Coronavirus leads to lower energy use in H1

The total energy consumption in January to June amounted to 628 petajoules (PJ), which was 10 per cent less than that in the corresponding period of last year, according to the Statistics Finland.

Electricity consumption amounted to 41.6 terawatt hours (TWh), or seven per cent less than one year earlier. Carbon dioxide emissions from the energy use of fuels declined by 15 per cent year on year.

The effect of the coronavirus epidemic was visible in the consumption of oil and particularly of liquid transport fuels in the second quarter.

The consumption of motor gasoline and diesel diminished by 35 and 25 per cent compared to one year ago.

The consumption of jet fuel used in international air transport decreased by 90 per cent. In January to June, the consumption of oil was in total 13 per cent less than one year earlier.

Of other fossil fuels, the consumption of hard coal decreased by 26 per cent and of natural gas by 13 per cent in the first half of the year.

The accelerating decrease in the consumption of coal has been affected by the ban on the use of coal for energy, which will enter into force in 2029. The consumption of peat was 22 per cent lower than one year ago.