EU presidency Finland says only investing in biofuels can influence oil prices
Quicknote bioenergy economics
Finland currently holds the rotating EU presidency, which is why statements made by Finnish politicians get more attention than usual. In an interesting column, Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen said that investing in biofuels and renewable energy resources is the only way western countries can really influence the price of oil. In his column in the Finnish daily Turun Sanomat that was quoted by the Finnish national broadcaster YLE's web site, Vanhanen wrote that energy will continue to be expensive in the future and demand will outgrow supply.
Although Mr Vanhanen called for government support for bioenergy in the form of legislation, taxation and subsidies, he underlined that the energy form must be profitable to be sustainable. "One important principle should be that sustainable bioenergy use can be created only by basing it on market prices." Speaking about Finland itself, Vanhanen suggested that half a million hectares should be used for bioenergy production, but added that there should be no objections to importing raw biomass or biofuels feedstocks from abroad.
From our perspective, we retain three important elements from this short statement: (1) bioenergy has the potential to put a dent in oil prices, (2) it should compete on the free market without subsidies, (3) like oil and gas, international biomass and biofuels trade should be promoted.
Sources:
Forbes: Finnish PM says investing in biofuel can influence oil prices - report
NewsRoom Finland: Next government must continue promotion of bioenergy -Finland's PM
[Entry ends here]
ethanol :: biodiesel :: biobutanol :: biomass :: bioenergy :: biofuels :: energy :: sustainability :: Africa ::
Finland currently holds the rotating EU presidency, which is why statements made by Finnish politicians get more attention than usual. In an interesting column, Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen said that investing in biofuels and renewable energy resources is the only way western countries can really influence the price of oil. In his column in the Finnish daily Turun Sanomat that was quoted by the Finnish national broadcaster YLE's web site, Vanhanen wrote that energy will continue to be expensive in the future and demand will outgrow supply.
Although Mr Vanhanen called for government support for bioenergy in the form of legislation, taxation and subsidies, he underlined that the energy form must be profitable to be sustainable. "One important principle should be that sustainable bioenergy use can be created only by basing it on market prices." Speaking about Finland itself, Vanhanen suggested that half a million hectares should be used for bioenergy production, but added that there should be no objections to importing raw biomass or biofuels feedstocks from abroad.
From our perspective, we retain three important elements from this short statement: (1) bioenergy has the potential to put a dent in oil prices, (2) it should compete on the free market without subsidies, (3) like oil and gas, international biomass and biofuels trade should be promoted.
Sources:
Forbes: Finnish PM says investing in biofuel can influence oil prices - report
NewsRoom Finland: Next government must continue promotion of bioenergy -Finland's PM
[Entry ends here]
ethanol :: biodiesel :: biobutanol :: biomass :: bioenergy :: biofuels :: energy :: sustainability :: Africa ::
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