Pursuit of clean energy sources

Finland lies partly in the Arctic Circle and is the coldest country in the European Union (EU). So power, and likewise heating, is more than just a mere necessity - it's absolutely vital to maintain the country's high economic and social standards.

As a result, Finland has become one of the leading proponents of finding sources of alternative energy. 

At present, around a quarter of primary energy consumed in Finland is covered by renewable sources, which is one of the highest figures among all industrialised nations and the third-highest in the EU.

The Finnish government actively promotes using alternative energy, and has laid out a wide-ranging strategy. The major points include maximising the use of bioenergy in the forest industry, a goal of tripling the use of wood residues from forestry as a fuel and raw material to 12 million cubic metres by 2020, and the installation of heat pumps, bioenergy and solar energy systems for space heating.

Crucially, Finland aims to end the use of fossil oil for heating before 2030, and to increase the use of agricultural biomass and biogas as fuels. 

By 2020, installed wind power capacity should have increased to 2,000MW from the present 120MW, and off-shore wind power will be given a boost by leasing the sea areas cheaply.