Copyright © 2025 Duquesne University Athletics Accessibility and Legal Thanks for visiting The use of software that blocks ads hinders our ability to serve you the content you came here to enjoy We ask that you consider turning off your ad blocker so we can deliver you the best experience possible while you are here Metsä Group's Kerto LVL mill project is progressing as planned in Äänekoski and the mill has reached its rooftop height The mill's topping out ceremony was held today on Wednesday 14 August 2024 Topping out ceremony is a traditional event that is celebrated when the ceilings are ready and buildings are at the rooftop height Metsä Wood’s Executive Vice President Jaakko Anttila Metsä Wood’s Project Director Eero Lampola and SRV’s Chief Executive Officer Saku Sipola gave their greetings at the event The construction work will be completed in the autumn of 2025 and production at the mill is expected to start production in the second half of 2026 “The construction of the Kerto LVL mill in Äänekoski has progressed safely and in a high-quality manner according to plan A construction project of this magnitude requires excellence and seamless cooperation between different parties and I would like to thank every partner involved in the project which has made the project progress to this point,” says Jaakko Anttila "The cooperative project management contract has proven to be an excellent project format for the implementation of mill premises suitable for the customer's modern production processes Metsä Group is a pioneer in the industry's transition to collaborative project formats for its construction investments In close and good cooperation with the client and a skilled design team the project is already more than halfway through. The lessons learned from this project will also be fully utilised in the development phase of Metsä Group's new 20 000 square metre fibre products mill planned for the Rauma mill site" The large-scale Kerto LVL mill has a surface area of five hectares The building has a length of 400 metres and a width of 150 metres The construction site is progressing well on schedule and the construction of the mill is now about halfway Works inside the building are currently underway in the area The large building is divided into six different sections Land construction work will also continue almost until the very end of the construction project the site's personnel strength is at its highest with around 200 people working on the site A total of up to a thousand employees will work on the site throughout the project It is estimated that half of the employees come from Central Finland the mill's annual production capacity will be about 160,000 cubic metres of Kerto LVL which will increase Metsä Group's Kerto LVL capacity by approximately 50 per cent Strong Kerto LVL products are a material-efficient solution to increase the use of wood in construction and they store carbon throughout their life cycle Kerto LVL is suitable for highly versatile construction purposes The progress of the Kerto LVL mill project can be followed through live, real-time web cameras at: www.metsagroup.com/metsawood/about-metsa-wood/projects/web-cameras Images: databank.metsagroup.com/l/z_Q8p-5Lj6_9 Metsä Group’s wood products business birch and spruce plywood and further processed sawn timber Our products made of northern wood store carbon and play an important role in combating climate change Metsä Group’s parent company Metsäliitto Cooperative is owned by more than 90,000 Finnish forest owners The sales of the whole Metsä Group were EUR 6.1 billion Follow Metsä Wood: Facebook | LinkedIn | Instagram | Pinterest Veolia and Metsä Fibre announced a long-term partnership agreement on the refining of crude methanol generated in pulp production at the Äänekoski bioproduct mill into commercial biomethanol Veolia will build a crude methanol refinery connected with Metsä Fibre’s Äänekoski bioproduct mill The €50-million investment is supported by a grant from the Finnish ministry of economy and employment The Kraft pulping process converts wood chips into pulp which is used to make a large range of paper products a waste byproduct from the kraft pulping process contains most of the original cooking inorganic elements and the degraded The Veolia black liquor evaporation systems for the pulp and paper industry feature methanol rectification and handling systems This will be the largest biorefinery project producing bio-methanol from a pulp mill Developed in close cooperation with Metsä Fibre the largest cooperative forestry association in Europe the biomethanol refinery will be based on Veolia’s innovative industrial-scale concept of commercial bioproduct-derived bio-methanol production which safely integrates the refining of crude methanol into the pulp production process Raw methanol recovered from the pulp process needs to be purified from nitrogen and sulfur and then further refined for use as commercial biomethanol the refinery will be adjacent and partly built into Metsä Fibre’s Äänekoski plant in Finland The plant is estimated to begin operations by 2024 and will have an annual production capacity of 12,000 tons; this will allow the avoidance of up to 30,000 tons of CO2 emissions per year by replacing fossil fuel for transportation COO of Veolia said: “Our biorefinery project with Metsä Fibre is in line with Veolia’s strategy to develop local energy loops allowing decarbonization and energy sufficiency It illustrates our capacity to act as an ecological transformation enabler through industrial integration across various sectors to develop scalable and sustainable solutions for locally produced CO2-neutral fuels The advantage of our industrial concept is that it is replicable at around 80% of the pulp mills worldwide It has a potential to unlock an additional locally generated feedstock of CO2-neutral biomethanol for biofuel that could be estimated at 2 million tons.” Please note: World Bio Market Insights is owned and operated by World Bio Markets Ltd Metsä Group is constructing a research and development laboratory in Äänekoski dedicated to developing veneer-based wood products The new facility will be located alongside the new Kerto LVL mill currently under construction in Äänekoski The laboratory is expected to be completed by the end of 2025 and the investment value is approximately Euro 6 million The laboratory will be a test environment for researching and developing new high-value veneer-based wood products in collaboration with Metsä Group's partner network The investment will establish the conditions for testing material-efficient load-bearing structures and enable product research based on a broader raw material base The Äänekoski mill area in Finland is the largest of Metsä Group A new Kerto LVL mill is currently under construction in the mill area with production expected to start by the end of 2026 Metsä Group's Kuura textile fibre and Muoto fibre product pilot plants are also located in Äänekoski A demo plant for lignin products is also under construction in the mill area and it is expected to be completed by the end of 2025 Republication of Lesprom Network content is prohibited without the prior written consent of Lesprom Network General Terms and Conditions and Privacy policy Create your free account to receive personalised content alerts and Re:action our weekly newsletter of the top chemical science stories handpicked from a range of magazines journals and websites alongside insight and analysis from our expert editorial team Tell us what you think. Take part in our reader survey By 2023-06-12T08:29:00+01:00 Plans to develop the world’s largest vegetable oil refinery reveal diverging views on the sustainability profitability and scale of plant-based supply chains To get a glimpse of Randy Delbert Letang’s vision for sustainable future fuels you must first seek the idea that grew on his grandparents’ farm in the Caribbean ‘They sent me off to school to get an education but I can tell you I’m not interested in going to be a farmer especially when you’re paying hundreds of thousands of dollars in college fees,’ he says Letang is president and chief executive of SGP Bioenergy which is building the first biorefinery on the scale of a conventional oil refinery Biorefineries are facilities that convert natural materials to fuels or chemicals SGP Bioenergy’s one will repurpose existing bunker fuel oil terminals together with new facilities at opposite ends of the Panama Canal eventually producing 180,000 barrels (29 million litres) of biofuel per day It will buy crops grown by farmers under contract requiring 1.5 million acres (0.6 million hectares) of land there are about 23 million acres of farmland in the UK) He argues that farms like his family’s are getting progressively less profitable so ‘farming for bioenergy can be a stepping stone’ to improving agriculture’s financial future Letang declined to disclose the crop that SGP Bioenergy is contracting farmers to grow but says that it returns as many nutrients from the soil as it withdraws We do not have enough sustainable biomass to decarbonise every sector SGP Bioenergy has now raised the investment it needs for the biorefinery’s first phase which will use vegetable oil to produce 60,000 barrels of biofuel per day Contractors are due to start clearing and levelling its construction sites this year the Panama project is huge by typical biorefinery standards it would supply less than 1% of the projected global demand for renewable liquid fuel in 2050 ‘What that tells me is that we have a lot of work to do,’ he says Letang hopes that the Panama refinery is the seed of a concept that will grow and spread rapidly the 2050 net zero greenhouse gas emission target laid out in the Paris Agreement is ‘unattainable’ Yet Jhuma Sadhukhan from the University of Surrey in Guildford sees the optimal scope of biorefineries very differently ‘We do not have enough sustainable biomass to decarbonise every sector,’ Sadhukhan tells Chemistry World She sees decarbonising the chemical sector using carbon-neutral biomass feedstocks that sequester carbon dioxide as they grow during photosynthesis as a realistic target biorefineries primarily co-produce energy for their own use or supply biomass-based energy for poor marginalised communities There is always competition for how to use land She urges care in growing plants specifically to produce fuel or energy Sadhukhan and Letang present conflicting visions of what biorefineries are they and others agree that while the concept is promising biorefineries face great challenges in doing what we need them to Letang is right that without scaling them up significantly they’ll have little impact on the world’s climate goals Sadhukhan is also right that decisions about where the natural raw materials come from will have a major impact on our environment Researchers and decision-makers at universities and companies across the world are wrangling with these and many other issues Working in a laboratory in a small industrial unit in Surrey Elham Ketabchi is a great example of a researcher seeking to develop a product using materials from a biorefinery She’s head of research and development at Vistafolia a company that makes artificial green walls realistic-looking fake plants that can decorate large areas of buildings The plastics used must be resistant to fire and stable when exposed to ultraviolet light Ketabchi stands at a white fire testing chamber measuring the fire resistance of new bio-based formulations of Vistafolia’s products by holding them in a Bunsen burner as part of a project working with the University of Surrey she finally finds the right combination of bio-based materials and additives to reduce the amount of smoke produced to the level she needs ‘It does actually work if I do use something that’s more sustainable,’ Ketabchi says Novamont has three production plants focusing on bioplastics and other bioproducts To make Vistafolia’s products UV stable and fire resistant she needs bio-based versions of the right polymers and additives The biobased polymer could be derived from organic raw materials like vegetable oils or sugar cane One key consideration is that the right grades of bio-based substances are required to perform the same way as their fossil-fuel based counterparts A second important consideration underscores the underlying demand for biorefineries: getting enough of the raw materials ‘If we don’t have the availability that we need then it hinders our process,’ Ketabchi stresses Biomaterials producer Novamont provides clues to why availability can be such a challenge to users of bio-based chemicals Founded in 1989 and based in Novara in Italy Novamont is now ‘a world leader in the production of bioplastics and in the development of biochemicals and bioproducts’ the company’s head of corporate strategy implementation and engagement biolubricants and biodegradable ingredients for cosmetics four production plants and three research laboratories ‘In the last 10 years our turnover has increased by 200% and employment by 80%,’ Gregori says which has a long background in petrochemicals That growth and the subsequent acquisition is a measure of the strong demand for Novamont’s products. The EU Biorefinery Outlook to 2030 report anticipates demand for bio-based products within the EU being higher than supply through to 2030 in both of its future scenarios The report also notes that at least 60 biorefineries were established before 1980 along with hundreds of more recently established facilities seeking to meet the demand Gregori says that biorefineries are ‘still an emerging sector which has still not achieved the same technological maturity and is still strongly investing in research and development activities’ Vistafolia wants to use plant-based polymers to make polymer-based plants Sadhukhan recommends that biorefineries focus on chemical products that can be sold at higher prices than we’re used to paying for energy That ‘can create an opportunity for livelihood generation for poor marginalised populations’ in countries like Mexico and Brazil because the market is less willing to pay enough for higher volume commodity chemicals to cover production costs Sadhukhan notes that added-value products account for less than 20% of the weight of the original biomass inputs Using the remaining 80% to generate the heat and energy needed to run the biorefinery can help improve financial viability Sadhukhan also argues that concentrating biorefineries on chemical production is better for the environment In total there are around 400 biorefineries operating in Europe with most generating two or more added-value chemicals The carbon that biological feedstocks like plants absorb from the atmosphere would be trapped in products like biopolymers for longer than fuels ‘Biorefineries are for the betterment of the environment and must not cause ecosystem damage [and] biodiversity loss,’ she adds The amount of biomass available without causing conflict over or change in land use ‘is quite small’ she says two-thirds of European biorefineries worldwide use first-generation food ‘Such systems must be scrutinised for potential damage to the environment and retrofitted for non-food non-consumable excess available biomass,’ she says Bioeconomy companies like Novamont are indeed looking to integrate ‘scraps from the agro-industrial value chain’ they are also working with farmers to promote the use of ‘dryland crops able to grow in marginal land’ Biomethanol is more expensive to produce than the equivalent fossil fuel the French utility company Veolia is building a refinery that will use ‘non-food non-consumable excess available biomass’ Yet rather than making added-value chemicals it’s using waste from Finnish forestry company Metsä Fibre’s pulp mill to produce biomethanol fuel ‘It will start producing as intended most likely in the second half of next year,’ says Jacob Illeris business development director at Veolia Northern Europe Like SGP Bioenergy’s Panama biorefinery it will be the world’s largest example of its type but in this case the scale is a lot smaller It will make up to 12,000 tons of biomethanol per year – but because of the type of paper mill If all such plants had the kind of biorefinery Veolia is building they could together produce around 2 million tonnes of carbon-neutral biomethanol per year but less than the 9 million tonnes of biofuel per year SGP Bioenergy’s Panama plant intends to produce Yet as the EU Biorefinery Outlook to 2030 suggests making a chemical as readily derived from natural gas as methanol from a biological resource is not directly competitive To build the biorefinery has involved support from the Finnish Ministry of Economy and Environment of up to €9.4 million (£8.2 million) And to sell the biomethanol Veolia must ‘look downstream at who appreciates the value because this is more expensive to produce than the equivalent fossil fuel’ ‘We expect to be able to find improvements to the process and the costs that allow us to build commercially viable plants without support,’ he adds Improving economic competitiveness with fossil fuels is why Letang wants to build the Panama biorefinery He wants to be able to produce fuel without incentives ‘[If] we reduce the cost to the point where we’re at or slightly above parity with standard fuels we grant access to the global marketplace for all these fuels,’ he tells Chemistry World Letang will primarily use his experience negotiating supply contracts to secure biological feedstocks for energy production creating recyclable carbon sources as well as restoring usability of paying attention to how much water you use and careful not to disrupt food crops and not to create more carbon rather than sequestering it I don’t see a more viable path to reaching 2050 or even 2030 sustainability goals than we have for biofuels.’ SGP Bioenergy is working with well-established companies to design and construct its biorefinery reliable processes rather than anything innovative which is supplying facilities that will produce sustainable hydrogen from the biorefinery’s by-products Topsoe is also supplying process equipment to react the hydrogen with vegetable oil feedstocks to make biofuel SGP Bioenergy also aims to sell 400,000 tonnes of hydrogen per year as a separate income stream There is no single source of feedstock that can replace fossil feedstocks While Sadhukhan generally disagrees with people like Letang who think that biorefineries should be used to make fuels she agrees with him that biorefineries should not need subsidies to operate she notes that attracting the €750 million to build a biorefinery with fossil fuel scale production volume of 220,000 tons per year is difficult ‘which is limiting their scaling potential to compete against large-scale fossil-based industries’ That is a key factor determining why costs of bio-based products are usually higher and supplies less satisfactory Illeris is unafraid to recognise these difficulties ‘There is no single source of feedstock that can replace fossil feedstocks,’ he says Biorefineries on their own won’t uproot their fossil fuel rivals altogether it will be a patchwork of different kinds of feedstocks which eventually will replace what can be replaced.’ Deploying facilities like Veolia’s in Finland is therefore crucial to sustain the sector’s growth ‘In order for us to replace fossil fuels to a larger extent many actors to engage to start producing renewable fuels at industrial scale because there’s a learning curve here for everybody,’ Illeris says There is a whole supply chain based on fossil fuels that needs to be replaced it’s a small contribution in the very big scheme of things But it’s a necessary contribution for us to collectively learn how can we navigate this journey for the sake of the global climate.’ Andy Extance is a science writer based in Exeter Site powered by Webvision Cloud has agreed to sell its Elotex-brand vinyl acetate redispersible polymer business Elotex powders are used to improve the performance of mortars for the construction industry Celanese says the acquisition will enable it to leverage its acetyl chemicals supply chain Huber’s carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) activities the CMC business makes additives for improving the performance of mortars CMC is derived from biobased raw materials Nouryon says the deal will substantially broaden its portfolio of sustainable biobased water-soluble polymers for use as thickeners The Huber business has annual sales of $150 million and 240 employees and includes a plant and R&D center in Äänekoski Nouryon expects to complete both deals by the end of June ACS’s Basic Package keeps you connected with C&EN and ACS $80 Regular Members & Society Affiliates ACS’s Standard Package lets you stay up to date with C&EN ACS’s Premium Package gives you full access to C&EN and everything the ACS Community has to offer This article has been sent to the following recipient: Sign up for C&EN's must-read weekly newsletter Copyright © 2025 American Chemical Society Austria-based international technology group active in the supplies of plants has announced a new order from Veolia Services Suomi for the supply of a biomethanol purification plant to be used in Metsä Fibre’s bioproduct mill in Äänekoski The biomethanol purification plant will be used to refine the crude sulphate methanol generated in pulp production to obtain commercial grade biomethanol which will be integrated into Metsä Fibre’s bioproduct mill in Äänekoski refines the crude sulphate methanol generated in pulp production to obtain commercial grade biomethanol The biomethanol purification plant will be designed to produce 12,000 tons of biomethanol per year making it the world’s largest of its kind when it goes into operation Start-up of the plant is scheduled for 2024 The ANDRITZ delivery to Veolia includes proprietary process design and full EPC delivery The biomethanol purification process is part of the ANDRITZ CircleToZero initiative aimed at achieving zero emissions and zero waste from pulp mills and is a patented extraction process yielding commercial grade biomethanol The CircleToZero initiative also offers other next-generation solutions for the chemical recovery cycle of pulp mills with the target of utilizing pulp mill side streams to the maximum extent possible The biomethanol purification plant is a key component in the process for producing sustainable biomethanol from renewable raw material The fossil-free biomethanol can be used for applications in the pulp mill itself or as a substitute for fossil-based methanol in the transport sector (biodiesel) and as a chemical base substance With the world’s largest fossil-free biomethanol plant of this kind Veolia and ANDRITZ’s unique technology are strongly supporting the further development of Metsä Fibre’s unique bioproduct mill approach which combines efficient raw material use with environmental and energy efficiency In accordance with the principles of the circular economy crude sulphate methanol – are utilized and upgraded to obtain products with the highest possible added value “Veolia highly values how this industrial partnership has been developed based on a common vision to use natural resources more efficiently and process existing side streams to create new sustainable bioproducts that can replace fossil-based fuels and materials,” Jacob Illeris International technology group ANDRITZ offers a broad portfolio of innovative plants and digital solutions for a wide range of industries and end markets ANDRITZ is a global market leader in all four of its business areas – Pulp & Paper global presence and sustainability are the cornerstones of the group’s strategy which is focused on long-term profitable growth The publicly listed group has around 27,100 employees and over 280 locations in more than 40 countries ANDRITZ Pulp & Paper provides sustainable technology and service solutions for the production of all types of pulp The technologies and services focus on maximum utilization of raw materials lower overall operating costs as well as innovative decarbonization strategies and autonomous plant operation as well as recycling and shredding solutions for numerous waste materials also form a part of this business area State-of-the-art IIoT technologies as part of Metris digitalization solutions complete the comprehensive product offering Follow Metsä Wood: Facebook | LinkedIn | Instagram | Pinterest  2015 -- Metsä Fibre’s planned bioproduct mill in Äänekoski will have a first-of-its-kind pulp storage facility the storage facility will use the new TransBale automated distribution center concept sort and distribute the pulp bale units to different transports.The TransBale concept has been under development in cooperation with Metsä Fibre for a year and a half The core of this automated distribution center is high-bay storage with two stacker cranes that operate like automatic robots The system buffers and sorts pulp bale units by product type and customer orders and controls all dispatch operations.“We were researching new solutions in the preliminary planning stage and the handling capacity and storage efficiency of the TransBale concept convinced us,” says Timo Merikallio a project director at Metsä Fibre.The distribution center will be fully operational in the third quarter of 2017 It acts as center stage of the logistics chain which includes three main distribution channels Approximately 800,000 tonnes of pulp will be transported as export units by train to Vuosaari Harbour 400,000 tonnes by train and trucks directly to customers and the remaining 100,000 tonnes will be refined in different units in the mill area.One benefit of the chosen technology is its flexibility there is no need for any pre-sorting in production or allocation of storage space regardless of how much of different pulp grades are produced The total capacity of the distribution center is 25,000 tonnes in an area of 3,000 m2.In addition to the equipment the delivery by Pesmel includes an extensive warehouse management system (WMS) which takes care of the distribution center’s inventory management The WMS is connected both to the production automation system and the mill’s SAP system and based on the product and dispatching information obtained from these systems the WMS controls automated train and truck dispatch and loading operations and a train with 22 cars carrying 1,400 tonnes in three hours automation minimizes work safety risks and damage to equipment and products.“For a technology company like us we have a chance to extend our technology into a new business area we can thank Metsä Fibre’s personnel who took part in the project with an open-minded attitude from the start,” says Tony Leikas president and CEO of Pesmel Oy.Pesmel specializes in materials handling packing and storage systems that enhance the internal logistics of mills and factories Raute Corporation has signed a contract worth Euro 93 million with Metsä Wood for the technology delivery of a new Kerto LVL (Laminated Veneer Lumber) mill in Äänekoski Metsä Wood is one of Europe’s leading manufacturers of engineered wood products Metsä Wood is building a new Kerto LVL mill in Äänekoski to increase its total Kerto LVL capacity by 50% The mill’s annual production capacity is approximately 160,000 m3 and the production is expected to start in late 2026 The order for Raute’s technology includes all main production processes from veneer peeling to LVL pressing The lines are a complete solution compiled of the most modern automated R7-Series technologies All lines are equipped with analyzers for grading and MillSIGHTS software for data capturing The ordered machinery and equipment will be delivered between Q1/2025 and Q1/2026 They will be manufactured at Raute’s production units in Lahti and Kajaani in Finland “By investing in the best available technology in the industry we significantly develop Kerto LVL's production efficiency and ensure a safe and versatile work environment for our personnel Our long-term cooperation with Raute and the development of the mill's technological solutions together offer excellent conditions to succeed in achieving these goals” “We are excited to work with Metsä Group on this project to build a state-of-the-art LVL mill We are integrating our most recent innovations and advanced processing solutions into our delivery Our enduring partnership with Metsä Group lays a solid foundation for successful cooperation” Metsä Wood manufactures wood products for construction which are strong and material-efficient for the construction industry store carbon and reduce the carbon footprint of construction Metsä Wood’s sales totaled approximately Euro 0.7 billion and the company employs around 1 550 persons Metsä Group Press release 28 February 2023 has achieved excellent results in terms of sustainability and environmental efficiency in a study conducted by the Fraunhofer Institute for Microstructure of Materials and Systems (IMWS) in Halle The study comprehensively examined the environmental footprint of Äänekoski bioproduct mill pulp production The Äänekoski bioproduct mill was compared with average values of pulp mills in Europe and Latin America.   The environmental footprint of Äänekoski bioproduct mill’s pulp production was comprehensively investigated by experts from IMWS based on DIN EN ISO 14044 External independent scientists have confirmed the conformity to the norm for the conduction of the Fraunhofer study The study involved comparing Äänekoski bioproduct mill (Finland) with the average ECF (Elemental Chlorine Free) and TCF (Totally Chlorine Free) pulp mills in Europe and ECF mills in Latin America ECF and TCF are alternative technologies of pulp and the Äänekoski bioproduct mill uses the advanced ECF technology “We have set ourselves the goal of producing our fresh fibre pulp in a particularly sustainable way This study verifies that we are on the right path The environmental footprint of pulp as a first-class sustainable raw material is of utmost importance for us,  our customers and the communities we belong to We continue to invest in modern technologies to produce pulp even more sustainably in the future” says Metsä Fibre’s CEO Ismo Nousiainen.  the fossil CO2-eq emissions per tonne are approximately 30 percent lower than average European pulp mills with ECF production processes and 45 percent lower than the average TCF production In the Äänekoski bioproduct mill using the state-of-the-art technology and modern ECF bleaching process ozone layer impact is significantly lower than in average European mills that use the TCF process the average TCF production showed a higher impact on the ozone layer due to the process chemicals used and a higher nitrogen oxide emission The particulate matter load (so called ‘fine dust’) at the Äänekoski mill is about 45 percent lower compared to the average European pulp mills using ECF technology and up to 70 percent lower compared to average TCF mills the Äänekoski bioproduct mill showed 35 percent lower acidification compared to European TCF pulp mills and 15 percent lower acidification compared to European ECF pulp mills Metsä Group is building a new bioproduct mill in Kemi The new mill will be industry-leading in terms of production The Kemi bioproduct mill will be built using the best available technology (BAT) The technological level meets and even exceeds the EU BREF requirements Metsä Group's bioproduct mills use no fossil fuels and the aim is to use 100 percent of the by-product streams and produce no waste Metsä Group is leading the way in advancing the bioeconomy bioproduct development and a fossil free future The raw material for our products is renewable wood from sustainably managed northern forests We focus on the growth sectors of the forest industry: wood supply and forest services Metsä Group’s annual sales amount to approximately EUR 7 billion and we have around 9,500 employees in around 30 countries Our international Group has its roots in the Finnish forests: our parent company is Metsäliitto Cooperative which is owned by over 90,000 forest owners.  “When all the new investments are operating at full capacity the shift will occur,” predicts Markku Alm Sector Manager of the Southwest Finland Centre for Economic Development Transport and the Environment (ELY Centre) “Major investments such as the Äänekoski bioproduct mill and the Naantali multifuel power plant will raise renewable energy’s share so much that this shift will occur next year,” he says renewable energy accounted for about 34 percent of Finland’s overall consumption with fossil fuels responsible for some 38 percent Metsä Fibre CEO Ilkka Hämälä says that his company’s Äänekoski plant will raise the nation’s renewable energy share by a couple of percentage points per year It will have a higher impact on electricity usage raising the renewable share by 2.5 percentage points Hämälä also estimates that it will add half a billion euros to Finland’s export revenues which is owned by Fortum and two Turku-area utility companies and there are also many new wind turbines under construction The government has set a target of 50 percent renewable energy usage by 2030 Hämälä points out that the key factor in limiting climate change is cutting emissions – and that not all renewables are necessarily effective at doing that nuclear energy plays and will continue to play a significant role both in terms of our energy supply and in fending off climate change,” says Hämälä Canada: Canada’s new budget thin on Arctic policy substance: expert Finland: Finland commissions study on new Arctic railway Norway: ‘We will come back’, Statoil says after disappointing results in Barents Sea Russia: Where’s the cash? Russia to give Arctic development plan a rethink Sweden: Sweden moves Polar Research Secretariat to Arctic town United States: U.S. transportation secretary announces efforts to speed up project development in Alaska For more news from Finland visit Yle News. Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked * Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. make electricityIn an increasingly paper-free world some may have thought that the Finnish paper products industry's days were numbered But the people behind Metsä Fibre's new pulp facility that's under construction in Äänekoski say demand for their products is increasing - and that the facility will produce the equivalent of 2.5 percent of Finland's energy Open image viewerTwo-thirds of the construction of Metsä Fibres' giant complex in Äänekoski is alredy complete Image: Sweco25.9.2016 18:04The company Metsä Fibre is investing heavily in a new facility in the town of Äänekoski which - when completed - will produce not only wood by-products but also generate the equivalent to 2.5 percent of Finland's energy needs Two-thirds of the construction of Metsä Fibres' giant complex in Äänekoski is already complete The new facility will give the company a needed boost to meet increased worldwide demand for pulp materials because global demand for it goes up about one to one and a half percent every year," Camilla Wikström the construction project's chief says In its promotion Metsä Group is trying to underscore the modern Rather than using the more outdated term 'pulp mill,' Metsä is calling the new fibre facility a bio-product plant turpentine and sulphuric acid for our own production - as well as a large amount of energy," Wikström says "It will become an important part of our operations we make biogas out of the sludge from pulp production which can be used in vehicles." Even though their primary - and profitable - product will continue to be pulp at the new plant the production of energy at the plant will be significant "We will produce 2.5 percent of Finland's electricity in Äänekoski - 1.8 terawatt hours," Wikström says The facility itself will require less than half of that energy - and the rest will be sold back to the electricity grid That's a significant amount of energy Two and a half percent of Finland's energy needs is equivalent to roughly half the amount of power produced at Fortum's nuclear power plant in Loviisa Metsä Fibre's VP of research Niklas von Weymarn says energy production is an important aspect of the new facility's profitability "But [our] processed products are of higher value but we are a big player in bio-energy in Finland," von Weymarn says The construction site has about 2,000 workers from more than 600 companies According to Metsä Fibre the facility should be operational by the third quarter of next year Metsä Group is not alone in believing the forestry industry still has a future in Finland's economy Several other firms are investing heavily in facilities around the country because the market for pulp and cardboard products is growing "As a result of changed market conditions the industry was forced to rethink Now we're at a stage when it's time to invest again," von Weymarn says "As we read newspapers less and because of digitalisation the paper industry is losing ground," Wikström says toilet and kitchen paper is stable and demand is increasing." The new investments will also require more wood - and the trees that wood comes from Metsä Fibre says it will nearly triple the amount of wood it currently uses And even though some of the trees used are imported most of the wood will come from forests within a 150 kilometre radius of the Äänekoski plant The Kuura textile fibre is produced in Äänekoski at Metsä Spring and Itochu’s jointly-owned demo plant which is built around the Äänekoski demo plant aims to demonstrate the feasibility of a novel production process and textile fibre product from both a technical and economic standpoint This advanced direct dissolution method saw its beginnings in a collaboration with universities and research institutions over a decade ago The demo phase began in late 2020 and it is estimated to last approximately two years “We are testing a novel way of producing textile fibres from undried pulp based on safer and more environmentally friendly chemicals Our project has now reached a point where we can shift our focus more on investigating the fibre’s market potential and its suitability in different applications which has operated in the textile industry for over 100 years already The launch of the Kuura brand supports ITOCHU work at the customer front,” says Niklas von Weymarn “The importance and presence of sustainable materials are currently increasing in the global textile market We are very honoured to announce this new cellulosic fibre – Kuura – together with Metsä Group ITOCHU is looking forward to distributing the Kuura fibre to the global textile market as one of the core materials of ITOCHU’s sustainable materials” More than 100 million tonnes of textile fibres are produced worldwide every year and there is massive global demand for sustainably produced textile fibres Alternatives to oil-based textile materials and cotton fibres are needed to place less burden on the environment It is essential in terms of both minimising the environmental footprint and overall efficiency that Kuura is manufactured next to a bioproduct mill The existing industrial mill site ensures the availability of the raw material and fully fossil free energy It also enables the wise use of water and other resources “The idea of Metsä Group’s bioproduct mills is the full utilisation of the renewable wood raw material and production side streams as pulp and other bioproducts which can replace materials made from fossil-based raw materials Kuura is an excellent example of a value-added product converted from pulp that can be produced within our bioproduct mill concept,” says von Weymarn If the feasibility of the production process and the interest in Kuura on the markets can be proved Metsä Group will consider investing in a larger textile fibre mill located next to its bioproduct mill Read more on www.kuura.io Open the link to images and videos of Kuura Innovation company Metsä Spring invests expertise and financial resources into initiatives with the ambition to reshape the forest-based bioeconomy aiming to increase the value for Metsä Group’s stakeholders in the long-term Follow Metsä Spring: Twitter LinkedIn Metsä Group leads the way in the bioeconomy developing bioproducts and a fossil free future Metsä Group’s annual sales is approximately EUR 5.5 billion and we have around 9,200 employees in 30 countries Our international Group has its roots in the Finnish forest: our parent company is Metsäliitto Cooperative owned by 100,000 forest owners