Development of the Bioenergy as a Part of Renewable Energy in the Nordic Countries: A Comparative Analysis

Abstract

A comparative assessment of the bioenergy and renewable energy situation in the Nordic countries, Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Norway, was conducted in this study. What factors have contributed to the current high use of renewable energy and especially bioenergy in the Nordic countries? What are the sources of renewable energy and where renewable energy is being used? The development of renewable energy use is described by time series and compared to the overall development of the EU. All of the Nordic countries have high renewable energy consumption and have already met the target for gross final energy consumption according to the Europe 2020 strategy while the EU is behind the 20% target. In total, 53.1 Mtoe renewable energy was used in the Nordic countries in 2018, which was 51% of the final energy consumption, 103.3 Mtoe. Bioenergy accounts for approximately half of renewable energy, 25.8 Mtoe, and is anticipated to develop further. Especially in Norway and Sweden the share of renewable energy was high (73% and 55%) compared to Finland and Denmark (41% and 36%). Norway is famous for hydropower (81% share of Renewable Energy Sources (RES) in 2018) and Denmark for wind power production (20%), while Finland utilizes a lot of biomass for co-generation and heating (79%), followed by Denmark (64%) and Sweden (55%) in 2018. At EU level, bioenergy plays even a higher role than in Nordic countries in renewable energy production (56%) in 2017 and is anticipated to continue to grow in all end-use sectors such as heating and cooling, electricity generation and transport, in the 2020s.

The Role of Bioenergy in Achieving the Carbon Neutrality Target in Finland by 2035—A Case Study of Student Surveyed at University in Finland

“…There are uncertainties associated with sustainability in harvesting stumps and forest owners are unwilling to collect them for energy use [27]. Previous studies suggest similar techno-economic potential without stumps, ranging from 76 to 101 PJ [2]. The lower value describes the potential based on the current level of felling and the upper the maximum sustainable felling volume.…”

“…The most significant source of bioenergy is wood-based energy, total 377,726 TJ being 74% of renewable energy in 2019. Bioenergy also has a significant role to play in the EU, as it currently accounts for almost 60% (56% in 2018) of renewable energy use, and bioenergy is expected to continue to grow in the coming decades [2]. The role of renewable energy is high in the Nordic countries in all end-use sectors [3].…”

Assessing and prioritizing challenges facing bioenergy supply chain in norway: A Delphi-AHP method

“…In the same year, Norway's share of renewable energy was the highest (73%) compared to other Nordic countries such as Sweden, Finland, and Denmark (55%, 41%, and 36%, respectively). In Norway, however, bioenergy contributes about 6% of the total renewable energy, mainly for transportation and heating purposes [8].…”

“…1. In Norway, forestry biomass has the most potential for bioenergy dissemination [8], followed by waste used in district heating [7]. In Norway, biomass availability is not considered a constraint to the growing use of bioenergy.…”

“…In Norway, biomass availability is not considered a constraint to the growing use of bioenergy. However, in the medium term, a rise in biomass supply would necessitate higher pricing to incentivize producers to supply biomass [8]. Biomass availability leads to the cost of purchasing biomass being a significant challenge compared to other energy sources.…”