While most of the publication “Power and Heat from Peat – Peat in Finnish Energy Policy” is written in the Finnish language, the following six English summaries give valuable insight into this largely unknown energy source. Vapo Oy is the largest producer of Peat Fuel in Finland.

Developments in Peat Harvesting Technology in Finland – Summary

Between the 1940s and the present, Finland’s peat industry went from being behind technologically to become the world’s leading innovator and producer of peat technology.

Between the 1940s and the 1960s the Association of Finnish Peat Industries, which was established during the war years, took care that Finnish know-how did not lag behind that of the world’s leading peat producing nations: the Soviet Union, Germany and Ireland. The period of cheap oil in the 1950s and 1960s spelt a downturn for Finland’s peat industry.

The Association of Finnish Peat Industries nonetheless actively monitored technological innovations in the sector. A particular area of interest was the milled peat technology developed in the Soviet Union which allowed large production volumes on a viable industrial scale. Milled peat could be used to make both garden and fuel peat and as a fuel for pulverised fuel-fired power plants.

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While most of the publication “Power and Heat from Peat – Peat in Finnish Energy Policy” is written in the Finnish language, the following six English summaries give valuable insight into this largely unknown energy source. Vapo Oy is the largest producer of Peat Fuel in Finland.

The Energy Peat Market in Finland – Summary

In the late 1960s and the early 1970s the decision makers in the Ministry of Trade and Industry and the management of the State Fuel Centre wisely foresaw that it was necessary to create a functioning market for peat. Small-scale producers, inconsistent peat quality and reliance on one customer (the Finnish State Railways) were factors that sowed the seeds of destruction for sod peat production in the 1950s. Admittedly the sector had also been depressed by exceptionally cheap oil. It had become clear that without state subsidies the peat industry could not compete against oil and coal because the imported fuels had a higher thermal value and prices in the 1960s were heading downwards.

Peat had to make up in price and security of supply what it lost in thermal value. A price comparison was made with oil in the 1960s and the early 1970s. Essentially peat was, and still is, a good fuel in terms of security of supply because the production, supply and usage chains are all within Finland.

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While most of the publication “Power and Heat from Peat – Peat in Finnish Energy Policy” is written in the Finnish language, the following six English summaries give valuable insight into this largely unknown energy source. Vapo Oy is the largest producer of Peat Fuel in Finland.

Peat as a Source of Energy: Environmental Awareness and Environmental Protection – Summary

Environmental protection and environmental awareness related to the utilisation of peat and peatlands have undergone a considerable transformation between the 1960s and the present day. The focus of environmental protection has also varied over time: in the 1960s and 70s mire conservation programmes and the impact of the peat industry on conservation targets were in the forefront; in the 1980s and 90s watercourse protection and the impact of peat extraction on biodiversity were among the key issues, and in the 1990s and since 2000 environmental protection has been dominated by climate policy, linked to the greenhouse gas emissions from peat combustion and the land usage of peatlands.

In terms of environmental awareness, there has been a progression towards a principle of increased environmental responsibility. The awareness of the peat industry – and of Finnish industry in general – of the environmental impact of their activities increased in the 1980s, and at the same time data on the impacts became available, the authorities imposed more standards and environmental protection started to be a major area of stakeholder interaction.

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While most of the publication “Power and Heat from Peat – Peat in Finnish Energy Policy” is written in the Finnish language, the following six English summaries give valuable insight into this largely unknown energy source. Vapo Oy is the largest producer of Peat Fuel in Finland.

Finnish Energy Policy and Peat as a Source of Energy – Summary

Finnish policy on energy and the operations of Vapo, which are elucidated in this chapter, changed quite drastically from the days of the Arab oil embargo in the early 1970s to the present day.

Before the first oil crisis in 1973–74, the Finnish energy system relied basically on hydropower and increasing imports of coal and crude oil. Especially in the 1960s, the energy self-sufficiency rate weakened and oil dependency grew significantly, causing problems for the security of energy supply. In addition, energy efficiency and energy savings were not a high priority since Finland imported most of its energy carriers (oil and coal) from the USSR.

The use of wood as an energy source, a traditional fuel for cooking and heating for centuries and for industrial power plants since the adoption of combustion technology in the late 19th century, declined after the Second World War as a result of nationwide electrification and the emergence of oil-fuelled district heating systems and power plants. Oil prices remained very low from the Korean War to the beginning of the 1970s.

Furthermore, policies regarding the use of forest resources were dictated by the importance of the expanding forest industry for the economy as a whole, and thus the use of wood as an energy source for non-industrial combustion plants was not particularly championed in the 1960s.

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While most of the publication “Power and Heat from Peat – Peat in Finnish Energy Policy” is written in the Finnish language, the following six English summaries give valuable insight into this largely unknown energy source. Vapo Oy is the largest producer of Peat Fuel in Finland.

Peat as an Energy Source before the First Oil Crisis – Summary

The subject of this study – biomass energy (e.g. wood, peat, reed canary grass, crops and waste) – is an area that has raised expectations in countries with extensive forest and peatland resources and fields. In spite of its CO2 emissions, biomass combustion is generally considered to be greenhouse gas-neutral because it is part of the contemporary carbon cycle (Randolph & Masters 2008).

However, peat is an exception among biomass-based fuels; it has been classified as a fossil fuel by the EU and as a slowly renewable biomass fuel by the Finnish government and the Finnish and Swedish peat industries. Thus it is not globally accepted that peat can be classified as a slowly renewable energy source or even as a biomass. Patrick Crill, Atte Korhola and Ken Hargreaves, all internationally recognised peatland and climate change experts, suggested in 2000 that peat should be classified as a biomass fuel, so as to distinguish it from biofuels (such as wood) and from fossil fuels (such as coal, lignite and oil shale) (Crill, Korhola and Hargreaves 2000).

However, their reasoning and conclusions have been criticized by environmental movements. The discussion on the classification of peat is still on going. Based on research by Finnish and Swedish scientists in the early 2000s, the IPCC placed peat fuel in a separate category, “peat”, occupying an intermediate position between biomass and lignite. On the whole, peat is still an energy source the definitions of which vary enormously between countries and also political parties.

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While most of the publication “Power and Heat from Peat – Peat in Finnish Energy Policy” is written in the Finnish language, the following six English summaries give valuable insight into this largely unknown energy source. Vapo Oy is the largest producer of Peat Fuel in Finland.

Northern Ontario has some of the largest deposits of peat fuel in the world. The North’s vast bogs have the energy equivalent of 72 billion barrels of oil – this province’s own version of the Alberta tar sands, none of which is being harvested for energy use. Current provincial resources policies are very hostile to the sustainable development of this strategic energy source. – Stan Sudol

Power and Heat from Peat

The use of peat for energy has a long and colourful history. The attitudes towards peat have ranged from confidence to criticism – often based on a vague understanding of how peat can be utilised.

Vapo’s 70th Anniversary Commemorative Book “Power and Heat from Peat – Peat in Finnish Energy Policy” takes the reader through yet unexplored paths of history and describes how peat has become an important part of Finland’s energy supply.

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