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Acidification policy in Finland
T Schneider (Editor) Acidtfication Research Evaluation and Policv Applicat ons
@ 1992 Elsevrer Sc
185
Acidification policy in Finland E. Lumme
Ministry of the Environment, Air Pollution Control and Noise Abatement Division, P.O. Box 399, SF-00121 Helsinki, Finland
INTRODUCTION
Finland is a Nordic country. Nature in Finland is very sensitive to the effects of environmental pollutants. Our climate aggravates any natural stress on the ecosystems. Acidification is still the most serious regional air pollution control problem in Finland. A special national research project on acidification, HAPRO, was finished in 1990. This programme gave a lot of information to Finnish decision-makers. Some facts about the state of our water and forest ecosystems were quite obvious. A certain amount of damage has already been found in our water ecosystems: till date the harmful effects of lake acidity on fisheries are concentrated to the southern part of the country, but areas sensitive to acid deposition occur throughout the country. Changes in soil chemistry threaten the growth and health of our forests. Some negative effects on trees are already visible. Acidification may become an extremely serious threat to the forests of Finland especially in the future, if emissions are not curbed. The acidifying deposition exceeds the critical loads for forest and water ecosystems in nearly all parts of the country. A remarkable part of the deposition is long range transported. It has been calculated that e. g. in 1980 about 35 per cent of the sulphur deposition in Finland was coming from national sources and, correspondingly, in 1987 about 25 per cent. From the beginning of the 1970's, Finland has actively participated in international co-operation, because exclusively Finnish emission control will never be enough to guarantee a healthy future to the different ecosystems in Finland. During the 1980's the Council of State of Finland has given high priority to the reduction of emissions of acidifying compounds in our own country and to negotiations on the reduction of emissions in our neighbouring countries. Finland has supported the critical loads approach as an acceptable basis for further air pollution abatement strategies. Many kinds of emission reductions have been based on the use of the best available technology *
186
EMISSIONS AND EMISSION REDUCTIONS The major cause of acidification in Finland will for a long time continue to be sulphur emissions. In 1980 o u r sulphur emissions were 292 000 tonnes (S) per year, which was about 1 per cent of the total European emissions. Finland signed the minus 30 per cent sulphur reduction protocol in 1985, but two years later the Council of State set the reduction goal at 50 per cent by 1995. The Finnish sulphur emissions have already been reduced by about 55 per cent since 1980 (in 1990 they were about 0,5 per cent of European emissions). Emissions have been reduced by renewals of process technology and structural changes. In the near future fuel gas desulphurization will further reduce the emissions of sulphur dioxide. In 1987 the Council of State made seven decisions on sulphur emissions. They cover the sulphur content of oil products and hard coal, sulphur dioxide emissions from new and old coal fired power stations, sulphur emissions from oil refineries and sulphate cellulose and sulphuric acid plants. At the beginning of 1991 the Council of State made a decision in principle to reduce sulphur emissions by 80 per cent from the 1980 level by about 2000. In 1980 the Finnish emissions of nitrogen oxides were about 260 000 tonnes ( N O 2 ) per year (about 1,2 per cent of the total European emissions). The annual emissions have increased slightly during the 198O's, as they have done in many other parts of Europe. It has been estimated that in Finland, nitrogen oxides emissions can be reduced by 15 per cent by 1998 by applying, in addition to the exhaust regulations for new private cars, the following measures: development of combustion techniques in new and existing energy generation units and flue gas cleaning in new ones: a 50 per cent cut in exhaust emissions from new heavy diesel vehicles. Structural means will at least in theory make it possible to reduce the emissions to the target level (reduction by about 30 per cent) by the year 2000. Until now the Council of State has limited the emissions of vehicles and energy generation plants (the latest decision was made in March 1991). Ammonia emissions in Finland are about 43 000 tonnes (NH,) per year (about 0,5 per cent of the total European emissions). Nearly 70 per cent of the Finnish emissions are due to cattle breeding. It has been estimated that about 20 per cent of the acid deposition in Finland is caused by ammonia emissions. In Finland the acidyfing potential of ammonia emissions is at present approximately on the same level as that of nitrogen oxides. An ammonia working group has recently (report in March 1991) investigated technical ways and means of reducing ammonia emissions and the costs thereof. N o decisions have as yet been made on how to reduce ammonia emissions in the future.
187 CRITICAL LOADS
Finland has actively participated in the recent European work to produce the first maps of critical loads. Mapping critical loads has been and will continue to be an important area of Nordic co-operation under the Nordic Council of Ministers. According to the available maps Finland and the other Nordic countries belong to the most sensitive areas in Europe. In the whole of Finland the load of actual acidity or sulphur should not exceed 20 milliequivalents per square meter per year. The critical loads for Finnish lake and forest ecosystems have also been illustrated in smaller grids, corresponding to three by three subdivisions of the EMEP grids used in the European work. These more detailed maps give more information on the distribution of sensitive areas and on the differences in sensitivity of lakes and forests. In a number of grids throughout Finland the critical load of potential acidity for lake ecosystems ( 5 percentile) is less than 20 meq/m2, but for forest soils the critical load of potential acidity is 50 - 100 meq/m2 in large parts of the country. The European maps of critical loads of actual acidity show that critical loads are exceeded in all parts of Finland. The critical load of actual acidity ( 5 percentile) is exceeded by 100 - 200 meq/m2 in parts of southern Finland and by 20 - 100 meq/m2 in the central parts of the country. The critical sulphur load (5 percentile) is exceeded in quite large parts of southern Finland by 20 - 50 meq/m2 (even over 50 meq/m2 ) . According to the current European reduction plans the critical sulphur load would still be exceeded in the southern part of the country in about 2010. POLICY AND STRATEGIES
In 1984, when issuing air quality guidelines, the Finnish Council of State defined the long-term goals of air quality policy: to protect conifers in wide forest and agricultural areas or nature conservation areas: the annual sulphur dioxide levels outside towns and bigger villages should not be more than 25 ug/m3: and in order to avoid acidification effects the total sulphur deposition should be under 0,5 grams sulphur ( S ) / m 2 . For most of Finland this still seems to be a reasonable goal. On the basis of the national critical loads mapping programme the Ministry of the Environment identified, in May 1991, preliminary national target load values for sulphur. In the most sensitive regions in the arctic and subarctic areas of Finland, the sulphur load should not exceed 0,2 g S/m2/a. In some areas in the western part of Finland the sulphur load should not exceed 0,4. For the rest of the country the target load was set at 0,5, the earlier value for the whole country. When setting these target loads it was realized that for many aquatic ecosystems the critical sulphur load will still be exceeded. For forest ecosystems these values should ensure that the
critical load according to the present knowledge will not be exceeded. Studies on critical loads and levels and on the state of the environment will be continued. Although Finland has been able to cut certain emissions, there is still a lot to be done. In January 1991 the Council of State made the decision in principle that Finland will further reduce the acidifying sulphur emissions by 80 per cent (from 1980 level). Before the decision was made it was estimated that if the other countries also reduce their emissions by about 80 per cent the critical loads would not be exceeded. The Ministry of the Environment has set up a sulphur committee to prepare a ten year programme on how to achieve the 80 per cent reduction in sulphur emissions. The first proposals given by the committee in last September concern the increased use of heavy fuel oil with less sulphur. Finland will also study further possibilities to reduce emissions of nitrogen oxides and ammonia. The Finnish Carbon Dioxide Commission (report dated June 1991) has recently investigated alternative strategies and measures for limiting and reducing the emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. It concluded that it is possible to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by increasing the use of carbon dioxide free forms of energy and natural gas and by more efficient energy generation. It is obvious that the future policy in reducing greenhouse gases will also influence some emissions of acidifying compounds. These policies will be reconsidered in the future. The effects of an 80 per cent reduction in sulphur dioxide emissions, a 30 per cent reduction in emissions of nitrogen oxides and a 25 per cent reduction in emissions of carbon dioxide will be estimated in terms of their influence on Finland's energy policy. The parliamentary energy policy council has presented a report on Finland's national energy strategy at the beginning of October 1991. The most essential goals set to energy policy are to guarantee availability of energy sources and economical energy generation while taking environmental demands into account. Until recently, the general promotion of environmental protection in Finland has relied largely on legal controls. However, additional financial controls (like environmental taxes) have also been introduced during recent years. A working group on environmental taxes presented its report in April 1991. Finland tries to encourage saving and to reorient consumption in a direction more conducive to sustainable development by means of tax reforms. It is believed that if sufficiently high taxes and charges are levied on operations causing pollution, this will guide development in a less polluting and environmentally sound direction more effectively than would laws and statutes alone. Some financial controls were included in the state budget as early as in 1990. It is obvious that the 1993 budget will include more measures aimed at influencing e. g. the emissions of carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxides. The Ministry of the Environment has, in October 1991 set up a high level project to study and to make concrete proposals on the use of economic instruments in promoting environmental protection. Special attention will be given to the demands of international development. The work is leaded by the ministers of the environ-
ment, finance, agriculture and forestry, trade and industry, transport and communication. Finland will also continue to participate in international co-operation to negotiate efficient emission reductions for the whole of Europe. The co-operation between the Nordic countries will be continued. Moreover, Finland has bilateral co-operation with those neighbouring countries which contribute most to our acidifying load. The Finnish Government has drawn up a plan of action concerning co-operation with Eastern Europian countries in the near future. Co-operation in the field of environmental protection occupies a central position. In connection with the plan, e. g . an Environmental Review and Priority Action Programme for St. Petersburg, the St. Petersburg region, Karelia and Estonia has been made (report dated September 1991) to determine the main environmental problems and the main measures to reduce them. Significant air pollution projects are included in the project priority list. To achieve concrete results the Ministry of the Environment has set up a special East-Europe project in 1990. Solving the problems of transboundary pollution calls for deviation from the polluter pays principle, which is a commonly accepted means of promoting generally sustainable development.
@ 1992 Elsevrer Sc
185
Acidification policy in Finland E. Lumme
Ministry of the Environment, Air Pollution Control and Noise Abatement Division, P.O. Box 399, SF-00121 Helsinki, Finland
INTRODUCTION
Finland is a Nordic country. Nature in Finland is very sensitive to the effects of environmental pollutants. Our climate aggravates any natural stress on the ecosystems. Acidification is still the most serious regional air pollution control problem in Finland. A special national research project on acidification, HAPRO, was finished in 1990. This programme gave a lot of information to Finnish decision-makers. Some facts about the state of our water and forest ecosystems were quite obvious. A certain amount of damage has already been found in our water ecosystems: till date the harmful effects of lake acidity on fisheries are concentrated to the southern part of the country, but areas sensitive to acid deposition occur throughout the country. Changes in soil chemistry threaten the growth and health of our forests. Some negative effects on trees are already visible. Acidification may become an extremely serious threat to the forests of Finland especially in the future, if emissions are not curbed. The acidifying deposition exceeds the critical loads for forest and water ecosystems in nearly all parts of the country. A remarkable part of the deposition is long range transported. It has been calculated that e. g. in 1980 about 35 per cent of the sulphur deposition in Finland was coming from national sources and, correspondingly, in 1987 about 25 per cent. From the beginning of the 1970's, Finland has actively participated in international co-operation, because exclusively Finnish emission control will never be enough to guarantee a healthy future to the different ecosystems in Finland. During the 1980's the Council of State of Finland has given high priority to the reduction of emissions of acidifying compounds in our own country and to negotiations on the reduction of emissions in our neighbouring countries. Finland has supported the critical loads approach as an acceptable basis for further air pollution abatement strategies. Many kinds of emission reductions have been based on the use of the best available technology *
186
EMISSIONS AND EMISSION REDUCTIONS The major cause of acidification in Finland will for a long time continue to be sulphur emissions. In 1980 o u r sulphur emissions were 292 000 tonnes (S) per year, which was about 1 per cent of the total European emissions. Finland signed the minus 30 per cent sulphur reduction protocol in 1985, but two years later the Council of State set the reduction goal at 50 per cent by 1995. The Finnish sulphur emissions have already been reduced by about 55 per cent since 1980 (in 1990 they were about 0,5 per cent of European emissions). Emissions have been reduced by renewals of process technology and structural changes. In the near future fuel gas desulphurization will further reduce the emissions of sulphur dioxide. In 1987 the Council of State made seven decisions on sulphur emissions. They cover the sulphur content of oil products and hard coal, sulphur dioxide emissions from new and old coal fired power stations, sulphur emissions from oil refineries and sulphate cellulose and sulphuric acid plants. At the beginning of 1991 the Council of State made a decision in principle to reduce sulphur emissions by 80 per cent from the 1980 level by about 2000. In 1980 the Finnish emissions of nitrogen oxides were about 260 000 tonnes ( N O 2 ) per year (about 1,2 per cent of the total European emissions). The annual emissions have increased slightly during the 198O's, as they have done in many other parts of Europe. It has been estimated that in Finland, nitrogen oxides emissions can be reduced by 15 per cent by 1998 by applying, in addition to the exhaust regulations for new private cars, the following measures: development of combustion techniques in new and existing energy generation units and flue gas cleaning in new ones: a 50 per cent cut in exhaust emissions from new heavy diesel vehicles. Structural means will at least in theory make it possible to reduce the emissions to the target level (reduction by about 30 per cent) by the year 2000. Until now the Council of State has limited the emissions of vehicles and energy generation plants (the latest decision was made in March 1991). Ammonia emissions in Finland are about 43 000 tonnes (NH,) per year (about 0,5 per cent of the total European emissions). Nearly 70 per cent of the Finnish emissions are due to cattle breeding. It has been estimated that about 20 per cent of the acid deposition in Finland is caused by ammonia emissions. In Finland the acidyfing potential of ammonia emissions is at present approximately on the same level as that of nitrogen oxides. An ammonia working group has recently (report in March 1991) investigated technical ways and means of reducing ammonia emissions and the costs thereof. N o decisions have as yet been made on how to reduce ammonia emissions in the future.
187 CRITICAL LOADS
Finland has actively participated in the recent European work to produce the first maps of critical loads. Mapping critical loads has been and will continue to be an important area of Nordic co-operation under the Nordic Council of Ministers. According to the available maps Finland and the other Nordic countries belong to the most sensitive areas in Europe. In the whole of Finland the load of actual acidity or sulphur should not exceed 20 milliequivalents per square meter per year. The critical loads for Finnish lake and forest ecosystems have also been illustrated in smaller grids, corresponding to three by three subdivisions of the EMEP grids used in the European work. These more detailed maps give more information on the distribution of sensitive areas and on the differences in sensitivity of lakes and forests. In a number of grids throughout Finland the critical load of potential acidity for lake ecosystems ( 5 percentile) is less than 20 meq/m2, but for forest soils the critical load of potential acidity is 50 - 100 meq/m2 in large parts of the country. The European maps of critical loads of actual acidity show that critical loads are exceeded in all parts of Finland. The critical load of actual acidity ( 5 percentile) is exceeded by 100 - 200 meq/m2 in parts of southern Finland and by 20 - 100 meq/m2 in the central parts of the country. The critical sulphur load (5 percentile) is exceeded in quite large parts of southern Finland by 20 - 50 meq/m2 (even over 50 meq/m2 ) . According to the current European reduction plans the critical sulphur load would still be exceeded in the southern part of the country in about 2010. POLICY AND STRATEGIES
In 1984, when issuing air quality guidelines, the Finnish Council of State defined the long-term goals of air quality policy: to protect conifers in wide forest and agricultural areas or nature conservation areas: the annual sulphur dioxide levels outside towns and bigger villages should not be more than 25 ug/m3: and in order to avoid acidification effects the total sulphur deposition should be under 0,5 grams sulphur ( S ) / m 2 . For most of Finland this still seems to be a reasonable goal. On the basis of the national critical loads mapping programme the Ministry of the Environment identified, in May 1991, preliminary national target load values for sulphur. In the most sensitive regions in the arctic and subarctic areas of Finland, the sulphur load should not exceed 0,2 g S/m2/a. In some areas in the western part of Finland the sulphur load should not exceed 0,4. For the rest of the country the target load was set at 0,5, the earlier value for the whole country. When setting these target loads it was realized that for many aquatic ecosystems the critical sulphur load will still be exceeded. For forest ecosystems these values should ensure that the
critical load according to the present knowledge will not be exceeded. Studies on critical loads and levels and on the state of the environment will be continued. Although Finland has been able to cut certain emissions, there is still a lot to be done. In January 1991 the Council of State made the decision in principle that Finland will further reduce the acidifying sulphur emissions by 80 per cent (from 1980 level). Before the decision was made it was estimated that if the other countries also reduce their emissions by about 80 per cent the critical loads would not be exceeded. The Ministry of the Environment has set up a sulphur committee to prepare a ten year programme on how to achieve the 80 per cent reduction in sulphur emissions. The first proposals given by the committee in last September concern the increased use of heavy fuel oil with less sulphur. Finland will also study further possibilities to reduce emissions of nitrogen oxides and ammonia. The Finnish Carbon Dioxide Commission (report dated June 1991) has recently investigated alternative strategies and measures for limiting and reducing the emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. It concluded that it is possible to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by increasing the use of carbon dioxide free forms of energy and natural gas and by more efficient energy generation. It is obvious that the future policy in reducing greenhouse gases will also influence some emissions of acidifying compounds. These policies will be reconsidered in the future. The effects of an 80 per cent reduction in sulphur dioxide emissions, a 30 per cent reduction in emissions of nitrogen oxides and a 25 per cent reduction in emissions of carbon dioxide will be estimated in terms of their influence on Finland's energy policy. The parliamentary energy policy council has presented a report on Finland's national energy strategy at the beginning of October 1991. The most essential goals set to energy policy are to guarantee availability of energy sources and economical energy generation while taking environmental demands into account. Until recently, the general promotion of environmental protection in Finland has relied largely on legal controls. However, additional financial controls (like environmental taxes) have also been introduced during recent years. A working group on environmental taxes presented its report in April 1991. Finland tries to encourage saving and to reorient consumption in a direction more conducive to sustainable development by means of tax reforms. It is believed that if sufficiently high taxes and charges are levied on operations causing pollution, this will guide development in a less polluting and environmentally sound direction more effectively than would laws and statutes alone. Some financial controls were included in the state budget as early as in 1990. It is obvious that the 1993 budget will include more measures aimed at influencing e. g. the emissions of carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxides. The Ministry of the Environment has, in October 1991 set up a high level project to study and to make concrete proposals on the use of economic instruments in promoting environmental protection. Special attention will be given to the demands of international development. The work is leaded by the ministers of the environ-
ment, finance, agriculture and forestry, trade and industry, transport and communication. Finland will also continue to participate in international co-operation to negotiate efficient emission reductions for the whole of Europe. The co-operation between the Nordic countries will be continued. Moreover, Finland has bilateral co-operation with those neighbouring countries which contribute most to our acidifying load. The Finnish Government has drawn up a plan of action concerning co-operation with Eastern Europian countries in the near future. Co-operation in the field of environmental protection occupies a central position. In connection with the plan, e. g . an Environmental Review and Priority Action Programme for St. Petersburg, the St. Petersburg region, Karelia and Estonia has been made (report dated September 1991) to determine the main environmental problems and the main measures to reduce them. Significant air pollution projects are included in the project priority list. To achieve concrete results the Ministry of the Environment has set up a special East-Europe project in 1990. Solving the problems of transboundary pollution calls for deviation from the polluter pays principle, which is a commonly accepted means of promoting generally sustainable development.