Finland And Its Energy Policies

Finland is a member of the European Union (EU) and thus has its climate change goals set by that body. At the same time, the Finnish government has its own governing power over its country. For example, it decided that it would not support the ban on incandescent bulbs currently. Households at the moment are still allowed to use this kind of lighting, but other types of locations (aka industry) are not allowed to use this type of lighting in Finland.

Electricity costs are fixed in Finland at a high rate. Those rates start to decline the more that one consumes. The bulk consumers get a lower price for their electricity as they continue to purchase higher amounts.

Finland has to count on Russia for the bulk of its electricity. That is to say that 71% of the total power consumed in Finland comes from Russia. They simply have better ability to produce and provide this type of power. At the same time, this clearly leaves Finland at a security risk to Russia. In recent years partly because of this issue, the people of Finland have started to strongly pushing for wind energy. More than 90% of the country supports this type of alternative energy according to recent polls.

Plenty of alternative energy strategies have been pushed for in Finland. Wind power is the one with the most support, but there are plenty of other popular options that are moving forward. Hydro-electric power is another option that is being pushed for in the country, along with solar heating. Low energy homes are being promoted as a way to save on total energy costs.

Clearly, with so much power coming from Russia, there is a great incentive for the country to make the changes necessary to ween itself from being so heavily reliant on another country for their power. Policies moving forward are likely going to show more and more move towards alternative energy resources.

Finland has long been considered a leader on these energy policy ideas. They are likely to produce numerous innovations for us all in the future. That can be a great way for the whole world to start to save on energy costs.