State's perception of biogas in Finland. Content analysis of key policy documents 2001-2016.

Abstract

Biogas has emerged as a potential technology to provide greenhouse gas reductions in energy sector. Finland has historically been reliant on bioenergy in energy production, and bioenergy is perceived as one of the primary tools in decarbonizing Finnish society. Despite the heavy emphasis on bioenergy, development of the biogas field has been rather slow in Finland. This study describes the developing perception of the Finnish biogas field through seven key policy documents between 2001 and 2016. A state-centric perspective is adopted to give insight on the developments in the biogas field. State’s behavior is suggested to be a result of interpretation and perception between developments in global and domestic policy domains. States seek to shape the national energy system to correspond the perceived pressure from landscape developments. In the rise of climate agenda, pressure from landscape has grown significantly, yet the state seems to perceive domestic biogas production as an inefficient and expensive solution, compared to other alternatives. Energy and climate centric perception in decision making seems to overlook many of the distributed synergies of biogas production, making a proper value judgement too complex. Clarifying and further strengthening the connection between circular economy, enhanced local economy, security of supply and additional environmental benefits might result in a more cost-effective perception of the biogas niche. As important is to give recognition to practical aspects of biogas development, as centralized policy making might not give enough attention to the practical realities, which actors face on the local level.