Recipes for Systemic Change - Helsinki Design Lab

and Finland's first nuclear power plant was commissioned in 1977. The useof peat fuel sources also began to rise in the 1970's.Finland’s existing energy supply mix is relatively well diversified. Sincethe mid-80's, oil consumption, the largest fuel share, has been relativelystable (25% in 2008). Wood fuels are next with 21%, followed by nuclear at17%. Overall, fossil fuels still account for at least 52% of total consumption(if peat is included). Renewable energy sources (RES) reached 28% in 2008with the greatest growth in the wind and hydropower sectors.Net Imports3%Hydro4%Peat6%Other3%Oil25%Coal10%Natural Gas11%Wood Fuels21%Nuclear Energy17%SourceStatisticsFinlandTotal Energy Consumption 2008The predominance of fossil fuels has resulted in significant carbonemissions from energy production in Finland. Yet carbon emissions perprimary energy unit are less than many European countries due to Finland’sdiversified fuel mix, which includes low or no emission sources.Industry is the largest consumer of energy. The sector was responsiblefor nearly half of Finland's total final consumption (TFC). The transportationand residential sectors each consumed about 20% of TFC; the commercialand other sectors were responsible for the rest. These shares have beenstable over the last few decades, although both industrial and commercialsectors have grown, especially during the last ten years. No one sector hasachieved a reduction in TFC.Use of biofuels, hydro and wind continues to grow at a nationalscale, and many of Finland's ubiquitous summer cottages are poweredby solar and heated with wood, suggesting broad-based publicfamiliarity with RES. This familiarity is not insignificant as the argumentfor the efficacy of RES should be self-evident for Finns. Familiaritygives proponents of renewables a special advantage nationallywhere the RES share has consistently approached 30% over thelast decade. In Europe, the average share of renewables is around 9%.237