Fossil free production
Improved resource efficiency, investments in the latest technology, and synergies between pulp mills and sawmills are leading Metsä Fibre towards fossil free production.
SILJA EISTO
By 2030, all the fuel used in production by Metsä Fibre’s pulp mills and sawmills will be fossil free. The mills’ production is already 96 per cent fossil free. Efforts to promote fossil free production will continue at the mills this year. The investments in the new Kemi bioproduct mill and the Rauma sawmill play a key role in achieving the goal. Metsä Fibre’s sawmills and pulp mills work constantly to make increasingly efficient use of the side streams of production. The sawmill under construction in Rauma, to be completed in 2022, will obtain heat and electricity from the surplus energy of the pulp mill operating in the same integrated unit. In turn, the new sawmill will enable the pulp mill to operate free of fossil fuels in the future. “The lime kiln at Rauma pulp mill is currently pow- ered by fossil fuel. After the completion of the Rauma sawmill, side streams from its production can be used as biofuel for the lime kiln. However, this calls for addition- al investments,” says Marko Ruottinen , Sustainability Manager at Metsä Fibre. SMALL CARBON FOOTPRINT CONTINUES TO DECREASE Bio-based fuels already account for 97 per cent of the fuels used in the sawmills’ production. Increasingly effi- cient operations, energy efficiency and smart fuel choices help further reduce emissions from the sawmills. The goal is that sawmill production will be fossil free by 2030.
“The carbon footprint of our sawmill production is already small. Most of the carbon footprint of sawn tim- ber comes from the transport of wood raw material and from product deliveries to customers,” says Ruottinen. Although the goal of fossil free production focuses on developing the company’s own production, partners like logistics providers are also encouraged to reduce their emissions. “The idea is to transport wood to our production units from as near as possible.” SEQUESTERS CARBON THROUGHOUT ITS LIFE-CYCLE Not only production, but also products, raw materials and packaging will be fossil free by 2030. “Sawn timber is a product that sequesters carbon throughout its life-cycle and typically replaces other construction materials which usually generate larger carbon dioxide emissions while being made than sawn timber does,” Ruottinen explains. At present, the only fossil-based product related to sawn timber is the plastic wrap used to protect sawn timber during transports. Ruottinen notes that an alternative material is cur- rently being sought in cooperation with the packaging industry. In the simplest production chains, plastic hoods have already been partly or fully discarded at the customer’s request. The goal is to find a packaging product that is more sustainable and fully fossil free. •
Marko Ruottinen Metsä Fibre’s Sustainability Manager. Sawn timber stores carbon throughout its life-cycle, he points out.
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