Energy from wood
In addition to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the use of
wood for energy has the effect of increasing self-sufficiency in
energy production, promoting good silvicultural practices and
improving the employment situation. The use of wood-based
fuels in Finland has been increasing since the 1990s and now
accounts for 22% of Finland’s total consumption of energy.
Finland aims to increase the percentage of renewable energy
sources in energy consumption from the present 28% to 38%
by 2020, as per the renewable energy requirements of the EU. This will mean a substantial increase in the use of wood-based
fuels; the use of forest chips will have to be more than doubled
from the present annual level of 6 million cubic metres to 13,5
million cubic metres.
Of the total consumption of energy by the forest industries,
75% comes from wood-based fuels. The majority of forest industry
plants produce their own energy using bark, sawdust
and chippings as well as logging residue from thinning and regeneration
fellings and waste liquors from industrial processes,
which makes them energy self-sufficient. On the whole, however,
the forest industry is a highly energy-intensive industrial
sector: it consumes about one third of Finland’s total electricity
production.
Wood is also used increasingly in rural areas and population
centres, especially for heating, either in individual heating systems
for single homes or at district heating plants that convey
heat to homes and other sites. The percentage of energy derived
from wood is already quite high in some regions. In North
Karelia Province, for instance, 70% of all energy consumed is
wood-based. There has been a marked increase in recent years
in research on the energy uses of wood for heating, electricity
and biofuel production. |
