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When Annukka Santasalo-Aarnio was studying about twenty years ago, the energy transition — moving away from fossil fuels — felt like a utopia. 

‘At the time, the main concern was whether oil reserves would run out,’ she says. 

Now we know that oil will not run out anytime soon. There is more crude oil stored in the Earth’s crust than humanity has used so far, and even known reserves alone are enough to cover consumption for decades. 

‘But we can already see a pathway to a point where oil and other fossil fuels can be left in the ground because they have become unnecessary,’ Santasalo-Aarnio says. 

One solution is not enough 

Crude oil is, in many ways, an excellent product: a lightweight and safe energy source that can be refined into fuels as well as fertilisers, plastics and chemicals. 

The global economy has therefore run on oil for 150 years — which is precisely why replacing it is so difficult. 

‘No single invention will be enough; the entire energy system must be rethought. It is also important that we do not lock ourselves into one material or technology, because that would make the new energy system vulnerable,’ Santasalo-Aarnio says. 

More than forty professors and their research groups work on energy-related topics across Aalto University’s schools. According to Santasalo-Aarnio, Aalto’s strength lies not only in scale but also in interdisciplinarity. Expertise covering the entire energy value chain can be found under one roof, making the work relevant to society and industry and faster to apply in practice. 

This spring, research collaboration among Aalto’s energy experts will become even closer and more diverse thanks to a new competence centre, House of Energy Transition. The centre’s impact will be strengthened by four new professorships funded through donations from ABB, Fortum, St1 and Walter Ahlström Foundation. 

The professorships focus on power electronics, new technologies, energy strategies, and sustainable industrial production. 

According to Santasalo-Aarnio, these fields illustrate how wide-ranging the energy transition really is. 

‘It is the biggest transformation of this century alongside digitalisation,’ she says. 

Storage and flexibility 

Energy strategy expertise is needed to address many major questions: How should future electricity markets be built? How will companies and regions benefit from the transition? How can the power grid be balanced to withstand production that is no longer flexible in the same way as before?

Circulating COâ‚‚ 

In Finland, 96 percent of electricity is already produced without fossil fuels. 

However, the energy transition is about much more than electricity. 

Crude oil is essentially compressed biomass accumulated over millions of years — long hydrocarbon chains. 

Without hydrocarbons, combustion-engine transport would stop and many everyday products would disappear from the market. 

There is, however, an alternative source for hydrocarbons: Power-to-X, a process in which electricity is converted into desired products such as hydrocarbons. 

To a layperson, the idea may sound almost like a magic trick, but Santasalo-Aarnio explains it simply: 

‘Hydrogen is produced by splitting water molecules with green electricity, and COâ‚‚ can be captured from industrial flue gases, for example. From hydrogen and COâ‚‚, we can produce exactly the same hydrocarbon molecules as from crude oil. At its core, this is about storing renewable energy in the form of e-fuels.’ 

Human-made hydrocarbons can be used directly in existing combustion engines and industrial processes. The biggest challenge in scaling up is the large investment required. Burning these fuels also produces carbon dioxide, just like fossil fuels. 

‘However, it is so-called circulating COâ‚‚ — carbon dioxide that has already been removed from the atmosphere. When we leave nature’s stored hydrocarbons untouched, we do not increase atmospheric COâ‚‚ levels,’ Santasalo-Aarnio says. 

Finland in a strong position 

Santasalo-Aarnio has researched energy storage and conversion — processes that transform energy from one form to another — for nearly twenty years. 

According to her, Finland has several advantages in the energy transition: a reliable electricity grid, a stable society and sufficient freshwater for the hydrogen economy. Green hydrogen is used not only to produce synthetic hydrocarbons but also in carbon-free steel production and in manufacturing ammonia for fertilisers. 

Since Finland has no fossil fuel reserves in its soil, no companies have an incentive to slow down the adoption of sustainable solutions. 

‘On the contrary, companies in Finland agree that this transition must happen and sit at the same table when legislation is being developed,’ Santasalo-Aarnio says. 

She hopes policymakers will remain patient and determined in the face of global uncertainty and pressure. Companies need to trust that climate targets will remain stable in order to secure returns on clean technology investments and continue investing. 

‘Short-sighted decisions often make the situation worse in the long run. For example, if the biofuel blending obligation had not been changed, our fuel would now contain less gasoline and the current energy crisis would not affect us as strongly,’ she says. 

Despite the challenges, Santasalo-Aarnio remains optimistic about the future. 

‘The energy transition will not happen overnight, but we have a clear vision and we are already moving forward at a good pace. To young people worried about the state of the world, I would say: there is plenty of work to do, and the best way to make an impact is to join us in creating change together.’