Emergy Evaluation of the Swedish Economy since the 1950s

The aim of this work was to analyze the change in resource basis of the Swedish economy from the 1950s until the present time and to establish indices for solar emergy per Swedish krona (sej/SEK) to be used in further studies. During the period 1956 to 2002, the population increased from 7.3 to 8.9 million. Total emergy use increased from 146.1 x 1021 to 369.5 x1021 solar emjoules per year, largely due to increasing imports of oil and uranium and an expanding service sector. Total imports increased from 85.6 x 1021 to 305.7 x 1021 sej/year and exports increased from 60.8 x 1021 to 262.5 x 1021 sej/year. The fraction of indigenous resources for the total economy decreased from 41.4% to 17.3% in emergy terms. Based on income statistics and consumer price indices the standard of living measured as gross national product per person, corrected for inflation, increased threefold whereas emergy use increased twofold, indicating an efficiency increase of 50% in solar emergy use per real wealth output. The renewable part of solar emergy use decreased from 31.0% to 12.2% during the period, showing a substantial increase in dependence on non-renewable sources.