Watching The Finnish… April 2013

Finnish climate change news

Finnish Meteorological Institute: “March was cold, dry and sunny” (in Finnish)

Yle: Cold March not a record-breaker

Yle: No end in sight for frosty spring

Yle: It’s official: Spring began April 2, says FMI

Yle: Worst spring floods in decades

Yle: Flooding eases, but ice floes still a threat

Yle: Flood situation fluid in the west; more rain in forecast

Yle: Flooding continues in north-west

Statistics Finland: Greenhouse gas emissions in 2011

Finnish Meteorological Institute: Climate change will raise the sea level in the Gulf of Finland

Academy of Finland: A clear change taking place in the energy consumption of Finnish households

Yle: Law to ensure green power really is green

Yle: Kymenlaakso students enter DIY solar-powered boat in road race

Good News from Finland: Smart street luminaire reduces energy consumption

Yle: Environment Minister: Fennovoima is desperate and confused

Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority STUK: The first phase completed in the official processing of Posiva’s application for construction licence

Yle: Park your car, ride two weeks for free

VTT: Hydrogen to join electricity in ending traffic pollution

Aalto University: 18.7% black silicon solar cells

Thomas Cornulier et al.: Europe-Wide Dampening of Population Cycles in Keystone Herbivores, see also the Metla press release (in Finnish).

Foreign news about Finland

Mongabay.com: Nordic energy giant launches ‘no deforestation’ policy

Watching The Finnish… March 2013

Finnish climate change news

Finnish Meteorological Institute: February was mild throughout the country

Finnish Meteorological Institute: A winter with few hours of sunshine

Yle: Long, sunny but cold days herald Finnish spring

Yle: Polar vortex behind recent cold weather

Yle: March possibly coldest in 50 years

Yle: Finland falls short of EU emissions caps

Yle: Irregularities found during Olkiluoto crackdown

Yle: STUK: Most Russian reactors wouldn’t pass muster in Finland

Good news from Finland: Vaasa inaugurates world’s largest bio-gasification plant

Good news from Finland: Composites resonate with customers

Good news from Finland: New materials save the environment

VTT: Biodegradable nappies from recycled cardboard

Good news from Finland: Small roofs harness solar energy for heat

Matilda agricultural statistics: The rainy summer was harsh on outdoor vegetables

Statistics Finland: Total energy consumption fell by 2 per cent in 2012

Statistics Finland: Prices of heating and transport fuels increased

Elina Peltomaa: Phytoplanktonic life in boreal humic lakes : special emphasis on autotrophic picoplankton and microbial food webs (doctoral dissertation, University of Helsinki)

Eeva Einola: Present and future fluxes of nitrogen, phosphorus and carbon from catchments to lakes in a boreal landscape (doctoral dissertation, University of Helsinki)

Piia Aatola: Putting a Price on Carbon Econometric Essays on the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme and its Impacts (doctoral dissertation, University of Helsinki), also available on the VATT website.

Watching The Finnish… February 2013

Finnish climate change news

Finnish Meteorological Institute: A milder than average January in the north (Finnish weather in January 2013)

Yle: Cloudiest winter in 25 years

Finnish Environment Institute: In the Gulf of Finland good oxygen situation with low level of phosphorus but increase in nitrogen

Yle: Olkiluoto 3 delayed till 2016

Yle: Fennovoima mulls Russian contractor for nuclear plant

Yle: Daily: Fennovoima breaks off talks with Areva

Yle: Minister: Fennovoima permits should be re-evaluated

The President of the Republic of Finland: Speech by President of the Republic Sauli Niinistö at the Opening of Parliament on 5 February 2013

Ministry of Employment and the Economy: Strategy review will ensure that the 2020 energy and climate targets are achieved

Yle: EU Commission wants to raise carbon price. Finnish MPs are at loggerheads over an EU Commission plan to raise the price of carbon.

Yle: Can the IT sector’s hunger for electricity be tamed?

Good News from Finland: Envor converts leftover food from cruise ships into biogas

Forest.fi: “Burning wood for energy will be an intermediate stage”

Finnish Environment Institute: The future of Nordic ecosystem services depends on political action

Terhi Rasilo: Connecting silvan and lacustrine ecosystems : transport of carbon from forests to adjacent water bodies (doctoral dissertation, University of Helsinki)

Syed Ashraful Alam: Carbon stocks, greenhouse gas emissions and water balance of Sudanese savannah woodlands in relation to climate change (doctoral dissertation, University of Helsinki)

Markku Kulmala et al.: Direct Observations of Atmospheric Aerosol Nucleation, see also the press release

Watching The Finnish… January 2013

Finnish climate change news

Finnish Meteorological Institute: December was colder than average

Finnish Meteorological Institute: The year 2012: Exceptionally rainy in places

Yle: Raising awareness on food waste

Statistics Finland: Consumption of hard coal decreased by 14 per cent in 2012

Finnish Energy Industries: Energy Year 2012 ELECTRICITY: Upturn in electricity consumption due to cold December and slight recovery of industrial production late in the year

Finnish Energy Industries: Energy year 2012 DISTRICT HEATING: District heat consumption up by eight percent

Statistics Finland: Carbon dioxide emissions from private motoring larger than those from professional land transport (2010 emissions by industry groups)

Yle: State firm sued over peat production

Good News from Finland: Helsinki recognized for best energy practices

Finnish Environment Institute: Towards better recovery of waste resources

Good News from Finland: Finnish companies among 100 most sustainable companies in the world

Yle: Fill your tank from the forest?

Forest.fi: Finland supports sustainability criteria for forest energy biomass

Good News from Finland: Enzymes create ethanol from harvest waste, see also the VTT press release

Good News from Finland: Finns behind unique biocoal study

Markus Ylänen: Wave Powered Desalination by Reverse Osmosis – A Feasibility Study (thesis/Aalto University), see also the press release and the news story

Mohamed Hamdy: Combining Simulation and Optimisation for Dimensioning Optimal Building Envelopes and HVAC Systems (pdf, doctoral dissertation/Aalto Univesity)

Ossi Ollinaho: Origins of institutional change: Brazilian alcohol fuel program between 1975 and 2000 (pdf, doctoral dissertation/Aalto University), see also the press release

Markku Anttonen: Eco-efficient services as a route towards sustainable development: between the traditional and the radical (doctoral dissertation/Aalto University), see also the press release

Aalto University: Black silicon can take efficiency of solar cells to new levels, see also the article by Päivikki Repo et al.

Katri Korpela et al.: Nonlinear effects of climate on boreal rodent dynamics: mild winters do not negate high-amplitude cycles

Raimo Virkkala et al.: Does the protected area network preserve bird species of conservation concern in a rapidly changing climate?, see also the press release

Aleksi Lehikoinen: Climate change, phenology and species detectability in a monitoring scheme see also the press release (in Finnish)

Watching The Finnish… December 2012

Finnish climate change news

Finnish Meteorological Institute: A mild November ended in a blizzard (Finnish weather in November 2012)

Yle: Antti leaves trail of snow drifts across Finland

Yle: Antti causes 10 million in forestry damage

Yle: Southern Finland due for snowiest Christmas in decades

Yle: Capital region set to miss December snow record

Yle: NGOs criticize Doha conference and Finland’s climate policy

Yle: Environment Minister: Lead role for Finland in emissions reduction

Statistics Finland: Greenhouse gas emissions decreased from the year before in 2011

Statistics Finland: Total energy consumption fell by 5 per cent in 2011

Statistics Finland: One-half of wood material used in Finland is burned

Statistics Finland: Value of the environmental goods and services sector close to EUR 12 billion

Yle: Cyber attacks, climate change outlined in new defence report

Yle: TVO unperturbed by nuclear reactor’s spiralling cost estimates

Good News from Finland: Helsinki gets green with electric and hybrid busses

Good News from Finland: VTT awarded for bio-oil development work (see also the VTT press release)

VTT: Improving enzymatic conversion of lignocellulose to platform sugars

VTT: Assessing the uncertainties of climate policies and mitigation measures. Viewpoints on biofuel production, grid electricity consumption and differentiation of emission reduction commitments

Aalto University: Sustainable business innovation adds firms’ market value

Ari Asmi: Natural and Anthropogenic Influences on Atmospheric Aerosol Variability (doctoral dissertation, University of Helsinki)

Ari Rajasärkkä and Raimo Virkkala: Preserving species populations in the boreal zone in a changing climate: contrasting trends of bird species groups in a protected area network (see also the Pensoft press release)

Milla Johansson et al.: Global sea level rise scenarios adapted to the Finnish coast

Watching The Finnish… November 2012

Finnish climate change news

Finnish Meteorological Institute: Local precipitation records broken in October (and other Finnish weather in October)

Yle: Blizzard blows in to southern Finland

Yle: Storm dislocates traffic in southern Finland

Yle: 30,000 blacked out by snowstorm

Yle: Record high winds, waves close to 10 metres

Yle: Snowstorm Antti in pictures

Yle: Åland Islands yield rare insect species

Yle: Fennovoima: Business as usual despite E.ON pullout

VTT: VTT: A low-carbon Finland is a great challenge, but an achievable one

Good News from Finland: Finnish food production – leading the way in climate awareness

Good News from Finland: Robots save us from mountains of waste

Good News from Finland: The Switch and Eniram win in international cleantech competition

Good News from Finland: Researchers make cheaper and safer batteries

Good News from Finland: Finnish invention reduces plastic packaging emissions

Good News from Finland: UPM and Metsä Board get WWF environmental paper awards

Good News from Finland: Neste Oil opens a pilot plant which makes microbial oil from straws

Statistics Finland: Over 80 per cent of energy consumption in households spent on heating between 2008 and 2011

Esa Vakkilainen et al.: about the economical competitiveness of various power plant alternatives

Johannes Leppä: Dynamics of neutral and charged aerosol particles (doctoral dissertation, University of Helsinki)

Toni Viskari: Estimating particle number size distributions from multi-instrument observations with Kalman Filtering (doctoral dissertation, University of Helsinki)

Jari Lyytimäki: The environment in the headlines : Newspaper coverage of climate change and eutrophication in Finland (doctoral dissertation, University of Helsinki), see also the press release

Watching The Finnish… October 2012

Finnish climate change news

Finnish Meteorological Institute: A warm but very wet September

Helsingin Sanomat: Record or near-record rainfall in September (Oct 2)

Yle: Autumn warmer and wetter than usual

Helsingin Sanomat: Rain, rain, go away… Heavy rains leave grain crops in fields, and cause potatoes to rot (Oct 4)

Yle: Floods result from heavy downpours

Yle: Paper: Hydro electric power exceeds nuclear output

Helsingin Sanomat: Exceptionally heavy flooding in Ostrobothnia forces many to evacuate homes (Oct 8)

Yle: Nearly two months’ rain in three days

Yle: Floodwaters receding

Yle: 1000s of hectares flooded in Satakunta

Yle: Poor potato crop could cause shortage

Helsingin Sanomat: No more state compensation for flood damage after 2013 (Oct 9)

Yle: Is Finland hurricane-proof?

Good News from Finland: VTT surveys weather hazards for the European transport system

Yle: Storm costs rise to half a billion euros. Power outages after last year’s Boxing Day storms wrought damage worth 455 million euros, says the Energy Market Authority.

Finnish Meteorological Institute: The loss of Arctic sea ice is a logical consequence of global warming

Statistics Finland: Production of energy and use of fossil fuels in decline in 2011

Statistics Finland: Consumption of hard coal decreased by 35 per cent in January to September

Helsingin Sanomat: Finnish nuclear power company’s claim for compensation increased by EUR 400 million (Oct 2)

Yle: TVO ups stakes in Areva compensation duel

Yle: Pro Union: employers neglect foreign workers at Olkiluoto site

Helsingin Sanomat: Der Spiegel: Olkiluoto nuclear power plant is facing serious security risks (Oct 3)

Yle: Paper: Workers at Olkiluoto forced to pay protection money to mafia

Helsingin Sanomat: EU calls for better preparations for nuclear emergencies (Oct 5)

Helsingin Sanomat: Fennovoima expected to choose Japanese supplier for nuclear plant (Oct 5)

Helsingin Sanomat: Pyhäjoki is waiting and wondering about its nuclear power plant (Oct 10)

Helsingin Sanomat: BREAKING NEWS: E.On pulling out of Fennovoima – Pyhäjoki nuclear project in jeopardy (Oct 24)

Yle: E.ON pulls out of Fennovoima nuclear project

Yle: E.ON: withdrawal from Finland ‘will not impact customers’

Helsingin Sanomat: Fennovoima says it is pushing on with nuclear project (Oct 25)

Yle: Häkämies: No need to reconsider nuclear plant permit

Yle: Greens chair shoots down Fennovoima nuclear project

Good News from Finland: UPM’s newsprint papers first to be granted EU Ecolabel

Yle: Oil from waste

Good News from Finland: Vehicle telematics company receives environmental award

Good News from Finland: Finnish companies ranked on top in the Nordic climate index

Helsingin Sanomat: Massive wind farms to be set up in northwest coastal areas (Oct 8)

VTT (via AlphaGalileo): Fuel and technology alternatives for buses. Overall energy efficiency and emission performance

Aalto University: Halving the food losses would feed an additional billion people

Aleksi Lehikoinen et al.: Impact of climate change and prey abundance on nesting success of a top predator, the goshawk. See also the press releases, in Finnish or in Swedish.

News about Finnish news media

Helsingin Sanomat terminated their English-language news service (“International Edition”) on October 26th, 2012.

Watching The Finnish… September 2012

Finnish climate change news

Finnish Meteorological Institute: Hot days were scarce during the summer months (incl. weather in August 2012)

Finnish Environment Institute: No significant changes in the condition of the Baltic Sea

Statistics Finland: Total energy consumption decreased by 5 per cent in January to June

Helsingin Sanomat: Hanasaari power plant to commence test burns of wood pellet mixed in with coal in November (Sep 6)

Forest.fi: Meeting bioenergy goals depends on wood processing industry

Good News from Finland: Finland’s largest block of wooden flats is completed in Helsinki

Yle: Daily: French Areva admits mistakes in Olkiluoto 3 nuclear project

Good News from Finland: Finnish firms make Sustainability Index

Good News from Finland: Neste Oil offers even cleaner diesel

VTT (via AlphaGalileo): Extreme weather conditions cos t EU’s transport system at least €15 billion annually

Helsingin Sanomat: Carpool supply is greater than demand here in Finland

Jon E. Brommer et al.: The Breeding Ranges of Central European and Arctic Bird Species Move Poleward. See also the press release in Finnish/in Swedish and Helsingin Sanomat (in English).

Sonja Kivinen et al.: Spatiotemporal distribution of threatened high-latitude snowbed and snow patch habitats in warming climate

Watching The Finnish… August 2012

Finnish climate change news

Finnish Meteorological Institute: Clearly more rain in some locations than on average in July (overview of the month’s weather in Finland)

Helsingin Sanomat: Heavy rains led to record-high discharges in Oulujoki River (Aug 14)

Helsingin Sanomat: Saimaa ringed seal numbers have grown to over 300 (Aug 28)

Statistics Finland: Consumption of hard coal decreased by 39 per cent in January to June

Helsingin Sanomat: Investor pullout delivers blow to nuclear plant project (Aug 30)

Helsingin Sanomat: District cooling making great strides in Helsinki (Aug 10)

Good News from Finland: Europe’s largest heat pump commissioned at Valio’s Seinäjoki plant

Helsingin Sanomat: Citizen-owned wind power plant set up in Kemi (Aug 17)

Good News from Finland: Cuycha takes its carbon neutralisation method to Australia and UK

VTT: Effectiveness and impact of climate change mitigation measures unclear (doctoral dissertation/Sampo Soimakallio)

Watching The Finnish… July 2012

Finnish climate change news

Finnish Meteorological Institute: June was cool and wet

Yle: Record summer rainfall

Yle: Exotic plants putting down roots in Finnish gardens

Yle: Drop in electricity consumption

Yle: Finnish wave power ready to surge

Good News from Finland: ZenRobotics to deliver solar-powered recycler robot to Belgium

Forest.fi: “Finnish bioenergy policy is ineffective”

Yle: Finnish power consortium to pay French Areva

Yle: More delays at Olkiluoto 3 reactor

Yle: Professor: No power but heavy losses from Olkiluoto 3

Foreign news about Finland

BBC News: Finland’s Olkiluoto 3 nuclear plant delayed again

Watching The Finnish… June 2012

Finnish climate change news

Finnish Meteorological Institute: May was wetter and slightly warmer than average

Yle: Research: Lapland’s climate soon like Helsinki’s

Yle: Unions plan action against nuclear utility

Helsingin Sanomat: Unions prepare for industrial action at Olkiluoto nuclear plant construction site (Jun 8)

Yle: Campaigners to present anti-nuclear petition to parliament

Finnish Meteorological Institute: Climateguide.fi: Information on climate change now available in Swedish and English

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland: Objectives pursued by Finland progressed at the Sustainable Development Summit in Rio

Ann Ojala: What Makes Us Environmentally Friendly? : Social Psychological Studies on Environmenal Concern, Components of Morality and Emotional Connectedness to Nature (doctoral dissertation, University of Helsinki)

Stefan Wahlen: Governing Everyday Consumption (doctoral dissertation, University of Helsinki)

Antto Vihma: Soft Law, Hard Law, and the North-South Politics of Climate Change (doctoral dissertation, University of Helsinki)

Pauli Paasonen: Analyses on the formation of atmospheric particles and stabilized sulphuric acid clusters (doctoral dissertation, University of Helsinki)

Jessica Linnaluoma: Factors controlling carbon gas fluxes in boreal lakes (doctoral dissertation, University of Helsinki)

Hannu Mikkola: Energy potential, energy ratios, and the amount of net energy in Finnish field crop production (doctoral dissertation, University of Helsinki)

Heini Kujala: Climate change, species range shifts and uncertainty : A new era of conservation planning (doctoral dissertation, University of Helsinki)

VTT: Extreme weather conditions cost EU’s transport system at least €15 billion annually

VTT: New technology reduces data centre energy consumption by more than 20 percent

Watching The Finnish… May 2012

Finnish climate change news

Finnish Meteorological Institute: Spring started with a cool April

Helsingin Sanomat: Be very afraid. Tick season has arrived! (May 15)

Finnish Environment Institute: Doctoral dissertation: Climate change affects floods and water resources in Finland in the 21st century; see also the actual publication (pdf)

Yle: Climate change increasing weather extremes in Finland

Sakari J. Salonen: Quantitative climate reconstructions based on fossil pollen : novel approaches to calibration, validation, and spatial data analysis (doctoral dissertation, University of Helsinki)

Risto Makkonen: From nanoclusters to climate forcers: global modeling of aerosol climate effects (doctoral dissertation, University of Helsinki)

Ministry of the Environment: UPM and the Ministry of the Environment have agreed on peatland nature conservation in Central Finland

Helsingin Sanomat: Half of Finland’s water footprint is from abroad (May 23)

National Consumer Research Centre: Signs of changes in meat consumption in Finland

VTT (via AlphaGalileo): Wood-based biodiesel in Finland. Market-mediated impacts on emissions and costs

Good News from Finland: Finland shines in Nordic Cleantech Open

Annukka Pakarinen: Evaluation of fresh and preserved herbaceous field crops for biogas and ethanol production (doctoral dissertation, University of Helsinki)

VTT (via AlphaGalileo): Arctic solar energy solutions

Finnish Environment Institute: Considerable potential for decreasing greenhouse gas emissions of housing, traffic and food

Matilda Agricultural Statistics: Greenhouse enterprises go for Finnish energy

Helsingin Sanomat: Finland forced to accept marine fuels sulphur content directive (May 30)

Helsingin Sanomat: Forest industry voices concerns over EU’s views on clear-felling (May 31)

Yle: ETLA: Finland could face Arctic oil compensation claims

Helsingin Sanomat: Web hosting service shuts down Greenpeace parody site attacking Neste Oil (May 24)

Good News from Finland: Finnish environmental activist wins prestigious award

Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland: Tuomioja about the Rio+20 Conference: “The best we can get there is hope”