People at a tram stop in Helsinki on Monday, 3 June 2024. Helsinki Region Environmental Services (HSY) has reported that direct greenhouse gas emissions in the Finnish capital decreased by roughly a quarter from the previous year in 2023, driven by the decreasing use of coal and increasing use of biofuels in energy generation. (Markku Ulander – Lehtikuva)
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THE CAPITAL REGION of Finland registered an unusually dramatic drop in its direct greenhouse gas emissions in 2023, indicate provisional statistics published by Helsinki Region Environmental Services (HSY) on Friday.
The statistics indicate that direct emissions in the region fell by almost 20 per cent from the previous year, to roughly 3.7 million tonnes of carbon-dioxide equivalents.
Helsinki accounted for roughly two million tonnes of the total despite reporting the most notable drop in emissions, one of 25 per cent from the previous year. Espoo and Kauniainen, by contrast, reported year-on-year drops of 15 per cent and Vantaa a drop of 8 per cent in greenhouse gas emissions.
The emissions were calculated based on consumption occurring in the region. The calculations therefore do not take into account emissions stemming from commodities, such as food or construction products, before they enter the region.
The statistics are provisional because emissions from transport were calculated based on data from 2022. The data for last year are scheduled to become available in June.
Tiina Haaspuro, a climate expert at HSY, on Friday said the decrease in greenhouse emissions was primarily attributable to a decrease in emissions from district heat and electricity production – with emissions from district heat production falling by 31 per cent.
“A shift toward lower-emission fuels took place in district heat production. Especially the drop in coal use and the growing share of biofuels and heat pumps reduced emissions from heat production substantially,” she commented.
The use of coal fell by almost 45 per cent as a result of the decommissioning of the coal-fired power plant in Hanasaari, Helsinki, in early 2023. With the Salmisaari B plant scheduled to discontinue the use of coal in the first half of next year, the role of coal in the region’s energy mix is set to continue decreasing, wrote Helsingin Sanomat.
The use of biofuels rose by about 50 per cent and that of heat pumps by nearly 40 per cent from the previous year.
Emissions from electricity production in the region decreased by over 20 per cent from the previous year. The decrease is attributable to changes in the national energy infrastructure, including the growing wind power capacity and the completion of Olkiluoto 3, the third reactor unit at Olkiluoto Nuclear Power Plant.
Overall electricity consumption decreased by only 3.5 per cent, despite the unusually high prices.
In part, however, the drop in greenhouse gas emissions is explained by random variation. The baseline year, 2022, was dismal for emissions as Finland scrambled to replace natural gas with coal and oil following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Aleksi Teivainen – HT
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Source: www.helsinkitimes.fi
