At Metsä Board, mitigating climate change is at the core of our sustainability targets. We focus on developing our operations in order to further reduce fossil carbon dioxide emissions and to improve our energy efficiency.
During the period 2009–2019 Metsä Board’s fossil carbon dioxide emissions per product tonne (scope 1 and 2) have decreased by 50%. We will continue cutting our fossil-based CO2 emissions in line with Metsä Group’s 2030 objective to have fossil-free mills by 2030.
Our climate change mitigation efforts have been recognised by CDP which has placed Metsä Board on the Climate A list five years in a row between 2016-2020. This positioning recognises our activities to cut emissions, mitigate climate risks and develop the low-carbon economy.
Metsä Board’s carbon dioxide emissions including all eight mills:
Emissions to Air (t)
| 2019
| 2018
| 2017
|
CO2 Biogenic
| 1 815 179
| 1 837 299
| 1 914 832
|
CO2 Scope 1
| 248 274
| 288 579
| 300 973
|
CO2 Scope 2 market-based
| 250 742
| 275 048
| 259 621
|
CO2 Scope 2 location-based
| 374 409
| 416 789
| 361 652
|
CO2 Scope 3
| 1 026 896
| 1 058 455
| 1 181 405
|
Focus on fossil free energy
Metsä Board's target is that by the year 2030 our mills will not use any fossil fuels in our production units nor purchase any fossil based energy to be used in our production. As much as 83% of Metsä Board’s total energy consumption in 2019 was based on fossil free energy. Of the total energy consumption, 48% was bioenergy based on the utilisation of wood-based side streams from our processes (black liquor, bark, logging residue), 1% was other renewable energy, and 34% was nuclear energy. Fossil fuels covered 17% of the company’s energy need.
Reaching the fossil free mills target requires further improvement of energy efficiency and mill-specific actions will be taken to decrease the share of fossil fuels. The renewal of Husum mill has a major role in reaching our target of fossil free mills.
See our roadmap to fossil free mills here.
Our past investments include two large renewable energy projects that will partially or fully replace energy derived from fossil-based fuels with renewable energy obtained from biomass. We have completed a turbine investment worth EUR 20 million at Husum Mill in Sweden. This project enables the mill’s electricity self-sufficiency to grow from 30% to over 50%. The heat that creates the steam used to run the turbines is generated mainly from black liquor and bark.
At our Kyro Mill, Metsä Board and our partners invested EUR 50 million in a biomass boiler enabling the mill to radically reduce its use of natural gas. The Kyro investment reduced Metsä Board’s fossil carbon dioxide emissions by some 100,000 tonnes annually. Metsä Board will continue to actively investigate opportunities for further investments in renewable energy in the future.
The entire Metsä Group produces 15% of the renewable energy in Finland. Metsä Board contributes to this stake by its biopower plants that are located at the mill sites in Äänekoski, Kyro, Simpele and Husum.
Energy-efficiency
We are constantly striving to make our energy consumption as efficient as possible. During the period 2009–2019 Metsä Board’s energy-efficiency has improved by 12 %.
We invest in energy-eficient technology. For example, renewal of the heat recovery system of the paperboard machine in Husum saves steam 18 000 MWh annually.
Investment in Metsä Board’s pulp mill in Kaskinen is another example of Metsä Board's actions to save energy. As of October 2018, the pulp mill in Kaskinen has used a new, more energy-efficient technology for recovering heat from the flue gases generated by its power plant. The new heat exchanger at the mill is first of its kind in Finland. The replacement aims for annual energy savings of around 10,800 megawatt hours. This corresponds to the annual energy consumption of nearly 1,500 single-family homes with four inhabitants. This new type of vacuum tube heat exchanger replaces an old technology based on the use of ribbed pipes. In addition to increasing energy efficiency, the new heat exchanger is intended to resolve corrosion problems related to the old technology.