Cross-border work for emission measurements

Leading Finnish research center has cooperated two decades with Russian partners in environmental measurements. Successful results have been achieved particularly in measurement skills, adaptation of new measurement methods, professionalism in emission measurements and quality assurance. Reliable data on emission levels is of importance for domestic and international purposes - in developing climate policies and measures to mitigate and adapt to climate change.

New showcase for climate-friendly action

A new online service to collect and distribute information on climate-friendly action to reduce costs and emissions has been launched in Finland. The service, opened by the Finnish Environment Institute, provides citizens, businesses, organizations and experts with a channel for sharing and acquiring information on a variety of climate-related topics, including the energy efficiency of buildings and renewable energy solutions.

Column: New worries after Durban

The agreement reached at the Durban climate negotiations in late 2011 is weak, but it is better than nothing, writes professor Ilkka Savolainen, who is an invited Lead Author of the IPCC Special Report on Renewable Energy and Climate Change. A sign of the despair of researchers over the implementation of emission reductions is that they assess possibilities for reflecting incoming solar radiation, for example by using particles injected in the upper atmosphere.

Waste-to-energy plant brings multi-benefits

Test runs of an advanced waste-to-energy plant are going on in Finland, and the plant will be taken in commercial use in April. The plant, owned and operated by Lahti Energia Oy, an energy company of the City of Lahti, utilizes new gasification technology and produces 50 megawatts of electricity and 90 megawatts of district heat - in an environmentally friendly way. In addition, it cuts use of fossil fuels thus reducing emissions from energy production.

Finnish and Russian SMEs stem power from cooperation

Cooperation between Finnish and Russian small an medium size enterprises is moving ahead as concrete projects though an agreement between national funding agencies from the two countries. The goal is to improve the enterprises' international competitiveness in jointly defined areas - including for instance; built environment, energy efficiency, ICT, biotechnology and medicine. The first joint round of applications attracted plenty of interest.

Producing superior biofuel from wood biomass

A method developed at Aalto University in Finland makes it possible to use microbes to produce butanol suitable for biofuel and other industrial chemicals from wood biomass. Combining a butanol and pulp plant into a modern biorefinery would provide significant synergy benefits in terms of energy use and biofuel production. This will, for instance, minimize the feed stock cost and help in improving the waste water treatment.

How will Chinese wind power develop?

The Chinese wind power market had been developing extremely fast, surpassing all the other markets in the world. Over the past 12 months, the market has run into various problems: rising rare-earth material costs, connectivity due to lack of fault ride-through capability and a new governmental financial policy. The changes are not the end of the business, but the environment now is more competitive - with no space for mistakes or compromises.

Arctic – an opportunity for Finnish-Russian cooperation

Turning the Northern Sea Route into a key commercial route - capable of competing with traditional sea routes in cost of services, safety and quality - is of importance both international transport and development of the Arctic regions. One of the main challenges is to preserve the vulnerable environment. The development efforts would open new opportunities for Finnish-Russian techno-economic cooperation.

Bio-economy – a key driver for green growth

In the future, our well-being will be based on the sustainable and wide-ranging use of renewable natural resources. The central element of this bio-economy is not refinement of biomass but a sustainable water and nutrient cycle, according to a new study. The transition from industrial production thinking to the smart management of natural resources will be an opportunity for sustainable, green growth - both locally and globally.

Finland pioneers an international university center

The University of Eastern Finland will open its doors to international operators as it starts carrying through a plan for an international university center. The first entrant to the new university center is a branch office of an Indian energy and research center TERI. In an environment accommodating several international bodies, new ideas and cooperation will make it easier to create new activities, as the effort required in finding funding for them.

New measurement system supports wind energy investments

A new system for wind resource assessment, power curve measurement, and monitoring operational wind farms allows operators to accurately understand and manage the impact that weather has on their operations and business, and as a result make better decisions. The system combines several decades of experience in weather observation with clear wind energy industry feedback.

St Petersburg's ecocity planning concept ready for implementation

A concept for ecologically efficient city planning tailored to St Petersburg conditions is ready to be applied in practice. The concept, developed in a project lead by the Technical Research Centre of Finland VTT, includes a dense urban structure, a minimized need for private transport and maximized use of public transport and light traffic, minimized energy consumption, the use of renewable energy with maximum efficiency, and sustainable waste and water treatment solutions.

Europe could increase biomass use to energy by a half

Agrobiomass and forest chips are the most underused bioenergy sources available today. There is potential for increasing their use by 50 percent from the present, according to a new study from an EU project that estimates the biomass potential in 23 EU Member States and Norway. The annual potential was estimated at the equivalent of 157 million tonnes of oil. The project aimed to increase biomass fuel use in the EU by finding ways to remove existing obstacles to trade.

Finland and Russia agree on a modernization partnership

Finland and Russia agreed this week on a bilateral modernization partnership at the meeting of the Commission for Economic Cooperation held in St. Petersburg this week. The declaration lists several fields of cooperation, such as energy efficiency, generation of electricity and heat, information technology, the forest industry, shipbuilding and the shipyard industry.

Sharing good practices provide most sustainable local solutions

Sharing good practices and multiplying new solutions contribute to cooperation and entrepreneurship, create new partnerships and socio-cultural models and strengthen the state of sustainable development in the Nordic countries and countries in the wider Baltic Sea Region. This week experts from 19 countries shared positive experiences - from innovations and operation models to knowledge, ways of thinking, attitudes and products - at a conference held in Finland.