Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Energy, Policy, and the Environment pp 173–192Cite as

Bioenergy Production and Social Sustainability on Finnish Farms

  • Chapter
  • First Online:

  • 990 Accesses

Part of the book series: Studies in Human Ecology and Adaptation ((STHE,volume 6))

Abstract

Problems related to energy production have become a significant social issue, also regarding rural areas. There is an apparent need to establish a model for sustainable energy production that would encompass economic, environmental and social sustainability (Elliott 2000). One important solution to reducing carbon dioxide emissions, as well as addressing the depletion of fossil fuel resources, lies in the renewable natural resources that exist in rural areas. However, sustainable and reasonable utilization of these resources is not simple and requires specific analysis of different production models (Mol 2007). Simultaneously, one must consider how these rural resources can be utilized and how they can contribute to (sustainable) rural development.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD   109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

     There has also been discussion on other agriculture-related ways of producing bioenergy, for example, willow cultivation. However, these alternatives have not yet been realized in Finland.

  2. 2.

     Certainly, there have been valuable attempts to find encompassing lists of sustainable development indicators. The problem is that these lists tend to become unpractically long and there is also significant difficulty in putting social sustainability in measurable terms (e.g. Singh et al. 2009).

  3. 3.

     The focus on Central Finland with the choice of interviewed heat entrepreneurs is based on this study being part of a larger project called Sustainable Development and Pioneering Small Scale Rural Entrepreneurs funded by the Academy of Finland (number 115786). The project focuses on new business opportunities of farms in Central Finland in the form of energy entrepreneurship and production of local food. Biogas and biodiesel, on the other hand, are produced in so few farms that concentration on Central Finland was not practical.

References

  • Akerman, M., Kaljonen, M., Peltola, T. (2005). Integrating environmental policies into local practices: The politics of agri-environmental and energy policies in Rural Finland. Local Environment, 10(6):595–611.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Akerman, M. and Peltola, T. (2006). Constituting the space for decision making—Conflicting calculations in a dispute over fuel choice at a local heating plant. Geoforum, 37:779–789.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alanen, V.-M. (2007). Lämpöyrittäjätoiminta 2006. TTS Tutkimuksen tiedote, metsäsarja nro 715. Työtehoseura.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arovuori, K., Kola, J., Lankoski, J., Ollikainen, M. (2006). Monivaikutteinen maatalous ja politiikat. Helsingin yliopisto, taloustieteiden laitos. No. 41. Helsinki.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bergmann, A., Colombo, S. Hanley, N. (2008). Rural versus urban preferences for renewable energy developments. Ecological Economics, 65:616–625.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bucholz, T. S., Volk, T. A., Luzadis, V.A. (2007). A participatory systems approach to modeling social, economic, and ecological components of bioenergy. Energy Policy, 35:6084–6094.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Connelly, S. (2007). Mapping sustainable development as a contested concept. Local Environment, 12(3):259–278.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • DfID, 2008: www.livelihoods.org.

  • Domac, J., Richards, K. -Risovic S. (2005). Socio-economic drivers in implementing bioenergy projects. Biomass and Bioenergy. 28: 97–106.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dryzek, J.S. 2005: The politics of the earth. Environmental discourses. Second edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Elghali, L., Clift, R., Sinclair, P., Panoutsou, C., Bauen, A. (2007). Developing a sustainability framework for the assessment of bioenergy systems. Energy Policy 35:6075–6083.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Elliott, D. (2000). Renewable energy and sustainable futures. Futures, 32:261–274.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Elliott, J. A. (2005). An introduction to sustainable development. Third edition. London: Earthscan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hyttinen, T. (2005). Valoa pimeässä. Kohti energiaomavaraisuutta maaseudulla. Vaasan yliopiston Levón instituutin julkaisu 116.

    Google Scholar 

  • Illsley, B., Jackson, T., Lynch, B. (2007). Addressing Scottish rural fuel poverty through a regional industrial symbiosis strategy for the Scottish forest industries sector. Geoforum, 38:21–32.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jokinen, P., Järvelä, M., Puupponen, A, Huttunen, S. (2008). Experiments of sustainable rural livelihood in Finland, International Journal of Agricultural Resources, Governance and Ecology, (IJARGE), 7(3), 211–228.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jokinen, P., Järvelä, M. (2008). Ruuan tuotanto ja maaseudun kehityksen visiot. Futura, 28(3) 71–75.

    Google Scholar 

  • Juurola, M. Karppinen, H. (2003). Sosiaalinen kestävyys ja metsien käyttö. Metsätieteen aikakausikirja 2/2003: 129–142.

    Google Scholar 

  • Järvelä, M. Jokinen, P., Huttunen, S., Puupponen, A. (2009). Local food and renewable energy as emerging new alternatives of rural sustainability in Finland, European Countryside, 1: 2, 113–124.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kemmler, A., Spreng, D. (2007). Energy indicators for tracking sustainability in developing countries. Energy Policy, 35(4), 2466–2480.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kuittinen, V., Huttunen, M.J., Leinonen, S. (2007). Suomen biokaasulaitosrekisteri n:o 10. Tiedot vuodelta 2006. Joensuun yliopisto, Ekologian tutkimusinstituutin raportteja no 3.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lampinen, A., Jokinen, E. (2006). Suomen maatilojen energiantuotantopotentiaalit. Ekologinen perspektiivi. Jyväskylän yliopiston Bio- ja ympäristötieteiden laitoksen tiedonantoja 84.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leskinen, L. A., Peltola, T., Åkerman, M. (2006). Puuenergia, metsätalouden toimintakentän muutos ja sosiaalinen kestävyys. Metsätieteen aikakausikirja 2/2006: 293–304.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marsden, T. (2003). The condition of rural sustainability. Van Gorgum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marsden, T., Sonnino, R. (2008). Rural development and the regional state: Denying multifunctionals agriculture in the UK. Journal of Rural Studies. 24:422–431.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meadowcrodt, J. (2000). Sustainable development: A New(ish) idea for a new century? Political Studies, 48:370–387.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mol, A. P J. (2007). Boundless biofuels? Between environmental sustainability and vulnerability. Sociologia Ruralis, 47(4), 297–315.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peltola, T. (2007). Business on the margin: local practices and the politics of forests in Finland. Ethics, Place and Environment, 10(1), 29–47.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rannikko, P. (1999). Combining social and ecological sustainability in the Nordic forest periphery. Sociologia Ruralis, 39(3), 394–410.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rantala, T., Hakkarainen, J., Karppinen, H., Korhonen-Salapuro, P., (2006). Metsien käytön sosiaalisen kestävyyden tulevaisuuden haasteet. In Saastamoinen et al. (Eds.) Näkökulmia metsäalan sosiaaliseen kestävyyteen ja sen tulevaisuuteen. Joensuun yliopisto, Metsätieteellinen tiedekunta, Tiedonantoja 168:11–52.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rikkonen, P. and Tapio, P. (2009). Future prospects of alternative agro-based bioenergy use in Finland – Constructing scenarios with quantitative and qualitative Delphi data. Technological Forecasting & Social Change. 76: 978–990.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • del Río, P., Burguillo, M. (2008). Assessing the impact of renewable energy deployment on local sustainability: Towards a theoretical framework. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 12:1325–1344.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Saastamoinen, O., Donner-Amnell, J., Rantala, T. (Eds.) (2006). Näkökulmia metsäalan sosiaaliseen kestävyyteen ja sen tulevaisuuteen. Joensuun yliopisto, Metsätieteellinen tiedekunta. Tiedonantoja 168.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sen, A. (1999). Development as freedom. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scoones, I. (1998). Sustainable rural livelihoods: a framework for analysis. Working paper 72. Brighton: Institute of Development Studies.

    Google Scholar 

  • Singh, R., Kumar, M.H.R., Gupta, S. K., Dikshit, A. K. (2009). An overview of sustainability assessment methodologies. Ecological Indicators, 9(2), 189–212.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tykkyläinen, M. (1995). Asutustoiminnan taloudelliset vaikutukset. In Laitinen, E. (Ed.). Rintamalta raivioille. Sodanjälkeinen asutustoiminta 50 vuotta (pp. 139–158). Helsinki: Atena kustannus.

    Google Scholar 

  • WCED (1987) Our common future. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilson, G. (2008). From ‘weak’ to ‘strong’ multifunctionality: Conceptualising farm-level multifunctional transition pathways. Journal of Rural Studies, 24(3), 367–383.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Åkerman, M., Jänis, L. (2005). Lähienergiaa puusta – maatalouden ja energiantuotannon synergiaeduista voimaa maaseudun kehitykseen. Maaseudun Uusi Aika, 13(3), 41–48.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Social Sciences and Philosophy, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland

    Suvi Huttunen

Authors
  1. Suvi Huttunen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Suvi Huttunen .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Department of Social Sciences and Philos, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland

    Marja Järvelä

  2. , Centre for Urban and Regional Studies, Aalto University, Aalto, FI-00076, Finland

    Sirkku Juhola

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2011 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Huttunen, S. (2011). Bioenergy Production and Social Sustainability on Finnish Farms. In: Järvelä, M., Juhola, S. (eds) Energy, Policy, and the Environment. Studies in Human Ecology and Adaptation, vol 6. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-0350-0_10

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation