A Europe-wide green energy trading scheme would be detrimental to the pursuit of increased use of wood for fuel, according to the Finnish Forest Industries Federation (FFIF).
The European Commission wants to see a 38% increase in the use of renewable energy and has proposed a green energy trading mechanism to go alongside emissions trading.
However, FFIF said that in order to take account of local conditions, European member states should “decide how to promote renewable energy sources”.
It said that the forestry industry already accounts for 70% of renewable energy production in Finland, with 40% of materials received by mills ending up in bioenergy production.
“Further negotiations must focus on scaling and focusing renewable energy promotion measures so as to encourage the bringing of wood and other biomass onto the market,” said FFIF.
Chief executive officer Anne Brunila also said that energy and climate change proposals could force producers in the energy-intensive paper industry to move to “places where there are no climate regulations”, affecting the competitiveness of the Finnish forest industry.
