Fact of the Month: October 2008

Sweden brought in a carbon tax in 1991 that now stands at $150 a tonne, increasing the price of gas by 2.34 kronor (35 cents) a litre ($1.10 per gallon). Between 1990 and 2006, Sweden’s economy grew by 44%, her carbon emissions fell by 9%, and Sweden made enormous progress in developing district heating systems, bioenergy from forest wastes, and biogas from sewage and animal wastes. Sweden keeps the income from the tax for use in general revenues, and to support post-carbon technologies.