Every country should be so lucky as to have Sweden’s problem: It doesn’t produce enough garbage.

As reported by Public Radio International (26.06.12), Sweden has a remarkably effective recycling program. Only 4 percent of the country’s waste ends up in landfills, with the other 96 percent being reused in some way. There is one problem with that, however: The country has incinerators that burn waste to create heat (a must-have in the region) and electricity. And too little waste means not enough fuel for those fires…

grist.org, 12.09.12.

Nesjavellir Geothermal Power Station: Iceland’s second largest geothermal power station

smarterplanet:

A proposed high voltage electrical cable running across the floor of the North Atlantic Ocean to tap Iceland’s surplus volcanic geothermal energy would become the world’s longest underwater electrical cable, if it goes ahead. The cable would be a significant step towards a pan-European super grid, which may one day tap renewable sources as far afield as Scandinavia, North Africa and the Middle East. It’s argued that such a grid would be able to widely transmit energy surpluses from active renewable sources, thereby alleviating the need for countries to use (or build) back-up fossil fuel power stations to cater for peaks in demand when more local renewable sources aren’t particularly productive.

If a European super grid comes to fruition, energy surpluses will be big business. So it’s hardly surprising that both Germany and the United Kingdom are jostling for position at the other end of the Icelandic cable, with Norway and the Netherlands also having been mooted as potential connectees. That would necessitate a cable at least 745 miles (1198 km) in length, making it easily the longest electrical cable in the world.

» via ars technica

via infoneer-pulse:

(via emergentfutures)

In 2008, Sweden’s No. 1 burger chain got rid of its kids’-meal boxes and, contrary to expectations, sales of the meals rose. Apparently parents who are facing the prospect of their children scrabbling for survival on this wrecked cinder of a planet don’t like creating needless trash? At least in Sweden, anyway.

Max has even taken the unusual step of trying to nudge customers toward its vegetarian options by showing them that the beef version of its burger leads to five times as much carbon emissions. Sales of non-beef burgers went up 16 percent.

via grist.org: Swedish fast food chain makes bank by becoming ‘Klimatsmart!’, 13.04.12.

more: timemag, 09.04.12.

and there’s a “Minimize Me” campaign—contrary to America’s favourite fast food slogan.

how many more reasons to love Swedes/Sweden/Scandinavia?

But what might make it seem alien to Brits and North Americans is Ikea’s very active role in the neighbourhood’s life — in large part because the houses will be fully owned by Ikea. In a model that is the norm in Sweden and other parts of continental Europe, but alien to English-speaking countries, this will be an all-rental private neighbourhood, run and overseen by a private company.

“We’re about human scale, we’re about building things to a high design and a good quality, because we are long-term investors,” explains Andrew Cobden, the project’s manager. “We don’t like to sell income-generating assets.”

globeandmail, 01.04.12.
via smartplanet, 08.04.12.