Panelists and participants exchanged views on the Finnish strategy to reach European and global climate objectives, based on a mix of solutions including electricity, biogas and renewable liquid fuels. What is the perfect mix of low carbon technologies allowing to reach emission reductions while ensuring reliable supply and affordable costs to consumers? This question will certainly resonate further in the run up to the national elections in Finland.
Few months after the release of the European Commission’s “Long-Term Strategy” for a climate-neutral economy, stakeholders from research, governments, fuel producers and supply chain gathered to discuss the way forward in Finland, at a conference organised on 4 April by the Finnish Energy Cooperative SEO under the auspices of UPEI – the voice of Europe’s independent fuel suppliers.
Antti Ilmari Peltomäki, Head of Delegation, European Commission Representation in Finland, provided an overview of the European policy framework for reducing emissions across sectors by 2030, with an emphasis on the need for the European industry to adapt to remain competitive on the global scene.
Johanna Särkijärvi, Research Director, Finnish Ministry of Transport and Communications, reiterated the commitment of Finland to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 and listed the measures undertaken to reach this objective, including consumers’ incentives, renewable obligations, taxation etc.
Juhani Laurikko, Principal Scientist, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, said that the fast track to emission reduction lied with low carbon fuels compatible with the existing infrastructure and vehicle fleet, while emphasising on the need to adopt a life-cycle approach to vehicles’ emissions.
Carl Nyberg, Executive Vice-President Renewable Products, Neste, shared the company experience with the transition from fossil to renewables, and explained how innovation in future fuels will help address the climate challenge.
All panellists emphasised on the need to combine various low and carbon neutral solutions to maximise climate benefits while fulfilling consumers’ needs. They should be able to compete fairly, allowing market players to make rational investment decisions to deploy the technologies they believe are most promising.
Contact: Cécile Nourigat, Secretary General │ +32 2 7402020 │ info@upei.org
Johanna Silén, Marketing Coordinator, johanna.silen@seo.fi