Heinäluoma opposes permanent subsidies for bioenergy

Pekkarinen sees present subsidies as reasonable

Eero Heinäluoma

Mauri Pekkarinen

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Social Democratic Party leader Eero Heinäluoma, who is also Finland's Minister of Finance, insists that he is not in favour of permanent subsidies for biological fuel.
      Speaking in Turku on Saturday, Heinäluoma called for economic sense in implementing environmentally sensible solutions; in his view tax revenue should not be used for permanent financial support for bioenergy.
      Last week, Raimo Sailas, the top civil servant at the Ministry of Finance, said that he detected something akin to "religious fanaticism" among supporters of bioenergy, and warned against setting up a system of permanent subsidies for biological fuels.
      According to Heinäluoma, who has come out in favour of a massive increase in the use of biological energy sources, investment in research and product development has proved to be a workable alternative. In his view, doing so does not distort markets, nor does it cause permanent gaps in the tax revenues of society.
      In his address he noted that the reduction of dependence on oil was necessary because of the carbon dioxide emissions, and because the depletion of oil resources is pushing up the price of oil.
     
Meanwhile, Trade and Industry Minister Mauri Pekkarinen (Centre) dismisses claims that making more use of biological energy would require massive investments that deviate from those in use in other countries.
      "For instance, to triple the use of bioenergy, it would be quite enough for Finland to use approximately as much public funding as other European countries comparable to us", Pekkarinen said in Kiuruvesi on Saturday.
      In his speech, Pekkarinen pointed out that many countries give lavish subsidies to domestic energy sources. He noted that Germany spends billions of euros a year to support its coal industry, which is a major cause of pollution.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Finance Ministry official sees something akin to "religious fanaticism" in support of bio-energy (25.8.2006)

Helsingin Sanomat