Zero emissions are already a reality

Before the Paris climate convention in 2015, countries, companies and individuals made a host of climate pledges. I, for one, quickly vowed to reduce climate-warming carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 5 million tonnes every year through my work. The figure seemed enormous back then, but now I am working to control roughly 600 thousand tonnes of fossil CO2 emissions and 10 million tonnes of woodbased carbon dioxide.

Each of our mills has a roadmap that will help us achieve zero emissions in terms of fossil-based tonnes by reducing our energy consumption and changing our energy sources. Zero emissions are already a reality at the Äänekoski bioproduct mill and the nearly completed Kemi bioproduct mill, and I am confident we will achieve the same at our other mills.

Given that combustion is an inherent part of electricity generation and industrial high-temperature processes, wood will continue to be burned for a long time. When burned, wood-based carbon returns as carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, where trees can capture it again. Sustainable forest management is the best way to reduce carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, as forests bind carbon while they grow. We are also studying the recovery of wood-based carbon dioxide generated at our mills and its use as raw material for bioproducts.

The European Green Deal emphasises the hydrogen economy, which explains the growing interest in CO2 recovery. The hydrogen economy is strongly promoted by Germany, which needs an alternative energy source to replace Russian gas. In practice, the hydrogen economy involves projects related to the storage of renewable energy because renewable energy is not always available, and it is impossible to construct enough battery capacity to store it.

In the hydrogen economy, various Power-to-X (P2X) solutions are being developed to reduce emissions, store energy and produce fossil free products. P2X solutions still require enormous amounts of energy. For example, if we used them to produce methanol, used as a solvent and fuel, from all the wood-based carbon dioxide generated by our mills, we would consume most of the electricity generated in Finland.

Various P2X development projects are underway in Finland and other countries, but they are still uncompetitive compared to equivalent fossil products. A great deal of public funding is available for the hydrogen economy, but in the long term, business must be profitable on market-based terms. My educated guess is that our energy systems will have changed in 10 years – but less than our politicians would have liked. I also expect the financial profitability of climate action to have improved thanks to the increased political actions. And I hope we will successfully combine increased energy production and improved biodiversity.