EURO-ECO 2010 Hanover 2 - 3 Dezember 2010	Environmental, Engineering - Economic and Legal Aspects for Sustainable Living
	European Academy of Natural Sciences, Hanover European Scientific Society, Hanover University of Bremen, Bremen

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Sustainability is based not only on natural resources and environmental restrictions, but also on the social problems, spiritual traditions and ethnic values. In the solution of economical and environmental problems we should take into consideration that Estonian oil shale industry is concentrated in the north-eastern Estonia with mainly nonestonian population. Oil shale industry gives the everyday work for 15-20% of the local people and therefore the problem has a great social and political importance.

In Estonia technologies of oil shale mining and consuming have been continuously developed during more than 80 years. In March 2006 one billion tonnes of oil shale had been produced in the Republic. In 1980s about two-thirds of the world`s oil shale output came from Estonia.

Mining activities have a direct influence on groundwater quality and is accompanied by the lowering of the water–level in surrounding lakes. Oil shale processing has a complicated impact on the landscapes, on their ecological state and matter cycling. As a result of power generation some 200 000 tonnes of fly-ash are emitted into the atmosphere annually. Great problems are related to the ash fields of thermal power plants and semi-coke hills of oil shale processing enterprises rich in phenols and other hazardous substances. The amount of pitch residues of oil shale industry is estimated at 78 000 and 60 000 tonnes in the semi-coke hills of Kohtla-Järve and Kiviõli, respectively.

As the mining of oil shale and its use as a raw material in the oil and chemical industry and power engineering will cause serious environmental problems, regulations in oil shale industry were necessary. In the government was decided that the sustainability in the utilization of oil shale in Estonia must be based on the reforms of instruments and institutions, which include technical, administrative, economic and environmental measures. New technologies should have higher thermal efficiencies and produce much less atmospheric emissions and wastes. In 2008 a State Development Plan of Oil Shale utilization for 2007-2015 has been accepted in the Parliament. In the compilation of state plan all counties, towns and parishes of North-East Estonia, nine big enterprises, 14 scientific institutions and 16 NGO-s participated in the discussions. As oil shale is not renewable resource according to state development plan its excavation has been be limited up to 20 million tonnes per year. More advanced methods of mining were recommended. In 2006 highly selective extraction was started, using milling cutter surface miner from the German Company Wirtgen. Surface miner breaks, crushes and loads material in one operation.

Analyses in the compiling of state development plan showed that the negative aspects of oil shale energy could be most significantly reduced by transition from pulverized combustion technology to circulating-fluidized-bed combustion technology. After installation of two 215MW units with new boilers in Narva plants, the emission of carbon dioxide, nitrogen and sulphur compounds has been reduced substantially.

In the coming years all environmental parameters in Estonian oil shale industry will be in harmony with the requirements of EU directives. One of the most important environmental policy goals is to promote and stimulate environmental awareness of the population.

 

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