Sivu 7 |
Wind power is one of the world's fastest-growing areas of environmental technology. Tellervo Kylä-HarakkaRuonala considers bioenergy to have the most potential in increasing the use of renewable energy sources. Finnish companies have a strong position in exporting bioenergy technology. The advanced technology covers the entire chain, from the collection of woodbased raw material to the boilers using biomass. Strong exports in wind power technology Electricity produced by wind power accounts for only 0.2 per cent of the electricity used in Finland. However, energy companies have drafted preliminary plans for significant additional investments in wind power. "The capacity will increase in upcoming years. But increasing wind power is slowed by a number of licencing and land-use issues. These obstacles should be removed." Despite a low level of domestic investments, there is a growing number of Finnish wind power plant suppliers that hold strong market positions abroad. Wind power is one of the world's fastest-growing areas of environmental technology. Its global markets have grown 2530 per cent annually in the first eight years of the 21st century. A common theme in all sectors Kylä-Harakka-Ruonala admits that it isn't always easy to define business related to clean energy and the environment in general. "For example, energy efficiency is an issue that has become a central theme in practically every sector." EK has launched the Cleantech Finland project which aims to market Finnish companies' know-how abroad and strengthen their position in the clean technology markets. The main implementer of the project is Finpro, which promotes the internationalisation of Finnish companies. EK also maintains the Cleantech Finland Business Forum (CFBF), a network for companies, organisations and authorities. ClimBus programme has had over 130 projects so far. Kylä-Harakka-Ruonala emphasises that high-level research and product development has a very significant role in controlling climate change. Traffic biofuels are a good example of topical research targets. Finnish forest and energy sector companies are currently developing so-called second-generation biofuels from wood-based raw materials. Product development, however, is always a long-term proposition. The use of wood as a raw material in biofuel production has been researched since the late 1980s. Economic downturn doesn't stop development Kylä-Harakka-Ruonala believes that in spite of the downturn in the global economy, there is plenty of growth potential in the sector. "When talking about investments related to clean technology, we aren't talking in terms of a year or two, but of long periods that can stretch for decades and beyond." Kylä-Harakka-Ruonala is certain that there will be growing interest in solutions that conserve energy and raw materials in the future because, in addition to being ethical, they also generate clear financial savings to the customer. "The price of oil has dropped dramatically right now, but it isn't likely to remain at this low level in the future. There are many pressures on energy prices, and companies must take these into consideration." Research and development activities have a crucial role Collaboration between the private and public sector is tight, especially in research and development activities. For example, since 2004, Tekes, the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation, has had the ClimBus programme, through which public funding has been channeled to climate technology-related development carried out by companies and research facilities. The FOCUS 7
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. |
|