Helsinki city's energy firm Helen has started a plan to use imported cashew shells as biofuel for next winter's heating season, Helsingin Sanomat reports.
The company uses biofuels for district heating and plans to mix in the shells with the other organic material it burns for the purpose.
However the shells are being imported from West Africa's Ivory Coast — a roughly 19-day trip by sea, according to the paper. Ivory Coast is the world's largest producer and exporter of raw cashew nuts.
At first glance, some might think it doesn't make much sense to buy tonnes of nut shells and transport them such a long way, but according to Helen, it makes good sense.
The company's heating and cooling unit chief Timo Aaltonen told the paper that shells are an economically competitive fuel.
He said that compared to the forest residue chips it usually uses for fuel, nut shells offer nearly twice the amount of energy.
The transport and logistics costs are also lower than the energy benefit gained from burning the shells, the paper said.
According to Aaltonen, utilising food industry waste makes sense.
"In the Ivory Coast, the shells would have been composted, but this way they can be put to good use," Aaltonen said.
The Finnish Environment Institute (Syke) is responsible for the country's international waste shipment permits — and it was taken aback by the large shipment of shells, according to the paper.
But nutshells are classified as so-called green waste, which doesn't require waste transfer permits.
Finland's eye-watering fuel prices
It's no news that the Mideast crisis prompted by the US-Israeli attack on Iran has raised fuel prices around the world — and Europe is no exception, according to Iltalehti.
However, it noted that a price comparison of 27 EU countries found refuelling vehicles is exceptionally expensive in one country in particular — Finland.
Finland led the pack with the highest prices for diesel, according to Iltalehti, citing the fuel-prices.eu website.
The paper published a list of the 27 countries' diesel prices, with the lowest found in Malta (at €1.21 per litre).
A litre of diesel in Finland stood at €2.34, closely trailed by the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany.
Finland did not have the highest petrol prices, although it was however the 4th most expensive out of the 27.
The paper noted that even after the crisis in Iran subsides it will take a good deal of time for fuel prices to decrease again, as energy supply chains have been disrupted.
Mass chicken death mystery
Citing agricultural newspaper Maaseudun Tulevaisuus, Ilta-Sanomat reported about an egg farmer in Southwestern Finland who is demanding 52,000 euros in compensation from the state.
The paper explained that on the night of 12 May 2022, egg farmer Tuomas Pietilä walked into his chicken house in Loimaa to see nearly 2,000 of the birds lying dead on the floor.
His family and workers who were staying at the farm had heard a loud noise at around 3am — a sound reminiscent of a fighter jet, the paper explained.
According to MT, Pietilä suspects that noise may have prompted the chickens' ill fate.
However, the paper noted that there were no military aircraft operations at the time, with the state rejecting the farmer's compensation claim.
But chickens are sensitive to loud, sudden noises. They can cause a stress reaction that can sometimes be fatal.
As an example, the paper noted a recent incident in Sultanpur, India, where noise and music from a wedding party ended up killing 140 chickens at a nearby farm.
Ilta-Sanomat said that there have been reports of chickens frightened to death by loud noises in the past, including in Britain, France and Sweden. In those cases, it said, the cause was noise from an airplane or helicopter.
In multi-story chicken houses, frightened birds are known to flee into the same corner and then suffocate when they huddle close together, the paper explained.
Edit note: Article updated at 14:57 on 7.5.2026 to correct that Finland currently has the 4th most expensive petrol in the EU, not the 24th as previously reported.