Finland plan to ban coal by 2025 faces flak

Finnish energy industry reacted strongly on Saturday against the envisioned governmental option to prohibit the use of coal in 2025 instead of 2030 set in the original plan. Jukka Leskela, CEO of the national association of energy production, said on Saturday that the use of coal would decline on its own during the next 10 years anyhow, but the move to speed up the process would increase the energy production costs, and either the customers or the taxpayers would end up paying. Kimmo Tiilikainen, minister of the environment, energy and housing, said the process to give up coal as an energy source should be accelerated and the use of natural gas be favored instead.