our transport reached 10.8 per cent across the EU, Eurostat announced last week: a 1.2 per cent increase on the year before. 

Meeting the 2030 goal requires significant acceleration. Namely, an annual average increase of 2.6 per cent between 2024 and 2030. 

But these published 2023 figures are on the generous side, campaign group Transport & Environment (T&E) cautions. The share of renewables used in transport energy is actually likely to be lower and closer to 8 per cent in physical terms, it says, when so-called ‘multiplier mechanisms’ that promote certain fuel types are excluded.

As Europe’s power sector undergoes a “deep transformation”, transport is benefitting from a greater supply of renewable electricity. 

This green source increased 50 per cent in 2023 thanks to an increased share of renewables in the EU grid (45 per cent in 2023) and a higher uptake of electric vehicles. 

“This is good news,” T&E data analyst Simon Suzan tells Euronews Green, “and more recent data for 2024 and 2025 would show even higher figures.”

However, the campaign group warns that most of the ‘renewables’ reported in the new Eurostat data refer to biofuels – liquids or gases such as biodiesel and bioethanol, made from biomass.

Although crop-based biofuels remained level in 2023 due to an EU cap on this most environmentally damaging type, new kinds of advanced and waste biofuels are on the rise. 

Waste oils such as used cooking oil, animal fats, and palm residues – mostly imported from Asia – are included in this category. 

These materials now represent 40 per cent of all biofuels used in EU transport, T&E says, and make up more than half of the 10.8 per cent reported renewable share when taking into account double-counting. 

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What’s the problem with biofuels in transport?

More and more Swedish citizens are getting around using electric vehicles, which has helped boost the country to the top of the green transport rankings.

But it mainly got there using these advanced and waste biofuels, T&E notes. In particular, the country has been increasingly reliant on biofuels from animal fats.

These waste body parts are divided into three categories, based on their risk of transmitting disease. Categories 1 and 2 have more limited use in heating, while category 3 waste, which is considered safer, can be used for a wider array of things, including pet food and oleochemicals.

The problem is that by eating up these limited animal fats, Sweden’s transport system could be pushing other industries towards less sustainable materials, such as palm oil. 

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Which other countries are driving ahead with renewables?

Ranking second in Eurostat’s records is Finland, with a 20.7 per cent share of renewables in its transport mix, followed by the Netherlands (13.4 per cent) and Austria (13.2 per cent). 

It also highlights the countries with the largest increases in transport energy from renewables, with Sweden again leading the way with a 4.9 per cent increase in 2023. Austria and Portugal followed, with both countries rising 2.5 percentage points above 2022 levels.

Most of the growth in renewables in these countries are also due to  advanced and waste biofuels, T&E says. 

Renewable electricity is the greenest transport solution

However, some green plaudits should go to Sweden, Germany and the Netherlands, which represented more than half of the renewable electricity used in EU road transport in 2023.

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Belgium, Luxembourg and Portugal had some of the largest relative increases in renewable electricity from road vehicles the same year.

Sustainable transport campaigners want to see more growth in this direction. 

“Most of the 29 per cent renewables target should be covered thanks to renewable electricity,” says Suzan. 

“[This] should be quickly increasing thanks to a higher uptake of renewables such as wind and solar in the EU grid and a rapid uptake of electric cars, vans and trucks driven by the EU road CO2 standards.”

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