Emirates airline and Neste, a Finnish oil refining and marketing company, have expanded their partnership by strengthening their collaboration for the supply of over 3 million gallons of blended Neste MY Sustainable Aviation Fuel in 2024 and 2025.

The sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), which will be blended with conventional jet fuel, will be supplied over the course of 2024 and 2025 for Emirates’ flights departing from Amsterdam Schiphol and Singapore Changi airports.

Finland is a leader in sustainable technologies that the country actually implements. Green Prophet was invited on a press tour to Finland 13 years ago where we visited biofuel companies, green servers, and heat pump manufacturers.

Neste Oyj is an oil refining and marketing company located in Espoo, Finland. The company produces, refines and markets bioful oil products, and provides engineering services and operations in 14 countries. Neste shares are listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki.

Biggest sale of biofuels to the Middle East to date

Emirates’ expanded partnership with Neste represents the largest volume of SAF to be uplifted of any airline based in the Middle East and Africa to date. The blended SAF will comprise over 1 million gallons of neat SAF. This represents a blended ratio of over 30% neat SAF combined with conventional Jet A-1 fuel.

By the end of 2023, the airline used SAF for the first time from its Dubai hub. SAF reduces carbon emissions of air travel by up to 80% over the fuel’s life cycle when compared to using conventional jet fuel.

“It’s also one of the many initiatives we are focused on to reduce our carbon emissions, which includes operating fuel-efficient aircraft, stepping up our fleet renewal from 2024, in addition to driving operational fuel efficiency,” said Tim Clark, President, Emirates Airline.  “Our ongoing partnership with Neste also demonstrates our active engagement and support of the rapidly developing SAF industry, and we hope that the robust demand coming from Emirates and other airlines encourages the scaling up of SAF and other emerging clean propulsion technologies.”

Alexander Kueper, Vice President EMEA from the Renewable Aviation business unit at Neste said: “Sustainable aviation fuel is a readily available solution for reducing the greenhouse gas emissions from air travel. We are proud to expand our existing cooperation with Emirates into 2024 as we are ramping up our global SAF production and continue to support their commitment to reduce emissions by supplying our Neste MY Sustainable Aviation Fuel.”

Earlier in 2023, Emirates, in partnership with Neste and other industry stakeholders, successfully completed the first 100% SAF-powered demonstration flight in the region, utilising a Boeing 777-300ER operating on 100% SAF in one engine.

The airline has made significant strides along with its industry partners around the technical analysis and certification requirements that support standardization and future approval of 100% SAF flying.

Last month, Neste employees went on strike for labor reforms. In Decemeber, 2023, Neste partnered with Coleman Oil Company in the US to enable cities and businesses to have easier access to Neste MY Renewable Diesel in the state of Washington in the US. Neste  has also completed the strategic study and begins a gradual transformation of its crude oil refinery in Porvoo into a renewable and circular solutions refining hub.

“The COP28 declaration is a strong signal to all of us, and we want to be in the forefront of accelerating the green transition with our renewable and circular solutions,” says Matti Lehmus, the President and CEO of Neste. “The long term transformation of the Porvoo refinery is a key element in our renewables growth strategy, completing Neste’s journey to a 100% renewable and circular solutions provider when finalized.”

New Jersey blew up its last coal-fired plant this month. We welcome the transformation to renewable energy and hope progress is made faster, with people working in these industries earning a fair wage.

The post Neste oil SAF deal made with Emirates for sustainable aviation fuel appeared first on Green Prophet.

Saunas, health experts agree, are good for your health. In a study from Finland in 2022, researchers found that saunas combined with exercise is good for heart health.

The study from the University of Jyväskylä, Finland, found that a sauna together with exercise is a viable preemptive combination for improving cardiovascular health and lowering the risk of CVD. In short

“The results of this study lend support for the regular use of sauna bathing with regular exercise, and shows promise as a therapeutic adjunct, particularly for those with lower exercise capacities,” says Earric Lee, a Doctoral Researcher in the Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences at the university.

The exercise protocol used for the study adhered to well-established international and national guidelines: 50 minutes of exercise, three times a week. Each session consisted of 20 minutes of resistance exercise, followed by 30 minutes of aerobic exercise.

The participants in the exercise and sauna group went for 15 minutes of a typical Finnish sauna bathing after the exercise session. Maybe a run or a vigorous canoe?

CVD is the major contributor to morbidity and mortality in the world. Annually, it costs the public healthcare system in Finland tremendous amounts of money. “Any approach that has the potential to alleviate the burden, and work alongside other preventative strategies such as exercise is really worth further consideration,” Lee points out.

So saunas are good and this is the one we want: A barrel sauna built in Canada with a large dome window is both energy efficient and pleasing. Barrel saunas are naturally energy efficient saunas because as the cedar heats up it expands in an even way around the sauna.

The circular design causes the warm air to rise continuously and cool air to fall so the air is constantly moving and being reheated, allowing it to maintain internal temperatures more effectively. The round womb-like structure lends a coziness that feels human.

How long can a barrel sauna last?

The post The barrel sauna longevity hack appeared first on Green Prophet.

In his recently released book, The Big Thirst: The Secret Life and Turbulent Future of Water, Charles Fishman explains that while the US has among the safest, most monitored water system in the world, consumers are still choosing bottled water over using a faucet that dispenses potable water.

The same paradox applies for most countries in the developed world as they continue to pay for something they can get for close to free. The situation is different for most consumers in the Middle East and North Africa, where clean safe water often only comes in bottles. But does it have to be that way?

The bottled water business is huge, and growing. According to the latest Beverage Marketing Corporation, bottled water accounted for more than 29 percent of total volume of liquid refreshment beverages in 2009 with the global rate of consumption increasing  by 2.7 percent in 2009.

Although the US is the single-largest national market in terms of volume, just about everywhere else in the world the segment is sizeable and expanding. The same report shows several Middle Eastern markets ranking on top of the list in terms of per capita bottled water consumption.

With the equivalent of more than 40 gallons for each resident in 2009, the United Arab Emirates has the third-highest level of bottled water consumption per capita in the world. In addition to the UAE, Lebanon (31 gallons per resident) and Saudi Arabia (28 gallons per resident)  are in the top 20 in per capita bottled water consumption. At 20 gallons per resident, Israel also consumes bottled water at a rate greater than the global average.

This may come as no surprise for a  “hyper-arid” region where rivers are few, populations increasing, and underground reserves shrinking fast. According to UN reports, the Arab counties collectively  contains 1.1 percent of global renewable freshwater for a total of 4.6 percent of the world’s population. In addition, although not all countries in MENA are poor, there is a general lack the infrastructure and resources to deliver potable water, so that even rich countries like Saudi Arabia buy bottled water as a necessity.

The environmental strain

The industry may be good business for multinationals but transporting bottled water long distances involves burning massive quantities of fossil fuels. Nearly a quarter of all bottled water crosses national borders to reach consumers, transported by boat, train, and truck.  In 2004, for example, Nord Water of Finland bottled and shipped 1.4 million bottles of Finnish tap water 4,300 kilometers from its bottling plant in Helsinki to Saudi Arabia.

Fossil fuels are also relied on in the packaging. The most commonly used plastic for making water bottles is polyethylene terephthalate (PET), derived from crude oil. After the water has been consumed, the plastic bottle disposal adds more strain to the environment as most empty bottles end up in landfills or on the roadsides taking centuries to biodegrade. Incinerating used bottles is also not a solution as combustion produces toxic byproducts such as chlorine gas and ash containing heavy metals.

The alternative

With increasing population and diminishing supply of secure fresh water in the Middle East and North Africa, the problem of access to clean affordable drinking water will only get exacerbated, mostly among the poor. However, even for the wealthy GCC countries, bottled water is not a sustainable solution to the problem of often-unsafe tap water found in these countries.

As reported in Green Prophet in the past, while desalination plants are effective at producing a fresh water supply from salt water, they are very costly and energy intense. Other less expensive and more environmentally sustainable ways of providing fresh water are required.

Several reports have identified long term alternatives such as  investing in improvements of existing water treatment systems and cleaning up municipal water supplies. On the demand management side, conservation is required to address the over-usage of domestic water across the region. Local water demand management can help shift a sense of ownership and responsibility towards drinking water to consumers who in many cases now are paying a fraction of what the cost they are actually consuming.

Improving fresh water supply through an energy-efficient infrastructure and introducing new water demand management systems  require a holistic approach that will be both challenging and costly. But compared to the economic and environmental cost spent each year on buying, transporting and disposing of bottled water, it would be a sound long-term investment for governments across the region.

Read more on water in the Middle East:
Auja Is Creating Liquid Peace in Palestine
Saudi Arabia to Replace Oil with Sun Power for Desalination Plants
Clean Tech Incubators from Israel and California Sign Water Deal
How Israel’s NewTECH Is Watering The Economy

The post Why Finnish Tap Water Is Shipped to Saudi Arabia appeared first on Green Prophet.

Just as fun as going on a press trip and seeing the heart of a country’s cleantech industry, are the other bloggers one meets on such a trip. A few months ago, during their longest days of the year I went to Helsinki, Finland. For 3 intense days a handful of us were shlepped around Helsinki by our sweet host Eeva. Each of us had various interests: I was curious about Finnish companies who could provide solar and innovative energy and water solutions to the Middle East, like Naps Systems Oy; Michael from Greentech (who was suggested by his daughter to wear underwear on his head to get sleep) reported on Finland’s Bid For Green Glory; and Lisa Hymas had her own special request: to meet Fiskers, inventor of a hearty push reel lawn mower, which she blogged about on Grist.

Taking the opportunity to get to know a little more of one of the world’s most influential green media sites, Green Prophet sits down with Lisa, asking her about Grist’s history, and how young green leaders from the Middle East can learn from Grist’s example, and be a force of change. Read on for our interview.

1. Please state your full name, place of residence (or work), and title.

Lisa Hymas, Seattle, Senior Editor at Grist.org

2. Lisa, Grist has become a major force for change in the green movement in America. Tell us a little bit about how Grist started.

My colleague Chip Giller (left) and I started Grist in 1999.  At the time, there was very little interesting environmental journalism being done, online or off.  We wanted to bring environmental news and advice to a broad audience, and we definitely wanted to make sure it wasn’t boring.  We hit on humor as a way to make green stories appealing, and we started to describe ourselves as “a beacon in the smog” and a source of “gloom and doom with a sense of humor.”

Grist originally began as a project of the Earth Day Network, but after a couple of years we spun off to become our own standalone nonprofit. At the time, the idea of a nonprofit, online journalism project might have seemed odd, but now, as media organizations are scrounging around for all kinds of new models, we look almost prescient for setting Grist up the way we did.

3. With so many resources out there: green blogs, green sections in newspapers, how does Grist – as an NGO and unique in this sphere – define itself from the others?

We’ve been at this a long time (in internet years, at least), so we’ve built up levels of expertise and access and trust that a lot of other outlets in this space don’t have.  Because we’ve earned a good reputation and we reach a sizable audience, we can get access to members of the U.S. Congress and CEOs and even the occasional movie star with a green conscience.  We know enough to put new developments in context.  We know enough to call bullshit when we see it.  We do serious journalism, but at the same time, we try to keep perspective and make sure that we still have some serious fun too.

We also work to make Grist the spot where you can come every day to find the most important or interesting happenings and discussions in the green world.  Many of the new green blogs and websites that have sprung up in recent years are more narrowly focused — on green products, or cleantech, or politics, or sustainable food.  And that’s great: I’m thrilled there are so many green discussions happening all over the place — finally!  But it can be overwhelming for readers, so one of the things we do at Grist is point you to the most fascinating or funny things out there — whether in The Wall Street Journal or on YouTube or in more specialized blogs like Green Prophet.  And we make all of it accessible to normal people, so you don’t have to be a policy wonk or a long-time treehugging activist or a solar engineer to understand what we’re talking about.

4. What do you think are the top 3 most important environment issues the world faces today?

Climate change really is a big, fat deal.  It’s come to dominate environmental conversations, and with good reason — it’s intertwined with so many other issues, and steps we can take to fight climate change will have the effect of helping to solve other environmental and economic problems.

One related and critical issue is figuring out how to make city living greener.  Most of the world’s population now lives in urban areas, and with the creativity and business savvy and money concentrated in cities, we have a huge opportunity to figure out how to make urban life more green — and more appealing even to people who don’t care about green.  Walkable neighborhoods, public green spaces, urban gardening and farming, small-scale renewable power, smart-grid technology — there are a lot of exciting, enticing prospects.

Another huge related issue is population: The more of us there are, and the more we consume, the more daunting all of our environmental problems become.  I don’t advocate population “control,” and I don’t think you’ll find many sane or humane people who do anymore; all people should be free to determine their own reproductive destinies.  But we can make a difference by ensuring that everyone everywhere has easy access to contraception, and, in places where contraception is already widely available, by changing social expectations and making it OK to decide not to have kids, or to have just one.

5. What turns your “green” wheels?

My Sunday morning walk to the local farmers’ market — delicious food and happy people are all around, and it’s impossible to leave without running into friends and neighbors.  The whole experience encapsulates what I love about living in my Seattle neighborhood.

6. If young environmentalists in the Middle East have the “itch” to make a change, how do you recommend they start?

Personal change (your diet, your travel habits, your energy use) is great, but it can only take you so far.  Everyone should also be pushing for national change (policies that promote clean energy and energy efficiency and move us away from fossil fuels), but that can be a slow and soul-sucking process.

The sweet spot is in the middle, at the community level.  Can you help start up a farmers market or a community garden in your area?  Get a group of neighbors together to install solar panels all at once, maybe securing a group discount?  Push your local leaders for better public transportation?  Real people can make a real difference at the neighborhood or city level.

7. Who is your biggest environmental hero, and why?

Van Jones (left).  He’s a powerful speaker and activist who’s been able to bring a positive green message — that the clean-energy economy can be an engine of job growth — to audiences across the spectrum, from inner-city teenagers to policy wonks to CEOs.  The right wing has tried to smear him, but he keeps going forward.

I’ll always have a soft spot for Al Gore too.

8. If you had one book everyone should read on green issues, what would it be?

Field Notes from a Catastrophe by Elizabeth Kolbert.  It’s the best, most engaging piece of writing about climate change that I’ve ever read — and I’ve read a lot on the topic.

::Grist

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Michael Kanellos, editor-in-chief at the popular clean tech news blog Greentech Media operates on a level that surpasses even the most active of us bloggers. I met Mike in Finland a couple of months ago on a clean tech media tour joined by other bloggers like TreeHugger’s Ask Pablo, and Lisa Hymas, a senior editor and founder at Grist.

Before most of us had the chance to shower and stumble our way down to the lobby for breakfast, Michael had already scoured the city around us, whipped up a few blog posts, had eaten, sauna-ed, and later –– by the time we got around to meeting the Finnish cleantech companies on our tour ––  had in fact already met several of them earlier at various conferences on his travels.

Michael lives, breathes and sleeps clean tech news: Travelling the world far and wide for stories, we interviewed him to get a western point of view on clean technology trends and developments in the Middle East. Since he’s always forgetting his Twitter account, he says (but here it is)  – it’s best to follow his work through the site www.greentechmedia.com.

Our interview:

1. Michael –– You travel the world looking for clean tech stories. What 3 countries, besides your native US, do you find most attractive right now?

Right now, the three most interesting countries are China, Israel and Northern Europe (Scandanavia, Ireland, Scotland).

China because of the size of the domestic market, the growth, and the increasing sophistication of the local manufacturers. Suntech has gone from an asterisk in solar in five years to the largest manufacturer in the world. And their solar panels aren’t popular because they are the cheapest. It has fairly strong technology.

Israel remains interesting because of its historical strengths in concocting new companies and technologies and commercializing them. The domestic water know how will also play a key role in the future.

Northern Europe is the novel one here. Europe only played a minor role in the Internet and IT world. However, many of the universities have finally begun to figure out how to mint start-ups. The region also has a long history in energy efficiency and alternative energy—what were cottage industries are becoming global. The question is whether these companies can attract US investors and market globally. It has been a historical challenge.

2.  Keeping your pulse on clean tech industry, what are the 5 hottest growth areas right now?

i. Building management and architecture. Buildings and the appliances inside of them consume 39 percent of the world’s energy and most of the energy is used in an asinine fashion: lights stay on even after everyone has left, few offices have automatic dimming, and air conditioners often run in tandem with heaters.

Automating all of the things around us will curb power immensely.

ii. Electric cars are number two—they represent the biggest change in transportation since the highway.

iii. Energy storage. Right now, wind farms have to spill power if there is no one around to take it. Power plants spend trillions on figuring out ways to produce power and get it consumed right away. Every investor is looking for a holy grail technology or company in storage.

iv. The fourth big trend is solar. If you could harness all of the power hitting the earth in a two hour period and convert it to liquid fuel or electricity, you’d have enough energy for all of the world’s needs in a year. It is a huge untapped resource and although progress can be slow, the potential is immense.

v. Demand response. This is an extension of building management to a certain extent. Essentially, utilities or power providers want to gain control over certain resources to make sure power gets used where it will be needed and not wasted where it is currently leaking. Think of this as an orchestration layer above building management. With demand response, electric cars can be squeezed onto the grid without massive capital investments.

3.  How will this projected “double dip” in the world’s economy affect the development of clean technology solutions? Will it weed the good from the bad, make consumers more energy efficient?

Yes, but I think the market will continue. The BP disaster, the ongoing droughts in many parts of the world, the crazy global weather, the ongoing war in Iraq, China’s quest for more resources. The average westerner is once again beginning to see the connection between his or her lifestyle and resources.

4.  If a young entrepreneur wanted to pitch you a story about their technology, what really “buys” your attention?

A good story. Just talk about your technology and its implications.

5. Any thoughts on the Middle East? What would you tell investors about the region’s emerging markets?

Israel remains the only country in the region that will produce technologies. The rest of the MENA region will be buyers, i.e. they will install desalination plants and solar thermal plants or they will recruit companies at a high price to locate at least token manufacturing centers.

The rest of the region does not have the same technology culture and the commercial/industrial infrastructure to exploit it. That said, the best technologists out of MENA, and there are many, will ultimately come to the west and make it big.

As a result, it’s a bifurcated region. Israel will export but few opportunities to import products there exist. The opposite is true for the rest of the region. Desertec is an exception. That is more of a real estate play.

Thus, if I were an investor, I’d hang out at Weizmann or Technion and look for interesting companies to invest in.

I’d also get a good land use attorney to scout out plots of land and grid connections in North Africa.

6. After your trip of Finland, is there any one tech/company that left a lasting impression?

The people who make the underground data center [in a bomb shelter] were quite interesting. Half of the powers in data centers get consumed by air conditioners and they’ve figured out a way to cut that way back.

Thank you, Michael!

Read the first post from Michael’s reporter’s notebook, while in Finland.

The post Meet Greentech Media’s Michael Kanellos appeared first on Green Prophet.

Working with airports in Morocco (above picture) and gas pipelines in Libya to prevent corrosion, the Finnish solar panel producer and integrator Naps Systems Oy is comfortable working with major industrial firms, and would be happy to customize solar panels for special building projects.

While some efficiency may be lost in ordering solar panels beyond the common dark blue, Naps’ CEO and President Timo Rosenlöf tells Green Prophet that he sees no reason why solar panels shouldn’t be produced in different hues, or in special designs, even at the cost of efficiency. Green Prophet met Rosenlöf on our recent clean tech media tour of Finland; and he is very interested in doing more business with the Middle East.

With Naps solar installations at the Marrakech and Casablanca airports in Morocco as an advertorial to highlight the country’s vision of being powered with 40% renewables, the company has also installed functional solar panels alongside a gas pipeline in Libya to prevent cathode corrosion (see below).

A Naps’ solar panel provides power to stop corrosion along a gas pipeline in a remote area of Libya. They are protecting a 520 km gas line, says Rosenlöf.

In remote desert areas, the solar panels provide the energy source for pipelines in need of protection from corrosion. This is an electro-chemical phenomenon where a metal tends to return to its native oxide state and it’s an ever-present nuisance in oil and gas transfer pipelines, which pass through desert areas, says Naps’s website (links to a spec sheet on their solution).

The company’s key industrial customers are telecom and oil and gas companies, to whom they offer comprehensive energy solutions for networks and pipelines. In the remote applications market, Naps has established business with a number of governments, companies and aid organisations on several continents providing solutions for schools, health centres, water pumps, vaccine fridges, homes, airports, and more.

New markets? Take for example Dubai in the Middle East. “Dubai is in trouble now,” says Rosenlöf. “The buildings there are made from polished stone which is not cheap. But an active [solar] wall wouldn’t cost you more,” he says, suggesting that building companies develop one of four building walls into a solar powered green wall to offset power and cooling expenses.

(Image left is of Casablanca Airport Terminal, with Naps panels made in the style of Islamic art)

And if Finland seems like an absurd place for developing solar panel installations (yes, it was cold in June dipping down to 10 degrees C when we were there), consider the following: At some times of the year, Finland –  Land of the Midnight Sun –  can achieve more energy from the sun than some parts of Africa, thanks to its super long summer days. With the sun that never sets in Lapland around this time of the year, the lights never seemed to go out in Helsinki, as some of my co-bloggers reported.

From Finland’s “cottage” industry

In the summer, “We can get more energy from the sun than in northern Africa,” says Rosenlöf. “Because of the length of the day – 19 hours of sun in Finland –  and this is the reason why solar power is a serious option in Finland. Also –  “It’s one of the oldest solar power markets because of purchasing power,” he says.

The reverse can be true in the winter where Finland sees about 5 hours of sunlight.  Meanwhile summer cottages, and boats, a serious pastime for outdoor-loving Finns, Swedes and Norwegians are based on solar power.

He knows that the company’s major markets, however, are elsewhere.

Naps’s first solar panel project was in 1981, and its first deals came through the Swedish telecom giant Ericsson. Naps offers high-end photovoltaic (PV) installations, and customizable boutique services, and has business in about 50 countries around the world, and will be happy to discuss new ventures with entities in the Middle East for off-grid and on-grid projects.

Unlike a lot of the news and hype we see coming out of countries like Israel (over solar energy), Naps doesn’t boast innovation that will change tomorrow, but a solution that works today.

::Naps website

The post Boutique Solar Panels Fit For Mosques, Pipelines and Airports appeared first on Green Prophet.

“Wear underwear over your eyes,” suggested Michael Kanellos’ daughter. Kanellos from Greentech Media is one of the sleep-deprived bloggers Green Prophet is with on a clean tech tour of Finland –– along with other green writers and reporters from sites like TreeHugger and Grist.

While gloomy and dark and cold for months in the winter, it’s as though the sun never sets in Finland in Summer. (I went to bed at 11 with the sun still “on” and was up at 4:30 am, somewhat sleep deprived from the light, though not intense).

A group of us are in Helsinki meeting some of the companies behind the country’s IT sector in clean technology, like Nokia; and lesser known companies such as BaseN, an international measurement service provider setting up a clean energy heat pump harvesting system for servers in a cave (and past bomb shelter), underneath the Uspenski Cathedral in Helsinki’s city center.

Propelled into what’s more like a Middle East winter in this Scandinavian country’s summer (temperatures are around 10 degrees C with cloud cover, and an ever-present spittle-like rain), I am curious about what Middle East energy and infrastructure companies, as well as entrepreneurs and investors can learn from this Nordic country. Do opposites attract?

So far I’ve learned that Finland is setting up an office in Masdar City –– according to Cleantech Finland’s Santuu Hulkkonen.

Hulkkonen’s organization operates like a chamber of commerce connecting international industry, innovators and investors to Finland and vice versa: “We were one of the first to sign up for that,” he says of the office being built in Abu Dhabi. So far none of the companies I’ve met seem to have much business in the Mideast region.

But like some Middle Eastern countries, such as Jordan, Yemen, Israel and Lebanon, there are no appreciable natural energy resources in Finland: “We have nothing in Finland, we sometimes say,” comments Hulkkonen bluntly, pointing out energy efficiency as being the cornerstone for the country’s clean tech economy. “Natural conditions forced us to develop our industry,” he adds.

Local products laid out at a Helsinki arts, crafts, and food market at the port (see above) suggest just how cold it can get in Finland: for sale are knitted slippers and thick scarves; huge fur hats, reindeer pelts a-plenty (for curling up with at the fire probably – though birth rates appear to be low here), fox fur stoles (heads included), canned bear meat, dried jerky of all kinds –– and various products made for a long winter hibernation. Knives. These and the ubiquitous talk about saunas: some from the clean tech companies we meet talk about energy units in terms of “saunas.”

The Finnish sauna is a fond memory of mine, growing up in Canada, where one my best friends Karita (half-Finnish) introduced me to the past-time. You get really hot, and then jump in the cold lake, or roll in the snow –– depending on the season.

Saunas are not at all common where I live now in the Middle East. But built by a country who against the odds had to stave off the winter’s cold and harsh elements, much can be learned from Finland. Strong in making use of nature’s elements, Finland offers opportunities in green IT and Smart Grid (several companies are now involved in building concept communities around smarter and greener energy use – “Scandanavia’s Masdar?”); among the country’s top clean tech companies, 90% of them are in energy efficiency, Hulkkonen tells us.

Karin (far right) and Pablo from Treehugger (beside her) touring Metso’s biofuel reactor (Day 3).

Other areas for business development, partnership and expertise? Processing forest product waste (which comes from the pulp and paper industry) –– in bio-diesel, Finland’s Neste has built the biggest renewable energy plant in Singapore for certified palm oil. And st1, another company, can efficiently create bio-ethanol from the food industry with end products going to farms as feedstock.

We also learn that Finland has some lithium resources (although not quite as much as Afghanistan’s latest bonanza), important for developing electric car batteries, and it has expertise in wind turbine components. About 50% of all large turbine companies around the world combine Finnish engineering and parts, much like Israeli high-tech ingenuity is incorporated into big name chips, processors and telecom products.

Finland may not seem like a huge player in the clean tech market, but opposites do attract. According to the blog Arctic Startup, in 2008 Finnish cleantech companies posted a total of €139.5 million in investments, which represented the highest proportion (37%) of total investments (€372m) in all Nordic countries.

While it may be most natural for innovators, investors and infrastructure companies to look far to the east or to strain their necks to superpowers in the west like the US, Finland could be a new avenue for interest and cooperation. Necessity is the mother of invention for cold and isolated Finland. Their technologies matched with the people’s warm, hearty, inviting and casual nature could be a good fit for warm-spirited people of the Middle East.

More updates on that come, of course. Meanwhile, I am looking forward to a hearty breakfast that will stick to my ribs. Reindeer ragout?

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