Bioenergy and the forest industry in Finland after the adoption of the Kyoto protocol

Abstract

In Finland the percentage of biomass fuels of total primary energy supply is relatively high, close to 17%. The share of biomass in the total electricity generation is as much as 10%. This high share in Finland is mainly due to the cogeneration of electricity and heat within forest industry using biomass-based by-products and wastes as fuels. Forest industry is also a large user of fossil-based energy. About 28% of total primary energy consumption in Finland takes place in forest industry, causing about 16% of the total fossil carbon dioxide emissions. The Kyoto protocol limits the fossil CO 2 and other greenhouse gas emissions and provides some incentives to the Finnish forest sector. There are trade-offs among the raw-material, energy and carbon sink uses of the forests. Fossil emissions can be reduced e.g. by using more wood and producing chemical pulp instead of mechanical one. According to the calculation rules of the Kyoto protocol Finnish forests in 2008–2012 are estimated to form a carbon source of 0.36 Tg C a −1 due to land use changes. Factually the forest biomass will still be a net carbon sink between 3.5 and 8.8 Tg C a −1 . Because the carbon sinks of existing forests are not counted in the protocol, there is an incentive to increase wood use in those and to decrease the real net carbon sink. Also the criteria for sustainable forestry could still simultaneously be met.