Finnish municipalities maintain greenhouse gas emissions, but there are still challenges

In addition, total kilometers decreased slightly compared to the previous year.

However, emissions from district heat production increased by around five percent, even though emissions decreased by nine percent per unit of energy produced. The increase in emissions was due to a 15 percent increase in energy consumption in the industry.

Electricity consumption also increased by eight percent, which led to an increase in electricity production using fossil fuels. As a result, the specific emission factor of electricity production rose slightly compared to the previous year.

Santtu Karhinen, a specialist researcher at the Finnish Environment Institute, said that the year 2020 was exceptional due to the global pandemic, which affected the functioning of society and led to warmer weather. In contrast, 2021 was significantly colder, and society began to recover from the initial shock of the pandemic.

Waste treatment emissions decreased by 5.4 percent compared to the previous year, and the share of the waste sector in total emissions in 2021 was 4.5 percent. The reduction in emissions was mainly due to the recovery of landfill gas and limiting the placement of biodegradable waste in the landfill.

Emissions of fluorinated greenhouse gases (F-gases) decreased by seven percent and agricultural emissions by slightly more than one percent compared to the previous year.

The distribution of emissions in different industries remained relatively unchanged from the previous year. The main industries requiring significant emissions that require targeted reductions are road transport (27 percent), agriculture (20 percent), district heat consumption (14 percent) and electricity consumption (heating and consumer electricity together 12 percent).

Despite the flat emission levels in 2021, positive long-term emission trends can be observed. From 2005 to 2021, greenhouse gas emissions decreased by 27.7 percent in almost all Finnish municipalities.

Monitoring of emissions in accordance with the Climate Act

The Climate Act requires that municipalities prepare or update a climate plan at least once per council term, which contains information on the development of greenhouse gas emissions. The Finnish Environment Agency maintains an emissions data service for municipalities and regions in order to comply with the Climate Act.

The emissions data service presents the emissions according to Hinku's calculation rules without carbon dioxide emissions as the assumption of emissions monitoring in accordance with the instructions of the Climate Act. The reporting and communication regarding the results will also be in accordance with the requirements of the legislation.

Karhinen emphasized that in order to follow the ambitious emission reduction goals of Hinku's network municipalities, the emissions data service will continue to present emissions in accordance with Hinku's calculation rules with carbon compensation. The emissions data service produces results without the restrictions of Hinku's calculation rule and separates emissions into the work sharing sector and emissions trading.

Regional differences in emissions per inhabitant

There are still significant differences in emissions and their development between municipalities and regions. The lowest emissions per inhabitant are in the southern regions, but comparatively the emissions decreased the most in Lapland, North Ostrobothnia and Kainuu.

Regional differences are caused by, among other things, the structure of the economy, geographical location, weather conditions and the use of district heating fuel.

Development of the emission calculation

A few changes were made in the recently published emission calculations, which affected both the 2021 results and the previously published emission time series. These changes included updating the characterization factors used to aggregate the global warming potential (GWP) of different greenhouse gases.

The calculation of industrial emissions was changed in such a way that the emissions of all emissions trading industries were excluded, regardless of emissions. The change significantly reduced the industrial emissions tracked in Hinku's calculations in some municipalities.

Other changes include refining the wastewater calculations in waste treatment emissions to take into account centralized and decentralized wastewater treatment and updating the emission coefficients related to the mileage of the street and road network in the road traffic calculations.

The emission data service is being expanded to cover emission data from 1990, because some municipalities have chosen it as the comparison year for emission targets. Preliminary data on 2022 emissions will be published in autumn 2023 and completed in spring 2024.

The municipalities' emission calculation system has received funding from e.g European Union Life IP Canemure project.

In summary, it can be stated that even though Finnish municipalities' greenhouse gas emissions remained at the previous year's level in 2021, there are still challenges in areas such as road traffic, agriculture, district heat consumption and electricity consumption. Monitoring and targeted reduction measures are needed to further reduce emissions and correct regional differences. Continuous development of emission calculations and compliance with the Climate Act help municipalities in their climate planning and mitigation.

HT


https://nord.news/2023/05/30/finnish-municipalities-maintain-greenhouse-gas-emissions-but-there-are-still-challenges/?feed_id=30925

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