Assessing greenhouse gas emissions from Swedish Production : A study on the possibility to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from the ten most valuable production categories in Sweden

Abstract: Industrialised and developing countries face an urgent challenge to decouple economic growth and greenhouse gas emissions. The aim of this study is to investigate where the largest potentials are to the Swedish industry decrease greenhouse gas emissions without increasing their costs. To limit the scope of the study is made by assessing the 10 largest categories of production by value sold in Sweden. The objectives are to investigate: (a) which the 10 largest categories are; (b) how much the productions of the products in the categories emit and where in the production those emissions come from; and (c) if policies or other actions can help lowering the amount emitted. For (a) statistics from Eurostat is used, for (b) an EIO-LCA database is used for most cases, but forestry is done with the help of a report on Swedish forestry emissions, while (c) is done by a literature review regarding the industries included in the study. The top 10 categories by value sold is: (1) Vehicle compression-ignition internal combustion piston engines; (2) Chemical wood pulp, soda or sulphate, other than dissolving grades; (3) Coniferous wood; (4) Pine wood; (5) Parts and accessories of bodies; (6) Bodies for motor vehicles including completely equipped and incomplete bodies; (7) Drive-axles with differential, non-driving axles and their parts; (8) Spruce wood and fir wood; (9) Prefabricated buildings of wood; And (10) Other parts and accessories for vehicles. Results show that chemical wood pulp had the largest emissions both per value produced and total. Additionally, chemical wood pulp is the category where the most clear cut improvements can be done. Besides, it is found that improvement possibilities exist for forestry and motor vehicle parts production, while prefabricated buildings of wood are very sustainable compared to other building methods. Suggestions are also made for policies that could decrease greenhouse gas emissions from chemical wood pulp and forestry. A suggestion for further investigation is to assess whether those would be better than improving existing broad policies in Sweden.