27.07.2007

Forest biorefinery expert develops eco-friendly innovations

Green forests, good bike paths, and the steamy sauna could very well be Adriaan van Heiningen's reasons to return after three consulting stints in Finland in 1990 and 1991, and more recently in 2005.

Renewing roots in Europe from a home base in North America is merely a confluence of different factors, not unlike the collaboration required in his research on 'Innovative Forest Products Biorefinery'.

The forest industry needs more revenue drivers besides wood, pulp and paper products, says van Heiningen whose expertise in chemical engineering, pulp and paper technology and energy production brings a unique set of skills complementing Finnish know-how.

Professor Tapani Vuorinen works with him in studying how to convert existing kraft pulp mills into integrated forest products biorefineries. Their approach is to extract hemicelluloses from wood chips before pulping, and then convert this new feed stream of sugars into chemicals and polymers.

The yields can be integrated into new higher-value products, increasing the profitability of pulp mills and raising the competitiveness of the forest products industry.

Synergy and self-sufficiency in forest-based communities

The benefits from forest biorefinery include the integration of traditional forest products with new bioproducts and the replacement of imported fossil fuels by domestic renewable fuel. This ecofriendly approach offers transportation fuels, power, and bioproducts from a carbon-neutral, renewable resource.

Recently, six cellulosic ethanol plants in the US producing more than 130 million gallons annually were approved for funding by the US Department of Energy. The goal is to reduce US gasoline consumption by 20% in 2017 and make cellulosic ethanol competitive with gasoline by 2012.

Similarly, Stora and Neste announced the building of a demonstration plant using VTT’s gasification technology at Stora Enso's Varkaus paper mill, converting woody biomass into crude biodiesel, which Neste Oil then refines at its facility in Porvoo. Preserving and creating jobs in rural forest-based communities also count as major benefits in this endeavour.

Enjoying an eco-friendly environment

Finland serves as headquarters for some of the world's most successful pulp and paper companies, who are now looking at how to fit eco-friendly biorefineries into their business strategies, notes van Heiningen.  "This biorefinery research is an innovative path to continue the global success of the Finnish forest industries”.

The Dutch-born Canadian professor who lives on campus at Helsinki University of Technology in the 'Garden City' of Espoo is reminded of many similarities with Northern Canada where he goes canoeing with his family every year.

"I like Finland because of the space — I enjoy biking on the weekends and taking a walk on late afternoons to the nature reserve and boardwalk 200 meters from the university,” van Heiningen says.

Text: Sheila Riikonen
Photo: Markus Sommers

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