She is the Vice-Chair of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety at the European Parliament. In its entirety wind power has cut several billion euros from the electricity bills of German consumers. Nuclear power is undergoing a renaissance - and the rest of the world is following us.
last year. In Finland building more wind power would cost the consumers dearly, impoverish families and force the industry to exile.
FINL AND HAS
GLOBALLY, 100 billion was invested in renewable energy
chosen to be the country to build a prototype of a new nuclear reactor, the European Pressurized Water Reactor or EPR. In Finland the only realistic options for new production capacity are nuclear energy and peat. In 2004 2006 new wind power outnumbered new nuclear capacity more than six-fold. IN SOME countries the power companies favour intelligent refrigerators and other devices which can switch on and off according to the consumption and production situation of the electrical grid. In Finland the growth of energy consumption is a law of nature which you simply cannot escape. Intelligent meters tell the consumers if the consumption and price of electricity is high or low. Therefore in Finland energy technology cannot be developed any further.
is a Member of European Parliament and Licentiate of Technology. Several governments think that it is in their economic interest to be in the forefront of the rapidly developing technology. In Finland new wind turbines require new standby capacity already when the share of wind power is a fraction of one per cent. IN OTHER countries the share of wind power can grow to 10 per cent and more before new standby capacity is needed to compensate the fluctuation of the wind. But Finland is already a technologically highly advanced country. But if the current timetable is kept, the new reactor in Olkiluoto, Finland, will be switched on in 2011, in the same year when the results SATU HASSI
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from the USA are expected to be available. Over 6 500 islands await you, all warmed by the summer sun that gives Åland the most hours of sunshine anywhere in Scandinavia.
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MARIDEA. In Finland there is no need to wait for the results from the US, because the genetic properties of Finns make nuclear power safe in Finland.
THE PRESIDENT
of the EU Commission José Manuel Barroso is talking about a new industrial revolution in order to prevent a catastrophic climate change. In other countries peat is a fossil fuel, whereas in Finland it is renewable. She presents her summary of the Finnish energy policy discussion.
Finland has her own laws of nature
IN SWEDEN and Norway energy consumption has not grown any further during this millennium. In 2007 the amount of new wind power capacity was more than ten times that of new nuclear capacity. The impact of this to consumer prices has been threefold compared to wind power subsidies. The EPR is designed for using a higher uranium burn-up rate than in any other commercial reactor so far. The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission is investigating if this high uranium burn-up rate meets the US safety requirements.
YOUR PERFECT SUMMER DESTINATION
WELCOME TO ÅLAND and the perfect vacation as in memories of summers gone by. The NRC has launched a three-year consultation process to find out how this problem could be solved. In the European Union natural gas and wind have been the two greatest energy sources for new electricity production capacity for seven years in a row. In Finland we need to build big hydropower reservoirs on protected land to get the needed standby capacity. In Denmark all political parties have recently agreed on actions to reduce energy consumption. In
Europe hundreds of thousands of new jobs are created in the renewable energy sector. Here you will find cows grazing in the meadows, fields of wild strawberries ready to be picked and ice cream that tastes ice cream. In Germany the market price of electricity always falls when there is a lot of wind power available. 2
23 29 MAY 2008
VIEWPOINT
FIRST RESULTS published this spring show that the US safety requirements are not fulfilled without new safety criteria for the fuel elements. GLOBALLY NEW
wind power megawatts exceeded new nuclear megawatts already in the late 1990s. She has been the Minister of Environment and Development issues 1999-2002 and the Chairperson of the Green League 1997-2001. In Finland increasing the share of renewable energy is a threat to the nation, except for renewable peat. In Finland wind power is and will forever be peanuts
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23 29 MAY 2008
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