Energy

Finland is a frontrunner in both the production and utilisation of bioenergy. Renewable energy already represents almost 35 per cent of all final energy consumption in Finland. The objective set for Finland by the EU is 38 per cent by 2020. Wood currently accounts for 80 per cent of our renewable energy, and in the future, too, most of the growth in renewable energy production and consumption will be based on wood biomasses.

Wood is by far the main raw material used in our energy production, with a share higher than those of oil, coal or natural gas when taking into account the energy generated through wood industry processes in addition to the direct use of wood for energy.

Most of our renewable energy is produced in the form of side streams of wood-based industries. The combined production of electricity and heat in many towns and cities is also based on renewable wood as a raw material. In the future, the energy fractions of the side streams of agriculture and the food industry will be used even more efficiently for energy production.

The use of wood-based transport biofuels is growing rapidly in Finland. We are already producing bio-oil based on pyrolysis, and work is now underway to develop the further processing of pine oil created in the pulp production process into second-generation biodiesel. Processing plants for other wood-based fuels are also on the horizon.