ENVIMAT model family for assessing environmental and economic impacts
This website contains information on the environmentally extended input-output modelling carried out at Syke. At Syke, the work focuses especially on the development and applications of the ENVIMAT model family.
The ENVIMAT model family includes:
- The environmentally extended input-output model of the Finnish economy, ENVIMAT
- The refined EEIO model for the food system, ENVIMATfood
- The long-term environmentally extended input-output simulation model, ENVIMATscen
- The EEIO models of Finland's regions, ENVIMATmaakunta
- The model family is also linked to the Finnish material flow accounts calculation system MFAfin.
The input-output model can be used to examine the lifecycle impacts of the entire value chain
The input-output model represents a snapshot of the supply and use of goods and services in the economy for one year, expressed in monetary terms. The supply consists of products produced by domestic industries and imports. These products are used as intermediate goods in the production activities of industries and as final goods in domestic consumption, investments, and exports. Thus, the model also captures the flows of foreign trade.
The model describes the interconnections and interactions between production activities in monetary terms. Through these value chains, the input-output model enables the assessment of both direct and indirect impacts of product groups, industries, or final use categories in the economy. These are often referred to as life cycle impacts. Various environmental impacts, such as direct greenhouse gas emissions or direct land use by industries, can be linked to production activities in the model. By relating the environmental impacts to economic value, impact intensities per euro can be calculated, which, combined with impact paths solved in euros, allows for the examination of life cycle environmental impacts. A key strength of the model is the consumption-based analysis it enables.
Modelling provides information to support the sustainability transition
In recent years, the ENVIMAT model family has produced information on, among other things, the carbon footprint of household consumption, the environmental impacts of the Finnish food system, the regional economic and environmental impacts of renewable energy investments, the material flows of the Finnish economy, and the impacts of various circular economy scenarios.
Modelling provides information to support decision-making. Additionally, modelling results are used in other follow-up research, such as assessing the consumption-based emissions of municipalities. The life cycle coefficients produced by the model for product groups can be used as background data in various tools and user-facing services (e.g., water footprint calculator and climate diet). The model's input data and results can also be utilized in other models.
Publications
Reports
- Karhinen, S., Savolainen, H., Heikkinen, M., Ulvi, T. (2023). Alueellisten talous- ja ympäristövaikutusten arviointi maakuntien ENVIMAT-malleilla: Esimerkkejä Pohjois-Pohjanmaalta ja Kainuusta. Suomen ympäristökeskuksen raportteja 20/2023.
- Nissinen, A., & Savolainen, H. (2019). Julkisten hankintojen ja kotitalouksien kulutuksen hiilijalanjälki ja luonnonvarojen käyttö ENVIMAT-mallinnuksen tuloksia. Suomen ympäristökeskuksen raportteja 15/2019.
- Ruokamo, E. ym. (2021). Kiertotalous vähähiilisyyden edistäjänä ja luonnon monimuotoisuuden turvaajana. Ympäristöministeriön julkaisuja 6/2021.
- Salo M. ym. (2023). Ohjauskeinoja kotitalouksien kulutuksen hiilijalanjäljen pienentämiseen. Valtioneuvoston selvitys- ja tutkimustoiminnan julkaisusarja 47/2023.
- Savolainen, H. ym. (2024). Suomen kansantalouden materiaalivirrat ja niiden vaikutukset: Toteutunut kehitys ja kiertotalouden skenaariot vuodelle 2035. Valtioneuvoston julkaisuja 8/2024.
- Seppälä, J. ym. (2009). Suomen kansantalouden materiaalivirtojen ympäristövaikutusten arviointi ENVIMAT-mallilla. Suomen ympäristökeskuksen julkaisuja 20/2009.
- Sironen, S., Mäenpää, I., Myllyviita, T., Leskinen, P., Seppälä, J. (2015). Pohjois-Karjalan materiaalivirrat ja resurssitehokkuus. Pohjois-Karjalan materiaalivirrat ja resurssitehokkuus -hankkeen loppuraportti. Suomen ympäristökeskuksen raportteja 30/2015.
Scientific articles
- Koskela S., Mäenpää I., Seppälä J., Mattila T., Korhonen MR. (2011). EE-IO modeling of the environmental impacts of Finnish imports using different data sources. Ecological Economics. 70(12):2341–9.
- Koskela S., Mattila T., Antikainen R., Mäenpää I. (2013). Identifying Key Sectors and Measures for a Transition towards a Low Resource Economy. Resources. 8;2(3):151–66.
- Mattila T., Seppälä J., Nissinen A., Mäenpää I. (2011). Land use impacts of industries and products in the Finnish economy: A comparison of three indicators. Biomass and Bioenergy. 35(12):4781–7.
- Mattila T., Koskela S., Seppälä J., Mäenpää I. (2013). Sensitivity analysis of environmentally extended input–output models as a tool for building scenarios of sustainable development. Ecological Economics. 86:148–55.
- Piñero, P., Heikkinen, M., Mäenpää, I. & Pongrácz, E. (2015). Sector aggregation bias in Environmentally Extended Input Output modelling of raw material flows in Finland. Ecological Economics 119:217-229.
- Ruokamo, E., Savolainen, H., Seppälä, J., Sironen, S., Räisänen, M., & Auvinen, A.-P. (2023). Exploring the potential of circular economy to mitigate pressures on biodiversity. Global Environmental Change, 78, 2023.
- Salo, M., Savolainen, H., Karhinen, S., Nissinen, A.: Drivers of household consumption expenditure and carbon footprints in Finland, Journal of Cleaner Production, 289, 2021.
- Seppälä, J., Mäenpää, I., Koskela, S., Mattila, T., Nissinen, A., Katajajuuri, J.-M., Härmä, T., Korhonen, M.-R., Saarinen, M., & Virtanen, Y. (2011). An assessment of greenhouse gas emissions and material flows caused by the Finnish economy using the ENVIMAT model. Journal of Cleaner Production, 19(16), 1833–1841.
