Coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...

is used as an energy source in

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

. Since Finland has no domestic coal production, it must import it from other countries, primarily from

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. Finland is a peat-producing nation. Peat is classified as coal by the IEA. In 2016, the Finnish government announced plans to phase out coal by 2030. In 2021, the total energy supply (TES) featured a diverse mix of sources.

Bioenergy Bioenergy is a type of renewable energy that is derived from plants and animal waste. The Biomass (energy), biomass that is used as input materials consists of recently living (but now dead) organisms, mainly plants. Thus, Fossil fuel, fossil fu ...

and waste were the largest contributors at 33.6%, followed by oil (20.8%), nuclear energy (18.5%), and coal (6.3%). In March 2022, the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

(EU) introduced sanctions that resulted in a complete ban on importing Russian coal, which became fully operational by August 2022.

Climate policy

The National Climate and Energy Strategy (NCES) sets out Finland's plan for meeting the EU's energy and climate goals for 2030, along with its own national targets. These commitments involve reducing

greenhouse gas Greenhouse gases (GHGs) are the gases in the atmosphere that raise the surface temperature of planets such as the Earth. Unlike other gases, greenhouse gases absorb the radiations that a planet emits, resulting in the greenhouse effect. T ...

(GHG) emissions by 60% by 2030, achieving

carbon neutrality Global net-zero emissions is reached when greenhouse gas emissions and removals due to human activities are in balance. It is often called simply net zero. ''Emissions'' can refer to all greenhouse gases or only carbon dioxide (). Reaching net ze ...

by 2035, and phasing out the importation of Russian energy.

Coal

There is no

coal mining Coal mining is the process of resource extraction, extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its Energy value of coal, energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to Electricity generation, generate electr ...

coal tar Coal tar is a thick dark liquid which is a by-product of the production of coke and coal gas from coal. It is a type of creosote. It has both medical and industrial uses. Medicinally it is a topical medication applied to skin to treat psoria ...

in Finland, and all coal is imported. According to

Finnwatch Finnwatch is a Finnish civic organisation focused on global corporate responsibility. It seeks to promote ecologically, socially or economically responsible business by engaging companies, economic regulation and public discussion. Behind Finnwat ...

(27.9.2010) there are 13 coal power plants in Finland. The companies

Pohjolan Voima Pohjolan Voima Oyj (PVO; ; ) is the second biggest Finnish energy company, which owns hydropower and thermal power plants (including biofuel-fired power plants). Shareholders Pohjolan Voima is a founder and main shareholder of the Olkiluoto Nuclea ...

Fortum Fortum Oyj is a Finland, Finnish Government of Finland, state-owned energy company located in Espoo, Finland. It mainly focuses on the Nordic countries, Nordic region. Fortum operates power plants, including co-generation plants, and generate ...

Helsingin Energia Helen Oy, stylized as HELEN, formerly known as Helsingin Energia ( Finnish) and ''Helsingfors Energi'' ( Swedish), is one of the largest energy companies in Finland. The company, founded in 1909 produces and sells electricity, district heating and ...

and

Rautaruukki Rautaruukki Oyj, using the marketing name Ruukki, is a Finnish company, headquartered in Helsinki, which manufactures and supplies metal-based components and systems to the construction and engineering industries. In 2014 Swedish SSAB bought Ru ...

are the largest coal consumers. According to the Finnwatch inquiry in 2010 none of the Finnish companies had yet a commitment to

coal phase out Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...

. Energy companies stated following reductions in their future coal use:

-40% by 2020, ''Lahti Energia'' several tens of % by 2012 and ''Vantaan Energia'' -30% by 2014. Coal from the East and the South
Responsibility in energy company coal purchases, FinnWatch 23.12.2010 In October 2018, the Finnish parliament approved a government proposal to ban the use of coal to produce energy from May 1, 2029. According to Statistics Finland, the consumption of hard coal decreased by three percent in 2018 in comparison 2017. The consumption of hard coal as a fuel in the generation of electricity and heat amounted to 3.1 million tonnes, corresponding to 79 petajoules (PJ) in energy content. Between 2011 and 2021, Finland saw a notable transformation in its

energy mix The energy mix is a group of different primary energy, primary energy sources from which secondary energy for direct use - such as electricity - is produced. Energy mix refers to all direct uses of energy, such as transportation and housing, and ...

. The proportion of fossil fuels in the total energy supply (TES) decreased from 53% to 36%, with a decline observed in all fossil fuel types. Notably, the share of coal in the TES fell from 11% to 6.3% over the decade.

Peat

Finland is a producer of

peat Peat is an accumulation of partially Decomposition, decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, Moorland, moors, or muskegs. ''Sphagnum'' moss, also called peat moss, is one of the most ...

, which by the definition of IEA is considered as a form of coal. Peat is environmentally controversial and disputed domestic soil material. Peat balances the water levels and prevents

flood A flood is an overflow of water (list of non-water floods, or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are of significant con ...

s. Peatland plants captures the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and hence, it is said that the peatland ecosystem is an efficient

carbon sink A carbon sink is a natural or artificial carbon sequestration process that "removes a greenhouse gas, an aerosol or a precursor of a greenhouse gas from the atmosphere". These sinks form an important part of the natural carbon cycle. An overar ...

. Undisturbed peat soil areas are rich in flora and fauna. ''Vapo Oy'' is the largest peat producer. In 1994 Vapo had 80% of markets in Finland. Vapo was state owned company until 2002. Metsäliitto bought one third in 2002 and 49,9% in 2004. The acquisition was studied by the Finnish competition authorities in 2001 based on dominant position in the peat business. The

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...

accepted the deal. In 2009 ''Metsäliitto'' sold its share with 165 million € to ''Etelä-Pohjanmaan Voima Oy'' (EPV Oy).Esa Ruuskanen and Vapo: Suosta voimaa ja lämpöä, Turve Suomen energiapolitiikassa (Power and heat from peat, Peat in Finnish energy policy), Vapo 2010 pages157-8, 108-9 In practice, Vapo is owned by the state, EPV and the major plants using peat, in the way that EPV has the A series stocks. Peat energy of Vapo is danger to the sustainability of bogs in Finland.Laiha sopu uppositurvesuohon HS 25.6.2012 A2 Between 2011 and 2021, the proportion of peat in the total energy supply (TES) decreased from 5.8% to 2.7%, reflecting the overall trend observed across all fossil fuel types.

Coal import

Finland imported 18.3 million tons of coal in 2007–2009. The share of coal by country of origin in 2007-2009 was:

72.5%,

the United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

7.3%,

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

6.6%,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

5.9%,

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

3.0%,

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

1.4%, Columbia 1.3%, and

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

1.1%. The majority of Finnish coal is mined in the

Kuznetsk Basin The Kuznetsk Basin (, Кузбасс; often abbreviated as Kuzbass or Kuzbas) in southwestern Siberia, Russia, is one of the largest coal mining areas in Russia, covering an area of around . It lies in the Kuznetsk Depression between Tomsk and ...

of the

Kemerovo Oblast Kemerovo Oblast (, ), also known as Kuzbass (, ), after the Kuznetsk Basin, is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Kemerovo is the administrative center and largest city of the oblast. Kemerovo Oblast is one of Rus ...

, Russia.

Carbon dioxide emissions

References

{{Europe topic, Coal in Climate change in Finland