Government hopes to cut energy consumption and increase use of renewables

Mauri Pekkarinen: Increased nuclear power likely

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The Finnish government put forward its long-term climate and energy strategy on Thursday. The plan shows ways in which Finland hopes to reduce its emissions of greenhouse gases by 2020.
     The strategy focuses on areas that lie outside the realm of emissions trading. The biggest reductions in that sector are to be in construction, housing, transport, and agriculture. The government estimates that total energy consumption in Finland in 2020 will be 347 terawatt hours (TWh), if no new reductions are made. Total consumption is to be pushed down to 310 TWh, which is about ten per cent less than if no measures were taken.
     The government predicts that electricity consumption will increase from today’s 90 TWh to 98, largely due to increased demand by industry.
     Minister of Economic Affairs Mauri Pekkarinen (Centre Party), who put forward the strategy, says that more generating capacity is needed to offset the reduction of electricity imports. Finland hopes to be self-sufficient with electricity already in the next decade. Finland also hopes to replace environmentally harmful coal-fired plants with other sources.
     “In practice, it means the additional construction of nuclear energy”, Pekkarinen said. He added that the government must make decisions on the matter before the Parliamentary elections of 2011. The strategy will emphasise separately that nuclear power will not be built “for permanent export of nuclear electricity”.
     The strategy reiterates that the proposed Vuotos reservoir in Finnish Lapland will not be built during the term of the present government.
     
Pekkarinen defends peat energy even though the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has calculated that burning peat releases more carbon dioxide emissions than coal.
     “The most recent study conducted in Finland and Sweden clearly shows that certified peat, taken from certain areas, causes significantly fewer greenhouse gas emissions than the unfortunate calculation that the IPCC based its carbon dioxide assessment on”, Pekkarinen said.
     The IPCC won the Nobel Peace Prize for 2007 for its environmental achievements.
     In any case, the government wants to raise the proportion of renewable energy to the EU goal of 38 per cent of final use, which corresponds to 30 TWh.
     
“That is a really big increase”, Pekkarinen said. Achieving the goal would require increased use of forest-based bioenergy, wind power, heat pumps, use of waste for energy, and hydroelectric power.
     About 700 wind turbines of three megawatts each are to be built, with an expected output of 6 TWh of energy.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Climate change: two degrees to disaster (29.10.2008)
  Vanhanen: Climate technology can help in downturn (17.10.2008)
  Greenpeace denounces Finland´s nuclear energy programme (17.9.2008)
  New international climate agreement would saddle Finland with sizeable supplementary bill (2.9.2008)
  EU energy package to hit consumers in coming years (24.1.2008)

Links:
  Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

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