In the coming winter, a sufficient supply of food and energy must be ensured within our own country, which means that the ability to heat homes will be more important than short-term climate goals, explains Heli Peltola, Professor of Silviculture and a member of the Finnish Climate Change Panel.

While other parts of Europe are frantically searching for solutions to replace Russian natural gas, in the forest-rich Nordic countries, wood is the main focus of energy discussions. Heli Peltola points out that several million cubic metres of raw timber were once imported from Russia; as these imports have ceased, they must be replaced by timber from Finland or other European countries. A third of Finland's energy production depends on wood, most of which consists of forest industry by-products, such as bark and sawdust.

Wood used for energy is also obtained directly from forests through the thinning of young stands, intermediate fellings, and regeneration fellings. Energy wood consists of small-diameter wood and branches that are too small for pulp production or other purposes. Wood chips make up less than a fifth of energy wood, and the share of Russian wood chips was, accordingly, about one-fifth of that.

For a long time, Finnish forest owners have had access to special subsidies to encourage them to tend young stands where management has been neglected. At the same time, it is possible to receive a subsidy for collecting the energy wood thinned from the forests.

“In this situation, we must be able to meet the growing demand for wood for energy production. State support for the extraction of energy wood is already justified now in order to ensure both security of supply in Finland and the future development and growth potential of our forests,” H. Peltola explains in an interview with Audiomedia.

(...) “Climate change is a global problem. If logging is reduced in Finland due to climate considerations, and the deficit is compensated for by importing wood from other countries, this can lead to greenwashing,” says H. Peltola.

“All imported timber must be produced sustainably, regardless of where it comes from.”