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As countries worldwide seek to reach net zero emissions within the coming decades, data center sustainability measures are becoming increasingly important as these facilities consume substantial amounts of electricity to support globally expanding digital infrastructure. Yet, local renewable energy production and waste heat utilization are still rarely used in data centers, even though recent high electricity prices have considerably increased the economic value of self-generation and energy efficiency investments. The benefits and cost-effectiveness of data center sustainability measures have also not yet been thoroughly researched in cold-climate regions, where the data center industry is currently growing rapidly. Thus, this paper assesses how solar photovoltaics (PV) and waste heat utilization can effectively be integrated into different cold climate data centers, with a case study analyzing data centers in Finland and northern Japan. The modelled results indicate that solar PV systems can cost-effectively be used to provide renewable electricity to data centers in both Finland and northern Japan, with electricity prices having the largest influence on economic performance. The use of larger external PV systems is shown to be cost-effective at the higher electricity prices seen in 2022, whereas smaller rooftop PV systems and grid electricity provide more economic benefits at 2019 price levels. Selling surplus PV electricity to the grid and using waste heat for district heating is also shown to be effective in data centers located in Finland, whereas battery storage and snow melting are better suited to utilize surplus PV electricity and data center waste heat in northern Japan. [Display omitted] • Solar photovoltaic systems can cost-effectively reduce data center emissions in cold climate countries. • Data center waste heat can provide value in district heating and snow melting applications. • The cost-effectiveness of data center sustainability measures is largely influenced by electricity prices. • The option to sell surplus electricity to the grid incentives larger solar photovoltaic investments in data centers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract A third of the final energy demand and almost a fifth of total emissions in the European Union is caused by road transportation. Advanced biofuels and larger and heavier vehicles have been seen in the literature as one potential logistics solution with which to improve the energy efficiency of the forest industry. The Finnish government aims to create a 100% carbon-neutral energy base by the year 2045, emphasizing the country's renewable forests as a source for energy and biofuel cycles. The purpose of this paper is to discuss how the local biofuel cycling through larger and heavier vehicles may affect the sustainability of wood procurement in the industrial ecosystem by focusing on transport efficiency, cost-efficiency and energy efficiency. The paper presents a quantitative energy-performance analysis from the optimization of results of the multi-objective dynamic biofuel cycle model. Goal programming enables the energy management solution for three biofuel scenarios of larger and heavier vehicles in the 100% carbon-neutral wood procurement of decentralized energy production. Since the basic scenario in 2013, there has been an upward trend in the average payload weight and a transition in 7- to 9-axle vehicle combinations. While the increase in energy efficiency is significant, it is less than half of the government's maximum scenario estimated prior to the regulations. The novelty of this study is in providing the impacts of the local biofuel cycles (5%, 15% and 30%) on the energy efficiency of road freight transportation to create a 100% carbon-neutral energy base for Finland. Furthermore, the results also provide decision support to the ongoing policy debate towards the 100% sustainable wood supply and/or wood procurement of the industrial ecosystems in Europe. Highlights • A 100% carbon-neutral wood procurement operates in industrial ecosystem in Finland. • 30% of fossil fuel consumption of transportation is replaced by wood-based biofuels. • Wood-based energy performance measure evaluates transport service provider's fleet. • Energy efficiency of timber transportation increases 15% by larger and heavier vehicles. • Energy ratio of timber transportation increases 65% by the use of biofuels and LHVs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The EU is aiming to increase the utilisation of renewable energy to 20% of the total energy consumption by 2020. For Finland, the target is 38%. Renewable energy sources are assumed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions when compared to fossil fuels. Yet not all environmental impacts of renewable energy use are thoroughly assessed, and there are no comprehensive assessments on the impacts and risks of renewable energy production that would take into account all possible environmental impacts. We applied qualitative expert knowledge to attain information on the impacts and risks of renewable energy in Finland. According to the expert panel, the overall impacts of renewable energy by 2020 are not significant. However, we found some hot spot areas, i.e. areas of the most concern related to particulate matter formation during regional wood combustion, climate impacts of forest energy, biodiversity impacts connected to several renewable energy sources, and eutrophication caused by utilisation of agricultural energy sources. There are currently no reliable and generally accepted methods to estimate the biodiversity impacts of renewable energy production, thus, this topic would require further studies. The climate change impacts of forest based energy sources are relatively well studied, but the results of these studies are highly variable because of different assumptions on spatial and time scale. A qualitative impact assessment framework, as described in this paper, can be used to assess the environmental impacts of renewable energy production and is a potential option to attain information on the renewable energy impacts as long as reliable and comparable quantitative datasets are not available. These kinds of qualitative assessments can also be applied to detect the areas that need further studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The paper assesses greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of forest bioenergy supply and utilization in Finland. Each step in the supply chains of harvesting residues (HR), small-diameter energy wood (EW) and stumps (ST) is assessed separately, with geography-related differences between Northern and Southern Finland (NF and SF) taken into consideration. Furthermore, the GHG performance of five distinct bioenergy options—(1) combined heat and power production, (2) condensing power production, (3) torrefied pellets, (4) gasification, and (5) pyrolysis oil production—is assessed and compared with that of current reference systems in Finland and also the European Union (EU) sustainability criteria. If soil carbon stock (SCS) changes and possible storage emissions are omitted, the GHG emissions deriving from the supply chain of comminuted forest biomass to plants are 2.4, 3.0, and 2.6gCO2eqMJ−1 for HR, EW, and ST in SF, respectively. In NF, the corresponding values are 2.9, 3.6, and 3.2gCO2eqMJ−1, respectively. If SCS changes and possible emissions from storage are accounted for, the emissions for HR, EW, and ST are in the ranges 9.2–49.2, 24.4–64.4, and 33.1–73.1gCO2eqMJ−1 in SF and 12.7–52.7, 29.4–69.4, and 39.5–79.5gCO2eqMJ−1 in NF. Most supply-chain GHG emissions arise from SCS changes and possible emissions from storage of comminuted biomass, both of which may involve significant uncertainty factors. In comparison to local reference systems, significant GHG savings can be achieved through energy utilization of forest biomass, but if SCS changes and, in particular, storage emissions are taken into account, fulfillment of the EU sustainability criteria is not guaranteed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Meeting the energy goals of the European Union requires new ways of managing energy. Decentralized energy management, cross-commodity energy production and usage optimization are promising means. Future neighbourhoods will include multiple forms of energy such as electricity, heat, and cooling. According to our vision, the smart neighbourhoods, can optimize energy across different vectors by sharing resources in a controlled way. The first contribution of this paper is a comprehensive review on market, regulatory and technological status to support the transition towards distributed cross-commodity energy management with focus on Germany and Finland. Markets disruption could lead to more decentralized structures. Mechanisms therefore have been proposed, but mostly without sector integration. Clean Energy Package includes legislation that is supportive towards cross-commodity energy sharing solutions. Corresponding implementation in Germany and Finland may be successful in both countries even though it differs. Regarding technology, the article identifies required technical components (IoT, AI and blockchain) focusing on their support decentralized and cross-sector energy systems. Key components of IoT are wireless communication and interoperability middleware. AI provides key technologies for modelling and optimization of sector-integrated and distributed energy systems. Even if there has been lots of research, practical implementations are still lacking. Furthermore, many technical challenges still exist for blockchain based solutions in decentralized energy systems. Moreover, organizational, and legal responsibilities need to be clarified to support the adoption of blockchains in decentralized energy systems. Finally, the article gives recommendations regarding an increasing implementation of cross-commodity sharing and how it can contribute to the energy transition. • Giving an overview of cross-commodity energy sharing in Finland and Germany. • It is shown how recent energy market development support energy transition. • Comparing the regulatory framework for smart components in energy markets. • Combination of IoT, AI and Blockchain to enable decentralized energy markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Biomass continues to attract much interest as a renewable, low-CO2, and increasingly cost competitive alternative to traditional fossil fuels for heat and/or electric power generation. At the same time, deregulation of electricity markets offer new opportunities for small-scale decentralized power plants (<20MWe) in an area where traditional centralized technologies mostly dominate. These factors represent a strong driving force for the development of innovative small-scale combined heat and power (CHP) plants based on biofuels. This paper provides an overview of small-scale CHP with biomass as a fuel. A survey of existing plants in Sweden and Finland is presented, along with an overview of major energy conversion technologies under development. Information is provided related to energy taxation along with an outlook on future prospects. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Wood pellets have become an important fuel in heat and power production, and pellet markets are currently undergoing rapid development. In this paper, the pellet markets, raw materials and supply structures are analyzed for Sweden and Finland, based on a database of the current location and production capacity of the pellet producers, complemented with existing reports and literature. In Sweden, a total of 94 pellet plants/producers were identified, producing 1.4million tonnes of pellets, while the domestic consumption was 1.7million tonnes, and about 400,000t of pellets were imported to fulfil the demand in 2007. In Finland, 24 pellet plants/producers were identified and the production was around 330,000t while the domestic consumption was 117,000t in 2007. In Finland, pellet market has been long time export oriented, whereas domestic consumption has been growing mainly in the small scale consumer sector, estimated 15,000 households had pellet heating systems in 2008. In the future, the increasing number of pellet users will require a reliable delivery network and good equipment for bulk pellet deliveries. Provision of new raw materials and ensuring the good quality of pellets through the whole production, delivery and handling chain will be fundamental in order to increase the use of pellets and sustain the ability to compete with other fuels. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]