Sivu 6 |
T he biggest challenges of Finland's energy policy are associated with energy supply and cost level, says Tellervo Kylä-Harakka-Ruonala, Director of Business Infrastructure at the Confederation of Finnish Industry (EK). "Goals to prevent climate change must be taken into consideration. At the same time, however, a sufficient, reliable supply of energy at a competitive price must be secured," Kylä-Harakka-Ruonala emphasises. controlling climate change. "Finland needs all forms of emissionsfree energy. They all have a place. Renewable energy can't be used to produce base-load power in the same way that nuclear power can. Bioenergy, in turn, is ideal for combined heat and power production." equipment is optimised and energy consumption can be measured reliably." Renewable energy at per cent and growing About half of the energy consumed in Finland is used by industry. Transportation and the heating of buildings each use one-fifth of the energy. According to an estimate by the Ministry of Employment and the Economy, over one-quarter of energy consumed in Finland comes from renewable energy sources. In particular, the most important of the renewable forms of energy are wood-based bioenergy, hydropower, wind power, geothermal power and waste. Kylä-Harakka-Ruonala considers bioenergy to have the most potential in increasing the use of renewable energy sources. Over 70 per cent of Finland's surface area is covered with forests. "However, how the limited raw material resources will be used is something that must be taken into consideration in the use of bioenergy. It isn't feasible to burn wood material that can be used to manufacture value added products." A leader in energy efficiency Improving energy efficiency is also a priority, and Finnish industry is a global leader in many energy conservation efforts. Combined heat and power production, the scope of voluntary energy-efficiency agreements, and the systematic implementation of energy assessments have also boosted energy efficiency in Finland. It is no wonder that Finnish companies with energy efficiency-related products and services have a strong foothold in global markets. For example, Finnish manufacturers of energy-saving frequency converters for electric motors are the top in their sector. "We also have a lot of know-how in process automation. For energy conservation, it is important that production Electricity price and supply a concern The biggest pressures target electricity production. In addition to higher fuel prices, the EU's emissions trading scheme has raised the price of electricity. Higher electricity prices affect all electricity users, but it is particularly problematic for energy-intensive industries. "For example, we have tough targets to increase the use of renewable energy. Industry's hope is that the targets could be achieved by avoiding unnecessary costs." In addition to promoting renewable forms of energy, Kylä-Harakka-Ruonala believes nuclear power is necessary in Ambitious climate and energy strategy In November 2008, the Finnish government approved an ambitious climate and energy strategy. Detailed targets are offered up to 2020 and future-oriented suggestions that go as far as 2050. The government aims to halt the growth in energy consumption. If realised, this would mean that in 2020 Finland will consume about 310 TWh of energy, nearly the same amount as in 2008. Achieving the goals requires boosting the efficiency of energy consumption, particularly in housing, construction and transportation. According to the strategy, the share of renewable energy must increase to 38 per cent of energy consumption by 2020, which is also the obligation proposed by the European Commission. Fulfilling the obligation set by the Commission would, according to the Finnish government, require a significant increase in Finland's use of wood-based energy, waste fuels, heat pumps, biogas and wind energy. The aim is to double or triple the current use of forest chips, for instance. The government's plans to harness about 6 TWh of wind energy by 2020 require the construction of at least 700 new, 3-MW wind power plants. In all, 30 terawa -hours of renewable energy capacity will be built. Finnish companies are developing so-called second-generation biofuels from woodbased raw materials. 6 FOCUS
Page 1
Page 2
Page 3
Page 4
Page 5
Page 6
Page 7
Page 8
Page 9
Page 10
Page 11
Page 12
Page 13
Page 14
Page 15
Page 16
Page 17
Page 18
Page 19
Page 20
Page 21
Page 22
Page 23
Page 24
Page 25
Page 26
Page 27
Page 28
Page 29
Page 30
Page 31
Page 32
Page 33
Page 34
Page 35
Page 36
Page 37
Page 38
Page 39
Page 40
|
|
|
Why do I see this page ?
Your Flash Player is older than version 7 or Javascript is not enabled. What you see is the raw text of the publication.
To read this Digipaper-publication install/update your Flash Player from this link or enable Javascript.
|
 |
For proper operation Digipaper-publication needs Flash Player version 7 or newer.
Install the latest version of Flash Player from this link. |
|