Main features:
Södra will be fossil-free in production by 2020, and in all transport, globally, by 2030
A Fossil-free Södra
Project Description
Södra launched a project in 2017 that will make us fossil-free in production by 2020, and in all transport, globally, by 2030. Our pulp production is already close to fossil-free due to earlier investments, and Södra Cell is a net producer of green electricity, but we need to take out the last remaining fossil CO2. We can do this by using our residues more efficiently and we need to combine technical steps with creating both supply and demand.
We also need to get the right policy decisions to be able to achieve our goals. One production-related challenge is moving goods at the plant:
our lift trucks, cranes and wheel loaders are certified to run on fossil diesel. After we engaged in dialogue with the manufacturers, all of them have allowed us to run the machines on biodiesel instead, and for future solutions we will perform trials with other internal energy sources, such as electricity, green methanol and biogas.
The project is heavily promoted, both internally and externally, and all employees are dedicated to its success. The programme is being communicated to suppliers and customers as well as shareholders and governments.
Project Purpose
The purpose of the project is to show that it is possible to run an energy-intensive processing industry without any use of fossil energy: moving trees from the forest, and pulp to customers all over the world, without any use of fossil energy. We believe that when Södra succeeds, the world will follow. In Sweden we have seen a government initiative in which several industries want to follow, and have created a roadmap on how to be fossil-free.
Project Evaluation
The longer time frame of the project is to make sure that it is possible to succeed in a cost-effective and rational way. The project is mainly measured by how much fossil CO2 we use per tonne of sold pulp. When we offer our customers fossil-free pulp, our ambition is that they will offer a fossil-free product to their end customers, and that we will drive future demand for fossil-free production.
Henrik Brodin
Project Manager for ‘A Fossil-free Södra’
What is exceptional about the project?
The scale of the project is the most exceptional: the time frame, and our ambition to achieve something no one has ever done before. We need to work in so many dimensions at the same time, and we need to have a clear strategy in every decision we make. Not all of the solutions we will need to succeed have been invented yet so we have to work with that at the same time as we conduct our operations.
Can this project be a successful model for the future?
It must be. The world will not be a much better place if just one company reduces its emissions. It can only be by being a role model for other companies to follow, and only then can the world be decarbonised. If we can produce pulp without use of fossil energy, others can too. And if trees can be transported without the use of fossil energy, all goods can be.
