Editor: Professor Esa Vakkilainen, LUT University

Energy and biofuels

The main manufacturing costs in the European forest industry are the costs of fibre raw material, i.e. wood, recovered paper and market pulp. Energy costs are 12–17 % of the total manufacturing cost and thus they significantly affect the profitability. The share of energy cost in pulp and paper manufacture is three to four times higher than in the manufacturing of the wood product industry.

The objective of the Energy and biofuels theme is to look at the heat and electricity consumption in the forest industry and determine corresponding figures for a modern forest industry, to highlight possibilities to improve cost effectiveness. The energy efficiency in energy consumption and production, as well as new concepts of energy supply in the modern mill, are also presented.