摘要
The energy system can be monitored in three principal areas: energy consumption, industry structure that affects both the demand and supply of energy, and energy generation. The instruments the government may use to exercise this influence are: support for research and development, support for demonstration, support for information dissemination, administrative policy instruments, and economic incentives. These instruments may be used separately or in combination. The purpose of this paper is to give some examples of how the energy system has been changed in Sweden and to give general conclusions based on this experience. Sweden has large resources of biofuels and other renewable energy sources and has based its industry on this supply for centuries. Recently, a commercial industrial market for wood fuels has developed in the district heating sector. This is one result of an energy policy during the 1990s that favoured renewable energy. Different policy instruments have been used, such as legislation for emission control, investment support for combined heat and power plants, and energy taxation including the introduction of a carbon dioxide tax. The impacts of this policy are described on a national as well as an international level, and the main conclusion is that there is a very strong need for international harmonisation of energy policies, including the level of taxes.