Possibilities to Use Wood Fuels in Energy Production in Finland, case: Alholmens Kraft

摘要

The climate summits in Kyoto and in Buenos Aires on the reduction in the greenhouse gas emissions of both the industrialised and industrialising countries have presented a strong signal towards the utilization of regenerative energy resources as the only option for replacing fossil energy resources. The use of biofuels has several immediate benefits to the environment and to the national economy: l Forest energy is an excellent maintainer of the carbon dioxide balance. l Biomass is a low-sulphur fuel and thus its combustion contributes less to the acid-rain phenomenon than the combustion of fossil fuels. l Nitrogen emissions from different bioenergy sources are lower than emissions from combustion of fossil fuels. l Burning biowaste avoids harmful environmental effects of dumping and decomposition. l Biofuels have a low ash content, and ash has been found to be an excellent fertilizer in the forest and peat lands. l As a domestic and renewable source of energy biofuels create work opportunities. Several new power plants to be fired with wood are being designed in Finland and some are already under construction, the largest of which is the Alholmens Kraft power plant in Pietarsaari (fuel capacity 600 MW). It is also common knowledge that several other companies in the wood processing industry are planning to acquire new wood/peat-fired boilers. The wood use of all these plants would be large in scale and would require that the realistic availability of wood would be studied. It is probable that 10-20 largest power plants (fuel capacity: >100 MW) in Finland will consume 80-90% of the *energy wood* in supply in the country. The medium-sized plants (fuel capacity: 1-100 MW) will also have an important role, and let's not forget all those small 'energy wood' consumers (fuel capacity: <1 MW) that have a great importance regionally. There have often been public debates on the regional sufficiency in wood fuel and its potential use in energy production. It is certain that Finnish power plants can, now and in the future, utilize all the wood-based biomass that can be delivered to the plants at a competitive price. The greatest national challenge is to develop further the supply chains of wood fuel so that the price could be cut, the quality improved, the quantities to be delivered increased and the availability of the fuel guaranteed.