Columns Energy revolution will not happen without innovation

I belong among the optimists who imagined that a crisis such as the war in Ukraine in our neighborhood is unlikely. On the basis of rational Western thinking, it is impossible to understand the cruel logic of war that the Ukrainian people have had to face. The amount of human suffering cannot even be imagined, even though the media conveys a constant stream of news about the horrors of war.

In this situation, our place is to be a strong supporter of the Ukrainian people. Ending the war as soon as possible must be the goal of all diplomatic activity. Indeed, Western countries have been seldom united and active in their efforts to achieve peace. Various sanctions have been part of the advocacy work. Energy has become the hottest topic of discussion when it comes to sanctions.

Russia produces more than 10 percent of the world’s crude oil and less than 20 percent of natural gas. Finland can replace Russian energy, but at the global level, it is impossible to replace these amounts with other countries’ production or other energy sources in the short term. It will be difficult, even in the long run, if we want to keep the global economy growing.

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When neither shining nor windy, Germany needs fossil natural gas for production flexibility, for which there is currently no alternative.

Preliminary statistics from the International Energy Agency (IEA) from last year tell the unadorned story of the state of energy transit. Compared to 2020, total energy demand is growing strongly and returning to the 2019 level.

The majority of this growth has been realized with fossil fuels, the demand for which is also recovering to the 2019 level. When even growth cannot be met by zero-emission energy production, the goal of halving fossil energy use by 2030 sounds confusing.

Regarding energy sanctions and purchase boycotts, the situation is unfortunately that the fall in Russia’s energy exports is so small that higher world market prices for natural gas and crude oil can generate even higher revenues than in peacetime.

Separation Russian fossil energy is just as difficult as disconnecting from fossil energy in general. Energy transition needs new innovations to realize, such as an industrial-scale storage solution for electricity.

Germany has invested heavily in increasing wind and solar energy. When neither shining nor windy, Germany needs fossil natural gas for production flexibility, for which there is currently no alternative.

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For example, rising nickel and other metal prices are slowing companies ’ability to make green investments.

The idea of ​​replacing Russian natural gas with liquefied natural gas from other continents means major investments in fossil energy infrastructure, such as terminals, ships and pipelines.

These investments are out of the green transition and will delay the realization of energy transmission. In addition, war and sanctions from other sectors will dramatically raise the prices of many different commodities.

For example, rising nickel and other metal prices are slowing companies ’ability to make green investments. Similarly, the ability of consumers to support change through their own purchasing behavior is severely weakened as food, energy and many other basic needs take up an increasing share of the wage bag.

Here In this situation, Finland should concentrate the available funds on the introduction of domestic decentralized energy sources. By doing so, Finland would genuinely reduce its dependence on imported fossil energy and improve its own current account, competitiveness and security of supply.

On the heating side, a national geothermal energy investment program should be drawn up with the aim of minimizing all forms of combustion using geothermal energy and heat pumps.

On the transport side, subsidies should be directed to the renewal of heavy-duty vehicles so that domestic biogas becomes the main driver of heavy-duty transport. The role of product development and research cannot be overemphasized. Finland has a lot to contribute to the development of scalable solutions in this global picture.

Energy transition still requires many new innovations, of which we may not yet know anything. These innovations can be as technological as they are political.

At the political level, I hope for the courage to look at the world from a broader perspective than by staring narrowly at borders or sectors. Companies and society need to find solutions together to finance product development and research.