Although we can make a difference, we can’t solve the problem on our own. To meet the challenge, we are working to stimulate both supply and demand and we know that bold policy decisions are required to steer developments in the right direction.
We are working in three parallel time phases, in which we are transitioning everything that is possible right now. We are initially working with the solutions that are almost market-ready, and conducting R&D to achieve totally new solutions that can be implemented as we move forward. We strongly believe in partnering with other companies at various levels of our supply chain.
We have come a long way in achieving fossil-free production in our pulp mills, at our sawmills, CLT plants, and nurseries. Production in 2019 was 99.5% fossil free and 99.4% in 2021. Now we are working to get rid of the last fossil energy sources.
We have replaced the fuel oil and gas in our production processes with bio-oil, biogas, pellets and our own residual products, and initiated a project to test electric power saws and brush saws. If we are to succeed in creating a greener world together, we believe that we need to look at a multitude of solutions, both large and small.
In our mission to achieve fossil-free transportation, we are working on several fronts. We are partnering with vehicle manufacturers and other industry players to make a difference over the long term, but also finding solutions for our own logistics. We have introduced electric forklifts, for example, and only offer renewable alternatives (HVO and RME) at our filling stations.
We are working with customers, suppliers and authorities in an effort to move more of our goods by rail. We are streamlining our transportation needs by introducing purpose-built wagons, and pushing for heavier and longer vehicles. We are working hard to ensure that all forms of transportation are powered by renewable energy. We believe that if we are to succeed in transitioning our transportation system, we must stimulate demand for sustainable transportation.
We consider the supply of sustainable renewable energy to replace all of the fossil fuels in use today to be a major challenge. By making our operations more energy-efficient and daring to invest in innovative solutions, we can create supply. Because we have a positive energy balance from the electricity generated by our industries, we can contribute to the transition to an electrified vehicle fleet.
We still believe that storable energy will be needed in the transportation system. In 2009, we were first to produce liquid biofuels from tall oil through our SunPine joint venture.
In 2020, we opened the world’s first commercial-scale facility for the production of biomethanol from woody biomass and we may also be first in the world with large-scale biodiesel production from solid biomass through our Silva Green Fuel joint venture. The transition will require a multitude of technical solutions that need various forms of energy and Södra is prepared to contribute. But we are also open to more. One day we might even transport paper pulp with fuels made from our own biogenic CO₂ from the pulp mills.
We want our employees to be able to choose where they live. We believe that meetings between people are important for creating change and opportunities for globalisation. We are therefore convinced that we will also need employees who commute by car in the future and that we will continue to interact with customers, suppliers and new partners with fantastic ideas all over the world. But when our employees travel, it must be sustainable. We have therefore installed more than 100 charging points at our facilities so that employees can drive electric vehicles (EVs) to work, and when we fly, we choose biofuel flights. We have generated the electricity in our EV charging points, and possibly the aviation biofuel in the future as well.
Contact us
Would you also like to be part of the fossil-free transition and do you have any questions or ideas for more solutions?
Contact Henrik Brodin, +46 (0)470-85624.
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