The use of forest bioenergy increases the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. It is expected that this will begin to be taken into account in climate policy emission calculations.
Professor Mikael Hildén, Finnish Environment Institute
Is the energy use of wood based on incorrect calculations? Professor Mikael Hilden?
The emission factor for burning wood is practically zero in the EU's current climate policy. However, studies show that the use of forest bioenergy does cause carbon dioxide emissions. The EU has paid attention to this and is working on processes to take emissions into account in future climate policy decisions.
Finland should not put its head in the sand and imagine that the current situation will continue forever. Otherwise, it will be like what happened with the peat issue. Finland hit its head against the wall when it tried until the end to influence that peat would be something other than a fossil fuel.
There may be a price for carbon dioxide emissions from wood burning. It is likely that even after that, it will be sensible to utilize some of the forest resources for energy production. However, we should not get hung up on solutions whose viability is strongly based on current calculation rules, but rather prepare for different possibilities.
