Finland government has proposed a plan to stop the use of coal by 2025 rather than the 2030 deadline that was earlier set by it last week end. And this proposal drew sharp comments and resentment from the Finnish energy industry.
While it is fact that over the next ten years, there would be a drastic reduction of coal on its own, the government proposal to hasten the phasing out deadline of the fossil fuel would result in enhancement of costs of production of energy which would result in either the customers shelling out more money or the tax payers paying up more tax, said Jukka Leskela, CEO of the national association of energy production, on Saturday.
Natural gas should be the preferred choice of energy companies instead of coal – the usage of which needs to be given up as a source for energy production, Kimmo Tiilikainen, Finnish Minister of the Environment, Energy and Housing, had said on Friday.
There had been recent reports that portrayed Finland in bad light with respect to its carbon footprint and the announcement by Tiilikainen came after such reports became public.
There had been a six percent increase in the emission of greenhouse gas in Finland between 2015 and 2016, Statistics Finland had said late last year. do data about he 2017 figures are however available for comparison.
Using coal as a fuel source in facilities that are engaged in both generation of power as well as for household heating was the primary contributor to the increase, the data showed.
Coal forms the main source of fuel for over 1.2 million Finns for purposes of heating up their homes through the district delivery services. Coal is used as one of the major energy sources for many major Finnish cities including Helsinki.
Local municipalities are the owners of most of the coal powered energy plants. All of the coal used in Finland is imported as there are no coal mines in the country.
Tiilikainen had said that the government is considering the possibility of eliminating the use of coal for a fuel source within 2025 rather than the previously announced date of 2030 and noted that just 60 per cent of the greenhouse gasses are emitted by the burning of natural gas when compared with burning coal as a fuel source.
However, coal should be replaced by natural gas in the short-term, Tiilikainen said. Later on, natural gas should again be ultimately replaced by biomass and biogas.
The promotion of natural gas as a replacement of coal for fuel in power generation and heating purposes would be a complete reversal of government policy because the usage of natural gas has seen a decline over the years and higher levels of taxes have been imposed on it, the local media said.
In 2019, there should be enhancement of incentives in taxation favoring natural gas, Tiilikainen said.
(Source:www.xinhuanet.com)
While it is fact that over the next ten years, there would be a drastic reduction of coal on its own, the government proposal to hasten the phasing out deadline of the fossil fuel would result in enhancement of costs of production of energy which would result in either the customers shelling out more money or the tax payers paying up more tax, said Jukka Leskela, CEO of the national association of energy production, on Saturday.
Natural gas should be the preferred choice of energy companies instead of coal – the usage of which needs to be given up as a source for energy production, Kimmo Tiilikainen, Finnish Minister of the Environment, Energy and Housing, had said on Friday.
There had been recent reports that portrayed Finland in bad light with respect to its carbon footprint and the announcement by Tiilikainen came after such reports became public.
There had been a six percent increase in the emission of greenhouse gas in Finland between 2015 and 2016, Statistics Finland had said late last year. do data about he 2017 figures are however available for comparison.
Using coal as a fuel source in facilities that are engaged in both generation of power as well as for household heating was the primary contributor to the increase, the data showed.
Coal forms the main source of fuel for over 1.2 million Finns for purposes of heating up their homes through the district delivery services. Coal is used as one of the major energy sources for many major Finnish cities including Helsinki.
Local municipalities are the owners of most of the coal powered energy plants. All of the coal used in Finland is imported as there are no coal mines in the country.
Tiilikainen had said that the government is considering the possibility of eliminating the use of coal for a fuel source within 2025 rather than the previously announced date of 2030 and noted that just 60 per cent of the greenhouse gasses are emitted by the burning of natural gas when compared with burning coal as a fuel source.
However, coal should be replaced by natural gas in the short-term, Tiilikainen said. Later on, natural gas should again be ultimately replaced by biomass and biogas.
The promotion of natural gas as a replacement of coal for fuel in power generation and heating purposes would be a complete reversal of government policy because the usage of natural gas has seen a decline over the years and higher levels of taxes have been imposed on it, the local media said.
In 2019, there should be enhancement of incentives in taxation favoring natural gas, Tiilikainen said.
(Source:www.xinhuanet.com)
