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SPEAD CONTENTS 00 SwedenToday POLITICS, FINANCE, CULTURE ISSUE How green is my valley 4 Trade winds blow Götheborg home 6 Hot topic Green talk at the White House 7 Sweden tops Europe’s R&D league 8 The word “baltic” is British slang for cold, as in “put your hat on, Kick-starting transatlantic business 9 it’s bloody baltic out there”. And indeed the body of water which gives the word its meaning and which laps at Sweden’s east and Visit binds Swedish-Dutch ties 10 south coasts is rather chilly for about ten months of the year. But Southern success built on broad base 11 this year, thanks to an early heat wave, bathers were taking their Neutron source will be carbon neutral 13 first dip at the beginning of June – a full month earlier than normal. ENVIRONMENT/CLEANTECH

‘An international role model’ 15 Yes, for those of us in northern Europe, this whole climate change Ambassador on a green mission 17 thing seems pretty OK – for the moment at least. However it is not Opening up a world of possibilities 18 with a completely clear conscience that my adopted countrymen and women plunge into the inviting – although increasingly algae- Climate expert is top of the profs 19 infested – Baltic as summer gets into full swing. The Swedes have Cleantech fund rides the growth wave 19 long formed one of the more environmentally-aware nations, and Forest sector takes key role in climate issue 20 they are fully conscious of the effect their high standard of living Boom time for bioenergy 21 has on the planet. And most are willing to do something about it. A bridge of sustainability between academia and society 22 They have long seen themselves as the world’s environmental con- A 150-year perspective 23 science, firing accusing looks at other nations in much the same New technology boosts biogas profitability 24 way as those cows on our front cover are doing. Environmental objectives get business backing 25 Now, with the climate issue the undisputed No 1 global topic, this Promoting clean electrical power 26 headstart is proving to be good business for Sweden. From Dublin Envac on its way to Wembley 27 to Danzao town, Swedish companies find themselves in huge Give plastic trash bags the sack 27 demand for their technology and expertise. The bioenergy industry ‘Holy Grail’ found in Örnsköldsvik 29 has more export business than it can handle; sales records are Project boosts steel’s green credentials 30 tumbling monthly; and at a cellulose ethanol pilot plant in northern High-strength steel raises fuel economy 31 Sweden they are getting concerned that all the visits by fascinated Top award for Stena Gotthard 31 foreign delegations are distracting them from their work. Even the Large-scale renewable energy solutions 32 United States’ ambassador in Stockholm is acting as cheerleader for them back home, with the full support of his good friend George The wave of the future? 33 Bush. ‘Coasting’ planessave on fuel and emissions 34 Sweden-China city plan is a ‘golden project’ 35 In this year’s environment/cleantech special we are proud to pre- Getting the full bioenergy picture 36 sent some of these companies and their technologies, from bio- Opening doors to eco-business 37 gas to wave power to waste disposal. We visit some of the nation’s leading seats of learning to report on the research which will lead to the next generation of renewable fuels, and on how the appli- cation of years of expertise is helping companies take a long- term view of their sustainability. We also shine our spotlight on southern Sweden, one of the country’s fastest gro- wing regions which will be the destination for several hundred American businessmen and women later this summer keen to tap into the possibilities here. The two nations Moo era: climate concern have a long trading history and friendly rela- reaches tipping point tions, even though Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt’s recent audience with Mr Bush at the White House hardly appeared to be a meeting of equals, regardless of mutual platitudes about the other being a “strong leader”.

publisher Sweden Today AB But with a very topical issue number two off to editor-in-chief Ulf E. Mårtensson press, it is time to join the crowds heading for editor David Wiles editorial Terry Blunk, Jeremy Hanson, Alan Harkess a summer by the surprisingly welcoming waters marketing Charles Andersén, Robin Lundgren of the Baltic. We wish you a warm – although layout and production Metaform, www.metaform.se printing Precision Colour Printing Ltd, Telford, England hopefully not too warm – and pleasant summer. head office Stora Nygatan 75, SE 211 37 Malmö, Sweden Phone +46 40 33 06 30 Fax +46 40 97 35 89 David Wiles subscriptions & advertising [email protected] Editor internet www.swedentoday.com [email protected]

issn 0964-7031 4 NO 2 2007 POLITICS, FINANCE, CULTURE SwedenToday How green is my valley by alan harkess

• Looking out of the open window of my flat here in central Malmö on yet another warm evening, a sense of global crisis seems far removed from the sounds of well-being and social harmony emanating from the courtyard barbecue below.

According to the meteorologists, the average social activity, on a scale similar to those asso- rage 3.7 per cent below 1990 levels. Over the by supporting the introduction of a Carbon annual temperature during eight of the past ciated with the great wars and the economic same period, GDP has grown by around 25 per Commission that would have an analogous role ten years in southern Sweden has been sub- depression of the first half of the 20th centu- cent. to that of the Board of Governors of the Bank stantially above the long-term average. Indeed ry.” Secondly, the Stern Review argues that “the The previous government introduced a of Sweden which has the authority to imple- the past twelve months have been the warmest benefits of strong early action outweigh the policy whereby higher levels of energy and ment the government’s policy on inflation with on record in southern Sweden. The average costs”. Its headline conclusion is that early other forms of environmental taxation would reference to changes in interest rates. The board increase in temperatures of around three degrees action to stabilise emissions at 550ppm CO2eq be “exchanged” for lower levels of taxation on of the Carbon Commission would, according Celsius over the past year has dramatically incre- by 2050 would cost one per cent of GDP in labour. It was argued that economic welfare to Mårtensson, adjust environmental taxation ased the consumption of barbecue oil in this terms of lost output and investment in abate- would benefit from a reduction of negative to take account of changes in the level of green- part of town. From the perspective of the nor- ment whereas the costs of climate change could external effects on the environment at the same house gas emissions in relation to the govern- thern latitudes of the northern hemisphere, a be of the magnitude of five to 20 per cent! time as one reduced the disincentive effects ment’s overall policy goals. rise in temperature of three degrees Celsius of high rates of marginal tax on labour. may not be an altogether unattractive propo- Has business got the message? According to Mats-Olof Hansson, Senior Pricing carbon sition, particularly for the aficionados of the In its recent review of the business sector and Economist at the Swedish Ministry of Finance, Although the market does undoubtedly “sanc- outdoor barbecue. However to paraphrase Al climate change, the Economist pointed out that increased taxation in the energy and environ- tion” incorrect decisions through its inability Gore, this process is accompanied by certain the business sector was initially highly defen- ment area over the period of this policy amoun- to take sufficient account of externalities “inconvenient truths”. Firstly there is strong sive – if not hostile – to the idea of global war- ted to €3.2bn whereas taxation on labour was (road/rail and congestions costs) and distor- evidence to assume that these changes are not ming. Substantial sections of the scientific esta- reduced by €1.8bn As Hansson points out, this tions to competition (electricity pricing), the a “one-off” occurrence. The United Nations blishment in Sweden, for example, cast doubt linkage between labour and environmental tax- nexus of moral and economic pressures pus- IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate on the scientific evidence presented by the IPCC ation no longer exists under the new alliance hing governments, business and consumers to Change) has assembled a growing body of evi- and were opposed to the idea of government government. However it is worthy of note that making more “correct decisions” should never- dence which strongly suggests that human acti- programmes to reduce greenhouse gas emis- the government continues to expand expendi- theless not be underestimated. Under the aus- vity is changing the climate, especially through sions by taxation. Nowadays there are few signs ture in the environmental field (e.g. its new pices of the Kyoto protocol, the EU has already emissions of greenhouse gases. Its estimates of of the argument that climate change is not put a price on carbon through its global warming during the rest of the centu- happening or that measures to reduce car- Emissions Trading System. Under ry predict increases in average temperatures bon emissions would not be worthwhile. Revenue from energy and pressure from state legislators, seve- € bn ranging from two to six degrees. Changes at The evidence produced by the IPCC and environmental taxation 2007 ral states in the USA are contempla- the upper end of the spectrum would lead to the meteorological data illustrated above ting similar measures. These econo- massive dislocations in the distribution of pro- have helped to change minds. Has busi- Energy taxation mic pressures are backed up by the duction, consumption and living patterns ness got the message? Electricity 2.0 moral pressure to be seen to be doing worldwide. Secondly, the evidence of global According to Kjell Mårtensson, Senior Petrol 1.6 the “right thing”. warming also suggests that these changes in Lecturer in Environmental Economics at How does one put a price on car- temperature are not linear i.e. due to feedback Malmö University, companies are now ope- Other fossil fuels 0.6 bon? There are two approaches to the mechanisms in the warming process, especially rating in a much tougher environment in Carbon dioxide taxation choice of policy instrument: a sys- the interaction of changes in sea and air tem- political, economic and financial terms. At Petrol 1.2 tem of environmental taxation which peratures, the distribution of temperature rises the micro level, companies have introdu- operates principally through quanti- will be unevenly spread across the planet. ced systems of environmental management Other fossil fuels 1.5 ty adjustments to price changes; and Targeting a “cosy” two-degree rise in tempe- that seek to improve resource allocation Other forms of energy related taxation 0.35 the so-called cap and trade or emis- ratures in northern latitudes may be a risky from an environmental perspective. Motor vehicle taxation, congestion charges 1.6 sion trading system (the EU-ETS) Monitoring systems and environmental which creates a commodity market bet. Thirdly, as the Stern Review of the Total 8.76 Economics of Climate Change argued, the ove- certification are used as instruments to raise for carbon, or rather, as the Economist rall costs and risks of climate change will be environmental standards. These methods puts it, for “not-carbon” i.e. certifi- equivalent to losing at least five per cent of are naturally partly demand-driven. Customers/ subsidy of around €1,100 for the purchase of cates that indicate the amount of tonnes of car- global GDP each year now and forever. These shareholders/municipalities increasingly requ- an eco-friendly car) at the same time as it has bon dioxide of greenhouse gas equivalent that are “risks of major disruption to economic and ire that products and production processes take substantially lowered taxation on labour. have not been emitted by the seller but may account of environmental impact. Financial The argument that the business sector has be emitted by the buyer. Economic theory argu- institutions are increa- become increasingly aware of the environmental es that this may combine “the best of both Varations in global near-surface land temperature singly aware that envi- consequences of its decision-making is met worlds” setting an administrative cap or bub- Temperature variations in degrees C ronmental aspects may with some scepticism by Mårtensson. In a recent ble over an area and allowing the actors to reach 1.0 affect the risk assess- article in the daily Svenska Dagbladet, he war- efficient decisions by comparing the marginal ments of their invest- ned of an over reliance on the marketplace. The cost of emission reduction with the price of ments. choices that are made in the business sector emission certificates. Companies required to 0.8 At the macro level, between, for example, different forms of ener- enter the market to purchase certificates would the business sector is gy and transport, are biased by the failure of 0.6 have an incentive to buy from the most effici- increasingly subject to the price mechanism to accurately reflect the ent least-cost source of emission reduction. A the need to adapt to the environmental costs and benefits of different key corollary benefit from this first interna- 0.4 government’s long- alternative decisions. This has not only conse- tional emissions trading scheme is that it gene- term environmental quences for the efficiency of resource allocation rates automatic transfers between countries 0.2 policy goals. In terms for the present generation. It also has far while delivering these least-cost solutions. This of its commitments reaching distributional considerations for both may be a more efficient method of establishing 0 under the Kyoto pro- present and future generations. Governments a uniform price of carbon than harmonising tocol, Swedish emis- have an overriding responsibility through their environmental taxes. Phase One of the scheme -0.2 sions of greenhouse support and information systems to take was launched in 2005 and will run to the end gases over the past six account of these efficiency and distributional of 2007, while Phase Two will run from 2008 -0.4 years have been on ave- considerations. Mårtensson concludes his article to 2012. 1860 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 Source: Hadley Centre NO 2 2007 5 SwedenToday POLITICS, FINANCE, CULTURE

Volatile prices Both systems have their strengths and weaknes- Thank you for the venue ses. According to Hansson at the Ministry of Finance, there may be advantages in a tax system After six months of searching, a venue has been found for the much-anticipated ABBA that allows its actors to predict with some degree museum. of certainty the price for carbon. On the other The “interactive event building” dedicated to one of the world’s most successful pop hand, energy taxes are regressive and in certain groups will be a 100-year-old warehouse on the south quay of central Stockholm. countries will almost certainly be politically “It’s really great that the location for the ABBA museum has now been finalized,” said impossible. In the majority of poor countries, the Mayor of Stockholm, Kristina Axén Olin. “The museum will be a new and important energy prices are extremely high. A number of attraction that strengthens Stockholm’s international reputation as a tourist town. The criticisms have been levelled at the first phase location of the custom house, right across from the Gröna Lund amusement park, is an of the ETS. For instance, Stefan Persson at EON excellent spot for a museum.” energy trading argues that the extreme volati- Group members Björn, Benny, Agnetha and Anni-Frid gave their backing to the idea lity of the price of emission allowances during last November, and the couple behind the idea have been trying to find an appropriate this first phase has undermined its credibility. venue since. This price volatility would appear to be the ABBA the Museum will occupy more than 4,000sq metres on three floors of the lower part of the building. Fans will be able to experience the story of Sweden’s most successful Carbon crash musical export through the very latest sound, image and multimedia technology. There EU ETS price, € will also be a replica of the Polar Studios where the band recorded their hits. Renovation of the building – which is owned by Stockholm City Council – is due to start later this Phase one allowances year, and the museum will open its doors to the public in the spring of 2009. Phase two allowances (2008) Only The Beatles and Elvis Presley have sold more records than ABBA. 30

25 SOS answered

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15 Shake-up at Sony Ericsson 10 A phone which lets you shuffle through your music by shaking it is among Sony Ericsson’s new offerings, recently unveiled in Berlin. 5 The W960 Walkman phone is aimed at the top end of the market where it will com- 0 pete with products such as Apple’s much-hyped iPhone. It has built-in WiFi wireless access, 2004 05 06 07 a touch screen, and enough memory to store up to 8,000 tunes. Both it and the new W580 Source: Point Carbon feature Shake Control, which allows you to skip your music forward by shaking it one way, back by shaking it another, and shuffling your playlist by shaking it back and forth. result of an over-generous cap in Phase One “Although the range of phones and accessories is at the heart of Sony Ericsson’s music creating an over-supply of certificates. This tur- offering, it’s the user experience which really makes the Walkman phone unique,” said Ben bulence has been particularly evident in the Padley, Music Group marketing director at Sony Ericsson. deregulated Nordic electricity market and it The phones were among six new mobiles and three Bluetooth watches – which allow is here that a lot of the criticism towards the the use to control their phone with their watch – presented by the Swedish-Japanese manu- ETS has been directed. In the Nordic area, elec- facturer at the launch. tricity is generated principally by means of The state-of-the-art K850 Cyber-shot phone, with its 5 megapixel camera, is bristling nuclear and hydropower. These sources are rela- with new gadgets like a new media browser which allows you to view photos, music or tively efficient and have no carbon emissions. podcasts in one place and search photos by the month they were taken. It also has BestPic, However, according to Persson, the price of a new image technology that takes nine pictures in quick succession allowing you to choose electricity on the Nordic market is set with the best one, auto focus and a Xenon flash. reference to the higher marginal costs of the coal and oil-fired plants in Denmark and Snappy mobile Germany. These plants are net purchasers of emission certificates which raises electricity prices even further. The free issue of certifica- tes also tends to encourage investment in plants Furniture sector sitting pretty that use fossil fuel. This would appear to be a worst case scenario where the low-cost nucle- The Swedish furniture sector has reported its best first quarter ever, with both domestic ar and hydro producers take home excess pro- and international sales on the rise. Exports during the first three months of the year were fits without any incentive to innovation. up ten per cent to a value of €403m. Inefficient fossil-fuel generating plants cont- “The Swedish furniture industry has made up for the ground it lost during the 1990s inue in existence and the bill is paid by the and doubled both production and exports over the last ten years,” said Katarina Lagerbielke consumer who receives no environmental bene- from Trä- och Möbelindustriförbundet, the industry’s trade organisation. “Strong, healthy fits. This is indeed a painful learning experi- companies are continuing to take market share outside of Sweden thanks to their strate- ence for Nordic electricity consumers. gic and systematic efforts.” Exports have increased across the board, although it is office furniture which has been Global example the most successful segment. The Nordic countries remain the largest export markets for The Stern Report highlighted a number of Swedish manufacturers, together with the UK, France and Germany. important issues in relation to the emission tra- Sweden’s furniture makers, who number around 650 companies, produced goods worth ding scheme. Firstly under the Kyoto proto- €2.3bn last year, of which €1.5bn was exported. The industry is concentrated in the regions col, Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of Småland and Västra Götaland, and many companies are owner-run family concerns. enabled EU-based industry to purchase carbon “Within the Swedish furniture industry there is tradition and knowledge of producing reductions from the cheapest source, including furniture with both form and function, and we are entering a time where simplicity, time- projects and programmes being implemented lessness and sustainability are increasingly in demand,” said Lagerbielke. in the developed world. These CDM credits are “The industry has modern industrialists who are also skilled businesspeople and brand especially attractive since they can be used during builders. We can effectively produce high-quality products and we understand how to take both phases of the scheme. Between 2005 and them out and sell them.” 2006, the CDM market volume expanded Peek by Blå Station threefold, especially in China. Secondly, there is an obvious difficulty in securing scarcity in the Hot cross market since the overall cap is not set centrally but is rather the sum of decisions in 25 member SE Swedish brand worth €347bn . countries. As the report concludes, “this under- SWEDEN lines the need for stringent criteria on alloca- The Swedish “brand” is the eighth strongest in the world, and worth €347bn, according . tion levels for member states and robust deci- to the latest nation branding index. IMAGEBANK sions by the European Commission”. Thirdly, The ranking, carried out by Anholt Nation Brands, puts Sweden above the US, Japan . WWW

some commentators have queried the organi- and the other Nordic nations. / sational aspects of trading emission allowances. “Our strength is that people think Swedes are nice, and that many people want to live An organisation such as EON energy trading here,” said Olle Wästberg, general director of the Swedish Institute. “Our weak point is RICHARD RYAN is specialised in trading decisions which may culture; we need to find new icons like Ingmar Bergman and ABBA.” :

lead to some overall fragmentation in the deci- Sweden ranked highly in the areas of trustworthiness, human rights, environmental PHOTO sion-making structure of the organisation in issues and tackling poverty. According to Simon Anholt, who started the index, Sweden relation to investment decisions. could climb in the rankings if it highlighted its monarchy more. Carbon pricing is only one part of a strategy Each quarter around 26,000 people in 35 countries are asked for their opinion about to tackle climate change. However, in spite of various nations and their people, politics, culture and so on. The first time Sweden the initial problems of the scheme and not- was involved in the index, in 2005, it had the strongest brand of the 11 participating coun- withstanding the difficulties in extending it tries. internationally, there is nevertheless a tangible “It is great that such a small country comes so high up,” said Thomas Brühl, MD of demonstration effect as similar schemes are Visit Sweden, which markets Sweden abroad. “The fact that we have slipped a little is underway in a wide range of countries inclu- because more countries are involved now, like the UK and Canada.” ding the USA and South Korea. The value of Sweden’s brand has risen 16.5 per cent in the last year. The UK topped the poll, followed by Germany, Canada, France, Switzerland, Australia and Italy, followed by Sweden. 6 NO 1 2007 POLITICS, FINANCE, CULTURE SwedenToday

Nasdaq takes MARTIN JOHANSSON over Swedish : stock exchange PHOTO • OMX, the Swedish stock exchange, has agreed to a €2.8bn takeover by US Nasdaq. In what is the latest consolida- tion in the sector, the combined company will process an average daily volume of 7.4 million trades, worth around €46bn. The OMX board said the merger would create “the largest global network of exchanges and exchange customers linked by technology”, Trade winds blow although in terms of the total value of tra- ding the combined company handles it will not reach the €89.5bn of NYSE Euronext. Under the terms of the deal, Nasdaq share- Götheborg home holders will own 72 per cent of the comb- ined business with OMX investors – inclu- ding Investor AB, and Nordea Bank – • After 20 months at sea and ???? kilometres, the Götheborg, the replica owning the remainder. of an ill-fated 18th century trading ship, made a triumphant return to her Magnus Böcker, Chief Executive Officer home port of the same name. of OMX, said: “This combination creates a new leader in the exchange industry. By utili- The homecoming, watched by an estimated up to welcome us.” Chennai, Djibouti, through the Suez Canal to zing the combined entities’ joint expertise 200,000 people under clear blue skies, went The original ship sailed from Sweden to Alexandria and then Nice, with the final stop and competencies we will create an out- more smoothly than that of her namesake 262 China to import tea, spices and porcelain in in London before her grand homecoming. standing platform for future growth. Issuers, year ago, when the original vessel sank in mys- exchange for silver. The three-masted wooden All those behind the project were in agree- members, information vendors and inves- terious circumstances as she neared home. trader was returning from a two year-long voy- ment that it had been a more than worth- tors on both Nasdaq and OMX Nordic This recreation of the voyages of the great age to China in 1745 when her homecoming while investment. “The East Indiaman has been Exchange will all benefit from its new glo- trading ships of the 18th century was a tri- ended in disaster. In full view of the crowds an enormous success,” said Göran Johansson, bal context. The combination also provides umph not only of marine engineering and sea- who had massed to see her, she ran aground in chairman of Göteborg City Council. “The benefits for OMX’s global technology cus- manship, but also of Swedish trade, and not the entrance to Göteborg harbour and sank. attention which the ship has received above all tomer base, as it enables an increased focus least with China. On the Götheborg’s many The crew survived, although quite why she in Asia is worth several billion kronor in mar- on research and product development in the stops on its round-the-world adventure, the went down was never discovered. keting terms.” most important and fastest growing areas of corporations sponsoring it have used the accom- With time she was forgotten about until Chinese President Hu Jintao with Swedish the exchange technology market.” panying publicity and unique meeting locale found by a diver 240 years later. The idea was King Carl Gustav and Queen Silvia on deck onboard to raise their profiles, build new con- then hatched to recreate the ship – using the Technology leadership tacts and sign new deals. original techniques and in full scale – and Robert Greifeld, Chief Executive Officer of “This is a unique project which has been retrace her steps. Nasdaq, said that the future of exchanges driven by real enthusiasts and been a fantastic was about technology, flexibility and scale. success,” said Fredrik Arp, CEO and president Coverage worth billions “Nasdaq and OMX together deliver all of of Volvo Cars. “For Volvo Cars the Swedish The epic voyage of the replica – which is iden- these benefits. Our technology leadership East Indiaman has been an important part of tical to the original to the casual observer but and track record in linking trading platforms packed with modern machinery – took it from means we will offer issuers and investors uni- Göteborg to Cadiz, across the Atlantic to Recife que benefits which were not available in one in Brazil, down to Cape Town and Port company until now. This combination pro- Elizabeth in South Africa, on to Fremantle on vides our organizations with the ability to the west coast of Australia and then up to grow and accelerate the global flow of equity Shanghai via Jakarta and Canton. The return capital. At the same time, it provides us with trip took in stops at Hong Kong, Singapore, an excellent platform for further expansion PHOTO: DICK GILLBERG into derivatives and other asset classes. Our Singapore was one of 16 stops organizations bring together very complemen- Volvo Group managing director Leif Johans- tary businesses, and we see many new oppor- son said: “For Volvo it was important to create ROBIN OLSSON

tunities for growth in an era of unprecedented : relations with China, which is a very impor- change and development for exchanges.” tant and interesting market for the Volvo Urban Bäckström, chairman of OMX, said: PHOTO Group. Our choice to be an official partner PEDER JACOBSSON

“For OMX, as a company that has always : coincided well with the development of Volvo’s been known for its innovative and ground- business in China. From a purely business per- PHOTO The crew works under a tropical sun breaking approach within the exchange spective, we are very happy with the result. industry, this is the natural next step. This our relations connected to our start of pro- We reached the goals we had set for our invest- will also strengthen the Nordic region as a duction in China.” ments, and anything above and beyond that is financial centre.” Among the welcoming party waiting for a bonus for us.” OMX, which operates exchanges in the Götheborg – which is one of the largest Magnus Kårestedt, MD of the Port of Stockholm, Helsinki, Copenhagen, Reykjavik full-rigged wooden sailing ships in the world Göteborg, said: “The Swedish East Indiaman and the Baltic states, made an audacious bid – as she entered Frihamnen were Chinese is a door-opener. We have been able to show for the London Stock Exchange seven years President Hu Jintao, Swedish foreign Minister off what we can do, have had many useful dis- ago, while Nasdaq had made no secret of its Carl Bildt, the Swedish King and Queen and cussions, and put Sweden on the map, so for ambition to expand with further acquisi- Prince Carl Philip. She and her crew received us this has been the perfect sponsorship pro- tions after failing in its own bid for LSE. a 21-gun salute as they were guided to the quay ject.” The combined company will have 2,349 by two tugboats. “I feel humbled,” said Peter The presence of the Chinese President – employees in 22 countries with pro forma reve- Kaaling, who captained Götheborg into port. who was accompanied by Foreign Minister, nues for the financial year “It’s fantastic that so many people have turned Environment Minister, and Trade and Industry 2006 of more than $1.2 Minister – in Sweden to greet the ship billion (SEK8.3 billi- Götheborg passes under London’s Tower Bridge turned into something of a Swedish- on). Greifeld will Chinese businessfest. Hu and his entou-

ROBIN OLSSON rage had a private meeting with Sweden’s

serve as CEO and : Magnus Böcker foremost financial dynasty, the Wallen- as president. PHOTO bergs, plus Ericsson boss Carl-Henric The board of Svanberg and Electrolux MD Hans directors of the Stråberg. During the visit, Ericsson sig- combined com- ned a deal with China Mobile worth a pany will consist cool €745m, daughter company Sony of 15 members, Ericsson signed a deal with China’s big- including nine gest mobile retailer China Postel worth representatives €447m, and Scania and Jiangsu Alfa Bus from Nasdaq, five signed an agreement on the manufactu- representatives re and marketing of buses. from OMX and The ship will be open to the public Greifeld. on weekends during June, August and September. During July, it will tour the Swedish west coast and be open to visi- tors. Magnus Böcker: platform for growth PETER HOELSTAD : PHOTO NO 2 2007 7 SwedenToday POLITICS, FINANCE, CULTURE SCANPIX / PONTUS LUNDAHL No end in sight for : Swedish boom PHOTO

• It’s full speed ahead for the Swedish eco- advertised at job centres in Sweden amounted nomy – still. The economy continues its to 81,000 in May, nearly 25,000 more than for steady upwards trajectory, and there are no May last year. clouds on the horizon, according to the OECD. Even one of the traditional weak spots, Spend spend spend unemployment, is looking positive, with new More people at work means more money in figures showing big increases in employ- pockets, and indeed private consumption is ment during the spring leading to the rising. The OECD forecasts 3.6 per cent incre- lowest levels of joblessness for 16 years. ase in private consumption this year, and 3.7 per cent next year, helped along by rising wages In fact, things are so good with the economy and lower taxes. Movers and shakers: Fredrik Reinfeldt and right now that the word “bubble” is never far Another OECD report released at the end George Bush talked climateSilvia on deck from many people’s minds. Surely, those who of May recommended that Sweden instil more have been through it all before are thinking, competition in the public sector, cut red tape it has to stop somewhere? But the OECD’s and liberalise labour markets if it is to meet latest economic outlook for Sweden thinks not. the challenge of an ageing population and Or at least not yet. maintain its high standards of social welfare. Green talk at the “The Swedish economy continues to grow Meanwhile, a survey of surveys from the rapidly without showing signs of weakening,” Invest in Sweden Agency (ISA) concluded that says the report, released at the end of May. The Sweden is the world’s second most attractive White House report forecasts growth for this year of 4.3 per economy for foreign investment. The ISA cent, which is only slightly lower than in 2006. report, Business and Investment Opportunities, “Private consumption will be particularly includes a “composed competitiveness” index • Environmental issues topped the agenda Building a green economy strong, reflecting the significant improvement that compiles the findings of nine authorita- when Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt’s meeting the following day was with in the labour market,” the report continues. tive reports on international competitiveness. Reinfeldt met US President George Bush a politician with whom his environmental ambi- “As the output gap is clearly positive, under- As well as measuring “hard” economic data, at the White House. tions match a little more closely – California lying inflation will continue to increase from the 48-nation index includes “soft” factors such Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. The previously very low levels.” as quality of life, which are becoming more The Swedish leader walked away from the May Governor stands on the left wing of the The labour market reforms implemented sought-after by international investors. meeting without any firm commitments from Republican Party, and Reinfeldt has moved his earlier this year by Fredrik Reinfeldt’s centre- The United States tops the standings, follo- Bush on climate change measures, but was per- Moderate Party in the same direction. right government will increase potential wed by Sweden in joint second place with Finland. sonally assured that the President shared his Schwarzenegger said that California – the employment, according to the report, which The ISA report notes that Sweden was the concerns on the issue. US state with then strictest environmental laws goes on to say that given the strength of the world’s 15th largest recipient of foreign direct “The Prime Minister made this a centre – shared Sweden’s enthusiasm for “building up economy, it is an excellent time to pursue fur- investment in nominal terms in 2001-2005 point of our conversation, and I fully appreciate the economy while protecting the environ- ther labour supply reforms as that will prolong and one of the largest recipients on a per capita and understand why,” said Bush after their one- ment”. “I’m sure we can learn from each other,” the current expansion. “It is also important basis. hour meeting. “I appreciate the leadership you’ve he said. that fiscal policy does not add further stimu- The country accounted for almost half of taken on this important issue, not only in your Reinfeldt wants Sweden to play the same lus, and the Central Bank will need to raise all inward investment to the Baltic Sea region country, but at the EU as well. It’s noticeable to role globally as California plays in the US – policy rates further.” in 2001-2005, with an inflow of €40.7bn – me here in the United States, and I congratula- that of pacemaker on environmental issues. “We The Swedish economy has been in a state more than double the figure for Finland. te you for being the strong leader that you are.” cannot meet a global issue by believing we can of high growth and low inflation for a num- ISA director-general Kai Hammerich said: Reinfeldt, who presented his host with a solve it in Sweden,” said Renfeldt. “But being ber of years, but unemployment has always “Sweden is clearly in a strong position. Foreign Swedish-made brushcutter as the traditional in front is important. Sweden wants to do that, been a sticking point, and indeed was a key investors are attracted by Sweden’s high com- gift, returned the “strong leader” compliment California wants to do that, and the more peo- factor in the Social Democrat-led government petencies across many sectors and that we are to Bush, but several times during his US visit ple follow, the better.” losing the last election to the centre-right alli- an interesting market for the entire Baltic Sea expressed his hope that the next US President Other stop-offs on Reinfeldt’s first official ance. That problem now seems to be solved, and Northern Europe region.” will have a different climate strategy. visit to the US included the UN in New York with figures for the end of May showing that Among the source surveys for the study “You are struck by his enormous presence to meet Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, 154,000 people, or 3.3 percent of the work- were: World Economic Forum, 2006; Institute and wide knowledge,” said Reinfeldt of Bush. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi in force, were unemployed – the lowest level for Management Development (IMD), 2006; “He is also a very jovial person, who jokes and Washington DC, and the National Renewable since 1991. That is a drop of 33,000 people UNCTAD, 2006; World Bank, 2007; Trend- is relaxed. You feel the force of his leadership.” Energy Laboratory in Denver. compared with the same period last year. At Chart, 2007; Transparency International, 2006; the same time 81,000 job vacancies were and Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), 2005. SE . SWEDEN . Still sexy at 60 IMAGEBANK . • Saab enthusiasts from around the world The marque has developed something of a

WWW cult following. “You either love them or you

/ descended on the town of Trollhättan to mark the 60th anniversary of one of hate them,” one Swedish auto executive has Sweden’s most iconic brands. said. Saab has a reputation for quirkiness, with

LOUISE BILLGERT unique touches like its “Night Panel” dashbo- : It was in June 1947 that the aircraft manu- ard display and the ignition situated between PHOTO facturer – the name stands for Svenska Aeroplan the seats. Aktiebolaget – unveiled its first car in the staff In a number of the James Bond books, the canteen. More than four million cars later, and to- British spy drove a Saab 900 Turbo, and green- day Saab has sales in more than 60 countries. minded billionaire businessman Richard The company, which is now owned by US Branson recently took delivery of a 9-5 General Motors, has been a pioneer in a num- BioPower. ber of areas including safety, ergonomics and A question mark hung over the future of Till you drop: consumption will remain strong turbocharging, and its ethanol-powered 9-5 the brand after a number of years of falling sales, BioPower is among Europe’s best selling but Saab managed to set a global sales record “green” cars. The design of the original Saab last year with 133,167 cars, an increase of 5.4 Big NYC deal for Skanska car, called the 92, owed much to its aerospace per cent over 2005. Sales in Europe were up heritage, and indeed was one of the first cars by 11 per cent. Swedish construction giant Skanska has lan- forcing steel are expected to be used. Skanska’s to be tested in a wind tunnel at the develop- Shortly before the anniversary celebrations, ded its largest ever order in the US, worth project includes installation of machinery ment stage. Only two of the 16-strong project Saab unveiled its 2008 9-3 range, which draws €750m. and piping as well as control equipment. team, who were aircraft engineers, had a dri- on inspiration from its award-winning Aero X The contract is for the Croton Water The project is being carried out in a joint ving licence. concept car. Filtration Plant in New York, which sup- venture with Tully Construction, which has the plies the City of New York with drinking remaining 20 percent of the contract amount. water. The plant, with a capacity to treat 1.2 The project starts later this summer. million cubic meters of water per day, is loca- Construction work is scheduled to be com- ted at the Mosholu golf course in the Bronx. pleted in 50 months and the start-up phase Skanska’s assignment includes both the is expected to take an additional six months. construction and installation work. Most of Skanska is currently building and up-gra- the plant is constructed in concrete covering ding six water treatment plants in New York. a footprint area of 35,000 square metres. The It will be Skanska’s largest project ever plant is being built on four levels underground. in the US. The second largest is the New Skanska is responsible of the concrete work, Meadowlands Stadium being built for the but not excavation. Some 200,000 cubic New York Jets and New York Giants, valued meters of concrete and 27,000 tons of rein- at €1m less. Topless beauty: Saab’s 2008 9-3 convertible 8 NO 2 2007 POLITICS, FINANCEISSUE , CULTURE SwedenToday SE . R&D expenditure in relation to Business Higher Government SWEDEN

. enterprise education Total GDP per sector, per cent 2005 sector sector sector IMAGEBANK . Israel 3,58 0,72 0,24 4,71 WWW / Sweden 2,88 0,81 0,18 3,88 Finland 2,46 0,66 0,33 3,48 HANS BJURLING : Japan 2,39 0,43 0,30 3,18 PHOTO Korea 2,30 0,30 0,36 2,99 Iceland 1,48 0,36 0,71 2,86 USA 1,88 0,36 0,33 2,68 EU15 1,19 0,42 0,24 1,87 Norway 0,82 0,45 0,24 1,51

Source: SCB/Statistics Sweden

for 0.81 percent and the government sector for per cent) and the US (2.68 per cent). The EU 0.18 percent. Statistics Sweden found that R&D average was 1.87 per cent. activities are strongly concentrated to the coun- ties where the biggest companies are located Competitiveness up Sweden’s R&D spending is twice the EU average and to regions with universities and university Meanwhile, a separate report published in colleges. Stockholm and the counties of Västra May found that Sweden has advanced five Götaland – where Göteborg is located – and places to ninth spot in the latest global com- Skåne – where Malmö is located – together petitiveness rankings. The report, the World Sweden tops account for 77 percent of total R&D spending Competitiveness Scoreboard 2007, published in the business enterprise sector, and 74 per- by Swiss management institute IMD, identi- cent of the total person-years performed in the fied Sweden as one of four countries to have Europe’s R&D league business enterprise sector. It is these three areas improved their competitiveness which will where most large companies and universities soon be able to challenge the US as the worl- are located. When regional expenditure in R&D d’s most competitive economy. • New figures show that Sweden spends percent of its gross domestic product to this is measured as a share of regional GDP, the “The US is still number one but other more of its national income on research area. “Those are impressive figures, but a large report showed that the big city regions in nations are catching up quickly – Switzerland, and development than any other country proportion of their R&D is defence research,” Sweden are among the top in the EU. the Netherlands, Sweden, China and Germany in Europe, and globally is only topped by says SCB statistician Thomas Molin. The number of citations in scientific articles are on the way up,” says Professor Stéphane one other nation. Statistics Sweden, the government statis- is often used as a measurement of the impact Garelli, director of Director the IMD’s World tics agency, said its figures were more com- of research and its importance. Looking at cita- Competitiveness Centre. The figures, from Statistics Sweden (SCB), prehensive than the OECD’s annual R&D lea- tions of Swedish research, it can be seen that Kai Hammerich, director-general of Invest show that the country’s total R&D expendi- gue table, which does not include the private Swedish research is cited approximately 13 per- in Sweden Agency, says Sweden’s improved ture across all sectors in 2005 was €11.5bn, non-profit sector. cent above the world average. Patents are also ranking confirmed the attractiveness of its up from €10.8b in 2003. Sweden’s total R&D The data show that Sweden’s R&D boom used an indicator for research. Internationally, business climate to foreign investors. spending amounted to 3.88 percent of natio- is spearheaded by the private sector, which con- Sweden has a high number of patents measured “It is pleasing that Sweden has advanced nal output, which is twice the average of the tributes 2.88 percent of the 3.88 percent total. per million inhabitants. in a number of surveys, including this one by EU-15 member states. Much of the industrial R&D in Sweden comes In the R&D table, after Israel and Sweden IMD. Foreign investors are attracted to coun- Globally, Sweden’s R&D investments are from the likes of large companies like Ericsson come Finland (3.48 per cent), Japan (3.18 per tries with a good climate for companies and surpassed only by Israel, which channels 4.71 and AstraZeneca. Higher education accounts cent), South Korea (2.99 per cent), Iceland (2.86 individuals alike.”

A EUROPEAN RESEARCH LABORATORY IN SWEDEN

Materials research underpins progress

in new products. Lund in southern

Sweden is the leading site candidate

for the location of a new world-leading

international research laboratory - the

European Spallation Source - which

will attract thousands of researchers

from all over Europe and the rest of

the world.

www.ess-scandinavia.org NO 2 2007 9 SwedenToday POLITICS, FINANCE, CULTURE MALMÖ TURISM © FREDRIK TELLERUP : PHOTO

Kick-starting transatlantic business

• About 800 companies from Sweden and America will descend on sout- hern Sweden later this summer for what has become the most impor- tant business, trade and networking event between these nations with their traditionally close links. Southern comforts: Malmö is one of this year’s host cities

The Swedish-American Chambers of Commerce’s a number of new features, based on what par- Swedish communities and economic develop- identified the strongest industries, and those (SACC) Entrepreneurial Days, which run from ticipants are looking for. “The matchmaking ment professionals here to hear what works in industries have endless opportunities in the August 20 to 23, has a proven track record of will be expanded to include matchmaking with the US. They know how to do it, and I think US and vice versa,” says Girardo. “We sell generating new transatlantic business, and this venture capital companies from both Sweden they can help with Swedish economic deve- Sweden as a gateway to the European market year it takes place in what is arguably Sweden’s and the US,” she says. “We have bounced that lopment also.” and the enormous market potential there. We most dynamic region. idea off a few venture capital firms and they The matchmaking part of the programme talk about the good corporate climate here, the “The Entrepreneurial Days are unique and really liked it. So this will be a good way to – described as “speed dating for companies” – infrastructure, the highly-educated workfor- unusual,” says Gunilla Girardo, president of help Swedish companies to get expanded access consists of 30-minute back-to-back prearran- ce. Those are bottom-line facts that get the SACC-USA, which is the umbrella organisa- to capital.” ged meetings. “You can accomplish lot of in attention of the Americans. tion for 20 regional Swedish-American Also new is a help-, expert- and advisory half an hour,” says Girardo. Participants fill Girardo says that one sector which will Chambers of Commerce in the US. “This is desk which will be open throughout the event. out a simple form in advance stating what they be particularly in focus at this year’s Entre- not a conference – it is the start of a long-term “You don’t need to book meetings beforehand; are looking for, be it an agent, distributor or preneurial Days is bioenergy. “There is big relationship.” you can just go there and meet with experts partner. “We take that and find you a match,” interest in the US at the moment, and Sweden The host cities for the 2007 Swedish- in finance, marketing, accounting, venture says Girardo. “If it is an odd field or an odd is at the cutting edge so there are endless oppor- American Entrepreneurial Days event are capital – you name it,” says Girardo. “It will company, we go out in our network and look tunities there for Swedish companies in that Växjö, one of the world’s most sustainable citi- be staffed throughout the conference.” for the right contact. We can really custom tai- field.” es and a leading centre of environmental tech- lor it to what companies are looking for, and About a third of the participating compa- nology; Malmö, part of one of Europe’s top life Speed-dating for companies you get a schedule a week or so before you come nies at this event – which is now in its tenth science clusters; telecom-focused Karlskrona; This year’s event will also be more compre- so you know which companies you will be mee- year – are from the visiting country. At last and Kalmar, with among its many strengths hensive than ever before, being held over four ting with. And the Americans year’s event in Lid- interior design, clean tech and logistics. days. The programme features a number of will fill up every empty match- Husqvarna boss koping, 180 of 755 com- This year’s event features specific pro- panel discussions on topics including econo- making slot they can to squeeze Bengt Andersson panies were from the grammes for a number of industries where mic and regional development, young entre- in as much as possible. We always USA. At the return event Sweden is among the world leaders; bioener- preneurship, and intellectual capital in inter- have other meetings that happen in Chicago, 140 of 450 gy, food & health, heavy vehicles, information national business relations. spontaneously, but the sooner companies came from & communication technology, interior & “I am really excited about the economic you sign up for it the better pro- Sweden. design, life sciences, logistics, packaging & development discussions in particular,” says gramme we can provide.” Girardo is expecting transportation, research & development, wood Girardo. “In the US some of the regions we As usual the list of speakers the 2007 event to be as industry & building products, as well as a one- work with are very effective in how they do will include distinguished names well attended as last year’s. day programme focusing on Sweden as a gate- economic development and SACC has play- from the worlds of academia, “We have customers that way to the Baltic. ed a key role in some of those relationships business, and politics from both come back every year,” Girardo says this year’s programme boasts that have formed. I think it is very useful for sides of the Atlantic. Among she says. “They see this those already confirmed include as the main event for Upwardly mobile: ICT will have an industry-specific programme US Ambassador to Sweden them to generate new Michael Wood, Torsten Jansson, business. And that is pro- CEO of New Wave Group, for- bably the best feedback mer tennis pro and partner at Case Investment you can get – customers coming back over and Stefan Edberg, Bengt Andersson, President over again. You can see results from two years and CEO of Husqvarna, and Hans Pihl, CEO ago; a company you met back then calls you of Deloitte Sweden. today. Business doesn’t always happen over- Baltic springboard night, but there are some Southern Sweden, which covers the counties great examples of com- of Blekinge, Kalmar, Kronoberg and Skåne, is panies that have walked home to 2.3m people – about a quarter of the away with almost signed national population. Its location, with four of contracts during the Sweden’s ten largest shipping ports, makes it event too. Anything can a perfect springboard to the Baltic region and happen when all these Poland with their 100m-plus consumers. entrepreneurs and busi- “Working with our partners here we have ness people meet.” Gunilla Girardo

‘Streamlining business possibilities’ Programme highlights Sunday, Aug 19: Växjö: visit to Råshult, birthplace of Linnaeus; golf tournament Steve Carter, executive vice-president of April System and 3glogix, says Monday, Aug 20: his visit to the 2006 Entrepreneurial Days in Lidköping was his third in Växjö: panel discussion on Successful Strategies for Economic Development and Regional as many years. “Every year has created new business contacts. These mee- Development; Banquet dinner and presentation of SACC Entrepreneurial Award. Råshult, tings bring many new people, new ideas or concepts, and new business Tuesday, Aug 21: birthplace opportunities to consider.” Växjö: interactive exhibit and business matchmaking, plus industry-specific programmes of Linnaeus Carter says there are several aspects of the Entrepreneurial Days pro- Tuesday Aug 21 – Wednesday Aug 22: gramme that make it unique and more effective than “traditional” busi- Karlskrona: entrepreneurial days for IT an Wireless Applications ness conferences. “An example of this uniqueness is the Business Wednesday, Aug 22: Matchmaking sessions usually not seen in many US conference formats. Malmö: interactive exhibit and business matchmaking, plus CARINA GLANSHAGEN This really has a time-effective characteristic streamlining the business industry-specific programmes. / possibility process. These pushes most likely will double our business Thursday, Aug 23: size in the relatively short time of less than three years, with projections Malmö: Keynote addresses, Gateway to the Baltic presentations,

for a more global market growth picture spanning to and from Sweden.” Grand Finale banquet dinner. ÄLMHULTS KOMMUN © LINNÉ : PHOTO 10 NO 2 2007 POLITICS, FINANCE, CULTURE SwedenToday Visit binds Swedish-Dutch ties • The latest chapter in the long history of On the northeast Skåne leg of their trip, Bromölla, Hässleholm, trade between Sweden and Holland has the visitors – from the public and private sec- Hörby, Kristianstad, Os- been written after a visit to northeast Skåne tors and academia in the Netherlands – visi- by, Perstorp and Östra by the Swedish Chamber of Commerce in ted the expansive Perstorp Industrial Park, the Göinge – in northeastern the Netherlands. city of Kristianstad, and spent the evening at Skåne, which is home to the nearby 13th century Bäckaskog Castle. The about 200,000 inhabi- A group of some 30 members of the chamber evening featured a presentation by Kristianstad tants and nearly 14,000 were in the region for a tour which also took Municipality on its Spirit of Food profile, and companies. Despite its in Copenhagen, high-tech university city of one from the Dutch city of Groningen. idyllic setting with ex- Lund, and Älmhult – the home of Ikea. “I was proud to be able to show this part pansive forests and nu- “The Dutch are looking for some space and of Skåne to our visitors,” says Johansson. merous lakes, the region some business opportunities,” says Kjell-Åke The Swedish Chamber of Commerce in is home to a surprising Johansson, managing director of Investment the Netherlands has some 170 member com- amount of industry; 24 Promotion in Skåne Nordost, who was one of panies, including the Dutch subsidiaries of per cent of the workforce the hosts for the visit. He says the two nations Swedish multinationals such as Atlas Copco, is involved in industrial Ikea and Electrolux. Its production, compared chairman, Henk Lokin, with 19 per cent for says that following the Sweden as a whole. Com- visit, one of the partici- panies in the region in- pants is investigating the clude many major glo- possibility of establishing bal players, such as at Perstorp Industrial Absolut Vodka, Schenker Park. He says that the BTL, Scania and Stora Bäckaskog Castle Dutch in general like the Enso Nymölla. Food way Swedes do business. production is also a key industry, and infor- some reference groups for the wood and wood “What for me was im- mation technology is growing in size and processing industry, the food industry, con- pressive is that in Sweden importance. struction industry, housing companies, trans- they do not see other com- “We are close to the big markets in Europe, port and logistics and so on.” panies as competitors, but and only one and a half hours from Copen- Investment Promotion in Skåne Nordost has rather try to make a com- hagen,” says Johansson. “We have a lot of space also been busy helping regional companies with mon solution. We saw that and good living here – house prices are about contacts on the other side of the Baltic. In March, at Perstorp Industrial Park a third of what you would expect to pay in five companies visited Poland following contacts where there is heavy Malmö.” Business leaders in northeast Skåne with three local chambers of commerce there. industry present but they are also hoping for infrastructure improvements “We had a few very different meetings and try together to minimise – both road and rail – to further boost the the result was rather surprising – all five par- Easy communication: Swedes and the effects on the environ- region. Following the success of the Dutch visit, ticipating Swedish companies got new busi- Dutch talk business at Bäckaskog Castle ment, and try to develop Investment Promotion is planning to create ness contacts during this visit,” says Johansson. new technology to even further diminish the similar initiatives with other Swedish cham- “They are now working on following up these get on well. “Our cultures are somewhat simi- effect.” bers of commerce in Europe. contacts. In some cases there has already been lar, they like our country, the climate, the sce- “We are planning to start a new project next contracts signed between the Polish and the nery, and we can communicate easily. We have Idyllic setting winter aiming at more contacts for the small and Swedish companies. So this trip was a great seen a great interest from Holland to invest in Investment Promotion in Skåne Nordost is a medium-sized companies in our region,” says success; we have never reached such a result so Scandinavia and to move here.” collaboration between seven municipalities – Johansson. “We have already started to form quickly.”

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The physical expansion of the city contin- total investment is valued at around €162m. ues apace, with the Lund NE corridor the focus Kalmar was competing for the investment of development. Already underway in this area with a city in Finland, another in Sweden, as of Lund is the expansion of mobile manufac- well as Amsterdam. Thomas Davidsson, direc- turer Sony Ericsson, which is in the process of tor of Kalmar’s Business Relations Office, says building 27,000 sq m of new property, effec- Fanerdun chose the city for a number of reasons. tively doubling the size of its presence in the “First was our location in the centre of the city. Here is also the proposed site for the expansive Baltic Sea Region. The infrastructu- European Spallation Source, the massive rese- re, which has great potential, was another arch facility which the Swedish government has reason. Kalmar’s airport, railway station and announced its intention to back (see separate port are located in the city centre. And Fanerdun article p. 13). also appreciates the commitment of the muni- Having survived industrial meltdown in cipality and the beautiful environment.” the early 1990s, Malmö, the major city in the region has bounced back to become one of IT comeback Scandinavia’s success stories. Blekinge is staging a comeback after suffering Less than two decades since it lost nearly a hard in the IT crash of 2001-2, and is today quarter of its jobs as heavy industry closed home to a number of high-tech clusters. Soft down, knowledge-based Center in Ronneby is a deve- industry has taken its lopment centre with busi- place, and massive public nesses, education and rese- and private sector invest- arch in IT, all under the same ment in infrastructure roof. More than 80 compa- has reignited the local nies with about 1,200 em- economy. Business has ployees collaborate with a awoken to the invest- few thousand students and ment possibilities crea- researchers at the Blekinge ted by its location, and Institute of Technology (BTH). around 20 national and TelecomCity in Karlskrona international companies is an internationally leading have moved their Euro- development environment pean or Nordic headqu- with the focus on telecom- arters to Malmö in the munications. The network PIERRE MENS : last two years alone. Now consists of more than 40

PHOTO The Öresund Bridge has been a key the growing new univer- members and is a unique col- One of Europe’s strongest factor in southern Sweden’s growth sity is attracting thou- laboration between busines- sands of young people to life science regions ses, the technical institute the city, giving it one of and the community. Halda the youngest populations in the country. Development Centre in Svängsta encompasses small and mid-sized businesses that train, deve- Southern success Reach the sky lop or manufacture primarily in the areas of Malmö has seen a number of major building precision mechanics, electronics, computer tech- projects in recent years, not least the massive nology and software engineering. There is also built on broad base Öresund Bridge to Copenhagen. The 190 m- an EC group at the centre that conducts trai- tall Turning Torso, the tallest residential struc- ning in the field of IT. ture Sweden and the second-tallest in Europe, The city of Växjö, apart from being a cen- • The south of Sweden is thriving. Its growth Öresund Region had become the most impor- has become a symbol for the city and is the focal tre of design – as part of the Kingdom of Glass is built on a broad base of industries, from tant investment region in Scandinavia. Among point of Western Harbour, which has been built and the Kingdom of Furniture – as well as heavy the life sciences to information and com- the multinationals that have set up operations on land recovered from the sea over the last cen- vehicles, is also a global role model for bio- munication technology to biofuels. Investors in recent years are Honda, Toyota, L’Oreal and tury. Western Harbour is a shining example of energy solutions. The city has been using bio- – both domestic and international – are BMW Spare Parts. sustainable urban development and contains energy for its district heating system for more pouring money into the region at the same The Öresund region is home to Medicon some of the most exciting architecture in the than a quarter of a century, and is now a mag- rate as local entrepreneurs are establishing Valley, a life science cluster which stretches city, as well as many of its most exciting com- net for visitors from the public and private sec- exciting new companies. And its geograp- across the Öresund Strait to the Copenhagen panies. The aim is to create 500 residential pre- tors and academia wanting to pick up tips and hic position means it is being targeted by area. The cluster employs more than 41,000 mises and working premises for 300 people per technology from the pioneers. multinationals as a base for operations tar- people in life science and accounts for nearly year over the coming years. two thirds of Scandinavia’s life science output. The biggest infrastructure project geting the markets of the Baltic States, Picturesque Karlskrona is Hans Henecke, director of economic deve- underway in Malmö today is the €1bn home to Telecom City Poland and beyond. lopment and innovation at Region Skåne, draws City-tunnel project, which will improve The Öresund region spans the southern and comparisons between the region and the Bay access to the city from the surrounding western Skåne and the region of Denmark that Area in northern California. “They are on a dif- region. Expected to be completed in faces it, including the Copenhagen metropoli- ferent scale, of course, but there are similarities 2011, it will be used by 350 passenger KARLSKRONA TURISTBYRÅ tan area. “The economy is booming at the because you have the big city, San Francisco, trains every day. The day it opens, the © moment,” says Anders Olshov, managing direc- on the other side of the water in Copenhagen, new Triangeln station in the city centre tor of Öresundsinstitutet, a research institute you have the equivalent of Silicon Valley in the will instantly become the third-largest NISSE LARSSON focusing on regional economics and develop- Malmö-Lund area, you have the equivalent of train station in Sweden. : ment. “Private consumption is growing fast in Marin County and other beautiful places around In the city of Kalmar received the PHOTO both Denmark and Sweden, and building acti- the coast for people who can make the choice single biggest investment from abroad vity is very high as there has been a shortage of themselves of where they want to live and work. last year. Construction work has now star- housing. There are a lot of people moving to They can have everything here.” ted on the Sweden China Commodity the region, and the rate of growth is higher Wholesale Market, an international trade than in much of the Nordic area.” Success story centre with an exhibition hall with pre- Home to many leading high-tech compa- Lund, already one of northern Europe’s most mises for 1,100 companies. The idea is nies, particularly within the ICT and life sci- innovative cities and a major life science cen- that the centre will generate interest ence sectors, the region has become a magnet tre, is itself riding a wave of high growth. The among wholesale companies throughout for foreign investment, topping the Scan- city’s established companies are thriving, its Europe who will come to Kalmar to view dinavian rankings for inward investment, and science park, Ideon, is fully booked and chur- and purchase Chinese products. There rating within the top three in Europe. A recent ning out success after success, while a new bio- will also be housing in connection with analysis based on Ernst & Young’s European incubator promises to produce the next gene- the trade centre as well as a hotel. The Investment Monitor database showed that the ration of medical technology startups. Google buys Marratech Alfa Laval big in ethanol Google has looked to Sweden for new video- said: “We look forward to learning from the Alfa Laval , world leader in heat transfer, centrifugal separation and fluid handling, conferencing technology, acquiring the flag- extraordinary ingenuity of Marratech’s engi- has received an order for a process line to the new bioethanol plant Biowanze in ship software of Stockholm-based Marra- neers as they focus on desktop conferencing Belgium. The plant is one of the largest outside the USA and an important step in tech. research and development in Sweden, where order to reach the EU directive stating that 5.75 per cent of all vehicle fuel should Under the deal, Google has agreed to ac- they will continue to be located.” come from renewable sources by 2011. The combined order value is about €5.3 quire the intellectual property and software of Marratech’s conferencing software, which million. the 15-person videoconferencing company. is desktop-based rather than Web-based, is a The new plant has a total production capacity of about 300 000 m3 per year “As of today I’m an employee of Google,” collaboration tool that includes video, text which is enough to power more than 250 000 cars. Marratech founder Peter Parnes said at the chat, voice over Internet Protocol audio, and “I am proud that Alfa Laval can contribute to lowering the carbon dioxide emis- time of the deal. He stressed that future efforts a “whiteboard” feature for documents, pre- sions in Europe. At the same time I see the order as further evidense of our strong to develop the software would be in Sweden sentations or charts. and leading position within the renewable vehicle fuels,” says Lars Renström, – a declaration echoed by Google. Google pays €9 million for Marratech’s President and CEO of Alfa Laval. Commenting on the deal in an Internet software, according to Swedish technology The raw materials used in the plant consist of wheat and sugar beet juice. blog, Google vice president Douglas Merrill publication Ny Teknik. POLITICS, FINANCE, CULTURE 12 NO 2 2007 SwedenToday

New perspective wide in a leading IT company.” IBM to buy Telelogic In a joint statement, IBM and Telelogic on brain function IBM is to buy Malmö-based Telelogic for €551m. said: “After carefully evaluating the offer and said: “Together, Telelogic and IBM will be able “From today’s next generation entertain- considering the future prospects of Telelogic, it to expand and accelerate its customers’ ability A newly-started research collaboration between ment devices to tomorrow’s space-information is the board’s opinion that the transaction is favou- to define, model, build, test, deliver and govern Karolinska Institutet and AstraZeneca has alre- systems, software is the lifeblood of complex rable to our shareholders. Therefore, the board the development of complex systems with hig- ady generated results. For the first time, the con- systems,” said Dr. Danny Sabbah, general mana- unanimously recommends this offer. By combi- her quality and faster time to market. Telelogic ditions have been created to study one of the ger, IBM Rational Software. “IBM’s acquisi- ning with IBM, Telelogic will have a greater will also benefit from access to IBM’s world- brain’ most important neurotransmission sys- tion of Telelogic will complement our entire opportunity to accelerate its growth globally and wide sales and services organisation.” tems – the glutamate system – in living people. portfolio to help our clients drive efficient and be able to provide customers a more comprehen- Telelogic products help organisations define, Glutamate is one of the most common effective software development processes that sive solution for complex software development.” model, build, test, deliver and govern the deve- neurotransmitters in the human brain and is are vital to product delivery.” Anders Lidbeck, president and CEO of lopment of software used in complex systems involved in virtually all brain functions. But Telelogic provides software development Telelogic, said: “This transaction creates poten- such as aircraft radar or automobile anti-lock even though researchers’ PET cameras can pro- solutions and has more than 8,000 customers tial for offering our customers further support braking systems. Its customers include Airbus, duce images of other important neurotrans- worldwide, primarily in aerospace and defence, in developing and implementing complex sys- Alcatel, BAE SYSTEMS, BMW, Boeing, mission systems, such as the dopamine and telecommunications and automotive industries. tems across the globe. Our combined customer DaimlerChrysler, Deutsche Bank, and Ericsson. serotonin systems, until now it has not been The company has more than 1,100 employees base will now be able to leverage a full power- Telelogic was founded in 1983 and today possible to capture images of the glutamate and operations in 22 countries. Last year the ful end-to-end set of products and services. For has operations in 22 countries worldwide. It system. This is because there has not been any company reported revenues of about €155m. our employees, the transaction has potential to has its US headquarters in Irvine, California, suitable tracer that can bind specifically to the Bo Dimert, chairman of the board of Telelogic, create new, interesting opportunities world- and has been publicly traded for seven years. receptors in the glutamate system. In collaboration with Karolinska Institutet, AstraZeneca has now developed such a tracer, which makes it possible for the first time to Retail chains flock to Sweden Riding high in e-business study the glutamate system in the brains of living people. Foreign retailers are lining up to establish operations in Sweden. Buoyed Sweden is the second-best country in the world for e-commerce, accor- “The glutamate system is an area of keen by robust consumer spending, Sweden’s retail market is currently one ding to the latest global rankings published by the Economist Intelli- interest for research, especially for gaining an of the hottest in Europe and the last 12 months have seen a succession gence Unit. The country advanced from fourth place in last year’s sur- understanding of neuropsychiatric disorders,” of foreign retailers enter the market. Boultbee, a UK shopping retail vey to join the United States in second spot. Denmark topped the ays Professor Lars Farde at Karolinska Institutet property owner with 27 shopping malls in Sweden, says attracting foreign rankings for the second year running. and AstraZeneca. “ll anti-psychotic medicines retailers is a key strategy. However, both the US and Denmark saw their overall e-readiness currently available on the market work via the “It’s part of our business concept,” says Bo Falk, Boultbee’s Sweden scores weaken slightly in 2006, while Sweden strengthened its position. dopamine system, for example. However, it manager. “The Swedish market is strong and retail volumes have been “E-commerce activity and ICT skills [in Sweden] are impressi- may well turn out that glutamate receptors are fantastic for many years but selection has been rather limited.” ve,” the EIU said. “The country enjoys Europe’s highest rate of employ- even better drug targets.” UK clothing chains River Island and Primark are among the European ees with ICT specialist skills, and 53 percent of its employees use the Within the framework of this same colla- retailers currently preparing to reach out to Swedish consumers. Internet at work, well above the EU norm of 36 percent. Swedish boration, a state-of-the-art PET camera has Other new entrants include German shoe retailer Deichmann and businesses are also Europe’s top online buyers.” been purchased for use in both academic rese- Dutch jeans specialist G-star. Clothing retailers Dressman of Norway The EIU added that Sweden “stands out for the prominence of arch and pharmaceutical development. and Portuguese group Zara have also expanded their presence. German ICT in research and development and total employment”. “The new PET camera will allow us to fashion chain New Yorker is due to open its first Swedish store early In 2003 Sweden spent a third of its R&D budget on ICT – amoun- study the brain with a much higher richness next year and UK soap manufacturer Lush is also planning to open a ting to one percent of GDP, the EIU said. This was second only to Finland of detail than previously,” says Professor series of outlets. and three times more than the EU average. The survey covered 69 Christer Halldin of Karolinska Institutet. “And Fredrik Bergström, managing director of the Swedish Research leading IT nations worldwide, measuring their “e-readiness.” thanks to the new tracer, we will be able to Institute of Trade, says foreign retailers were keen to tap into Sweden’s Key factors for countries’ e-readiness include the business climate explore an entirely new neurotransmission sys- consumer spending boom. “Sweden has the strongest retail market in for e-commerce, internet usage and access, technological infrastruc- tem through high-resolution imaging.” Europe outside the Baltic states and Slovakia,” he says. ture and the presence of ICT in schools.

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Kronan NO 2 2007 13 SwedenToday POLITICS, FINANCE, CULTURE Neutron source will be carbon neutral • The world’s most powerful neutron sour- tal considerations uppermost. “The use of ener- ce will be carbon neutral and powered by gy will be minimised at every point in the faci- wind energy should Scandinavia’s bid to lity,” says Carlile. Lights and electrical equip- host it be successful, its backers have ment will automatically turn themselves off announced. when not in use, the building will be aligned to get maximum benefit from the light and The €1.2bn facility will effectively have zero warmth from the sun, and daily targets will be energy costs within just a decade, and will also set for energy use. contribute heat to the local district heating system. When operational, the European Spallation Frontrunner Source (ESS) will require around 38MW of elec- Other countries are competing to be the host tricity per year to power the linear accelerator of the facility, which will be a pan-European and other equipment with which scientists from although not an EU project. The bid that gets around the world will conduct experiments in the most backing from other European nations fields ranging from nanotechnology to micro- will be the one that succeeds. The main com- electronics. That is the equivalent of the energy petition is from Hungary and Spain, while needs of a town of around 12,000 people, with there are ambiguous signals coming from the an accompanying annual electricity bill of some UK. But with the Swedish government pled- !NATTRACTIVEREGION €9m. ging its support and €325m in funding earlier But Colin Carlile, who is guest professor at this year, the Scandinavian bid is generally the University of Lund and part of the ESS- agreed to be the one to beat. “Spain is two years INTHESOUTHOF3WEDEN Scandinavia team working to get ESS located behind us, Hungary is three years behind, and in Sweden, says that an energy policy has been the UK is not even on the horizon,” says Carlile. created the likes of which have not even been A negotiating team led by Allan Larsson, considered before for a large-scale scientific faci- a widely-respected former Swedish finance lity. “Environmentally this facility will be first minister, has been visiting neighbouring coun- rate,” he says. tries to explain the Scandinavian bid and to Key to this energy policy will be a wind start the discussion process. “We have had an park which ESS-Scandinavia will build off the overwhelmingly positive response,” says Carlile. Swedish coast at a cost of about €120m. “This Larsson has also come up with a financing will provide the power needs for the facility solution – effectively a bridging loan – which integrated over the year,” says Carlile. “That will allow for supporting countries to commit means that at the end of the year when you look to the project without having to initially draw at how much the windmills have generated, it from their own coffers. This approach, which will equal the amount of power that has been will use the European Investment Bank as gua- used at the facility.” rantor, has been met with enthusiasm. In another significant milestone for the Scandinavian bid, an ESS unit will be established at Lund University. “It will put the whole thing on a professional foo- ting and will carry on with the necessa- ry preparatory work to make sure the pro- ject can be constructed on time, within budget and within the specifications,” says Carlile. Lund University is to be the host of the 4th European Conference on Neutron Scattering (ECNS) at the end of June, to be opened by the Swedish Research Minister Lars Leijonborg. The ESS- Scandinavia consortium will use the opportunity of the conference to push its case to the 700 international experts gat- Lund University will host the ECNS conference hering for the event. The scientists will get the chance to visit the proposed site, and A report commissioned by ESS-Scandinavia Carlile says other events will be used to “raise concluded that the return on this investment consciousness” of the strength of the Scandi- will be about €10m per year, meaning that the navian bid. “The idea is that we create such a wind park will pay for itself in about a decade. momentum and support for ESS in Lund that After that point, the facility’s only energy costs it becomes unstoppable.” will be the maintenance costs for the wind park Carlile believes that the Scandinavian bid ,ESSTHANMINUTES – about €2m per year. “So we estimate we will could attract the necessary support to become save about €8m a year by doing this,” says the site of ESS within the next few months. Carlile. “But more importantly we will cus- “Momentum is gathering, and I can see that hion ourselves against future fluctuations in by the time people are back at their desks after FROM#OPENHAGEN the price of electricity.” the holidays, a decision on the site will not be The design of the facility itself, which will far off.” occupy a site about the size of a golf course to Once that decision is taken, construction -ORETHANTENTIMESASEASY the northeast of Lund should the Scandinavian work would begin within two years, and the bid be successful, will also have environmen- facility would be operational in 2018. TOESTABLISHBUSINESSIN.ORTH%AST3KÍNE /UR STRATEGIC LOCATION IN THE EXPANSIVE /RESUND 2EGIONWITHCLOSEPROXIMITYTO%UROPECREA TESIMMEDIATEPOSSIBILITIES .ORTH%AST3KANE )NVESTMENT0ROMOTION QlikTech on prestigious list HASEXCELLENTTRANSPORTLINKS AWELLEDUCATED +JELL ±KE*OHANSSON WORKFORCEANDAPOSITIVEENVIRONMENTFORBU When looking for new players that will be “We have discovered a way to replicate -ANAGING$IRECTOR the IT leaders of the future, one company to how the brain searches for information,” says SINESS .ORRA3TATIONSGATAN" watch is Lund-based QlikTech. QlikTech chief executive officer Måns /URCOMMITMENTISTOBENON BUREAUCRATIC TO (ËSSLEHOLM 3WEDEN The Swedish business intelligence soft- Hultman, explaining the technology. “This OFFEREXCELLENTSERVICEANDTOBERESPONSIVETO PHONE  ware firm has just been named by top US makes it very easy for the user to learn how YOURNEEDS technology magazine Red Herring as one of to use our product, and the information is FAX  100 “most promising companies driving the stored in the computer’s primary memory, 7ELLKNOWNCOMPANIESSUCHAS!BSOLUT !MA MOBILE  future of technology.” which gives very short response times.” NAT.AWAZ2ICE!" 4ARKETT3OMMER !UTOLIV INVEST SKANENORDOSTSE The award, whose previous recipients The software is used by businesses and AND#AMPBELL|S3OUPHAVEDISCOVEREDOURAD WWWINVESTSKANENORDOSTSE include Google, Ebay and Skype, is made to individuals to perform sophisticated analy- VANTAGES private technology companies seen as futu- sis of large portions of data.QlikTech, owned 7EARERESERVINGASPACEFORYOU re leaders in the high-tech industry. Founded by a group of Swedish and international in 1993 at the Ideon technology park allied venture capital firms, has its research and $ON|TSETTLEFORSECONDBEST to Lund University, QlikTech makes next- development headquarters in Lund and its generation business analysis software that international base in Pennsylvania. #HOOSETHE"EST
enables ultra-fast searches of data. 14 NO 2 2007 ENVIRONMENT/ CLEANTECH SwedenToday

Environment Cleantech

The green revolution is now underway.

Doomsday documentaries, chilling official

reports and wall-to-wall media coverage have

over the past 12 months brought the world

to a tipping point of consciousness about

the threats of climate change.

Global warming deniers have been put in the same bracket to make “substantial” cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, and the worst-case scenario of the UN? as Holocaust deniers; a major multinational bank has pledged pledged that any successor to the Kyoto accord would be But the prophets of doom are more than balanced by the $100m to tackle climate change; Australia has announced negotiated through the UN (as long as India and China join optimists, many of whom believe that technology will play plans to ban incandescent light bulbs and replace them with in). And China, which is expected to soon take the US’s place a major role in saving humankind from a disaster of its own fluorescent bulbs – which could cut CO2 emissions by 4m as CO2 polluter No 1, announced that in “blazing a new making. The most recent report by the UN’s tons by 2012; in Sweden nearly one in five new cars sold is path to industrialisation” it would increase efficiency, make Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) conc- a “green” car; and the British government has appointed a greater use of renewable energy, and increase forest cover. luded that devastating global warming can still be avoided Climate Change Minister. There are still many people who feel that the costs of without excessive cost by improving energy efficiency and The world’s two biggest producers of greenhouse gases tackling climate change are too high; that their “carbon foot- by using existing solutions like biofuels and other renewable have been making what many perceive to be the right kind print” won’t make a difference; that the benefits are too dis- technologies. of noises. US President George Bush joined the leaders of tant. And what hope is there, they say, when a recent report the West’s leading economies at the G8 summit in pledging reveals that worldwide CO2 emissions are rising faster than It is here that Sweden is leading the way. NO 2 2007 15 SwedenToday ENVIRONMENT/ CLEANTECH ‘An international role model’

• A traditional closeness to nature and the fact that the country has no fossil fuels of its own and therefore has long needed alternatives means that the whole environment/climate change/renewable fuels debate is well advanced in Sweden.

Look past the fact that the Swedes love their big, thirsty Saabs and Volvos and vintage American cars and you will find a country where environmental issues rate highly. A recent study found that seven out of ten Swedes are worried about climate change – a level of concern that would certainly be matched in other nations – but the same study also found that four out of ten were also actually willing to lower their standard of living to help stop global warming. The nation has managed to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions between 1990 and 2005 by seven per cent – while growing the economy by 36 per cent – in part due to the replacement of oil for heating with locally produced bio- energy. Sweden’s politicians over the last two decades or so have in general done an admirable job when it comes to the environment. The Swedish carbon diox- ide tax introduced in 1991 has been described by one expert as “one of the most successful climate-political strategies which has been brought in any- where in the world”. And the previous Social Democratic government made headlines and won plaudits from announcing the intention to wean the nation of oil within 15 years. But what of the new centre-right government? Fredrik Reinfeldt and his colleagues came to power with hardly a mention of the environment, suc- cessfully focusing instead on jobs. Now having got down to the business of SCANPIX running the country, the government has started pushing the environmental / agenda at the international and domestic levels. It has announced plans to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 30 per cent by 2020 – trumping EU proposals to cut emissions by 20 per cent – and recently launched a Commission for HENRIK MONTGOMERY Sustainability with the aim of creating a cohesive approach for action to prevent :

climate change. More concrete measures include tax relief on the purchase of PHOTO “green” fuels and cars, and the demand that 85 per cent of cars purchased by the public sector run on environmentally friendly fuel. Pointing to progress: from left, Swedish Environment Sweden takes over the presidency of the EU in 2009, and Prime Minister Minister Andreas Carlgren with his German and Reinfeldt plans to use the opportunity to play a leading role in any successor Indonesian counterparts Sigmar Gabriel and Rachmat treaty to the Kyoto Protocol, whose emissions targets expire in 2012. Witoelan at the Midnight Sun meeting

In an exclusive interview, Sweden Today spoke to Environment Minister AC: We really welcome his initiative and it houses with the tree and everything else and Andreas Carlgren about environmental challenges and opportunities, and shows what a great interest there is for Swedish in the summer we try to move our house out f what Sweden can teach the world about thinking green while staying in the companies. Of course the Swedish government into the garden and stay outside as much as black. should do more, and we have already started possible. So there is this relationship year round work in the new government to form a strate- where you surround yourself with nature. There Sweden Today: How high a priority is the environ- spective and in a 15-year perspective we have gy together with business, and we also have is a long history behind it but in every stage ment for the government? achieved this decoupling. It started with the put aside more money in the budget to sup- of our small Swedish civilisation this connec- Andreas Carlgren: It is fair to say it is one of process where we wanted to get rid of the dang- port these programmes. We will also be focu- tion is developed in new ways. our main priorities. During the election cam- erous dependence on oil. Sweden started pro- sed on cooperation with other countries, as paign the high level of unemployment was the grammes to do this during the 70s and we with the US. I think this will increase our com- main issue and was the key to us getting elec- could see that some of the main results were petitiveness. ted. But I think that besides that the climate economic growth and reduced emissions. change issue and the task of reaching a global Another important thing is how we started to ST: How important do you think technology is for Midnight Sun agreement is the main priority. This spring it develop bioenergy together with district hea- protecting the environment, and how much is down has been the number one issue for the prime ting, and this is important in Sweden both for to influencing people’s behaviour? minister, and of course it always is for me. heating and for electricity generation. AC: To look at it from a personal point of view, lights way to Internationally you could use the same tech- I was on the internet and was looking at a web- ST: What are the government’s main environmen- nology with the same possibilities for cooling. site where you can test how many ‘globes’ you Bali conference tal aims? The third important thing has been the consume with your own lifestyle. The average AC: As the coming President of the European carbon tax introduced in 1991 [levied on the Swede uses about three and a half globes. I dis- Swedish Environment Minister Andreas Union we hope to prepare, support and be a use of oil, coal, natural gas, petrol and aviation covered that because I don’t have a car and some Carlgren hosted his counterparts from 27 key player in a global agreement on the cli- fuel]. This has had a large influence on emis- other things I used 2.2 globes. Then I tried to countries in northern Sweden for an infor- mate issue. That is one thing I hope will be a sions reduction. minimise in each alternative. I became a vege- mal discussion on international action on result for us and we intend to really push the tarian, I cut down on flying, just tried to do climate change. issue. ST: Recent reports have shown that Swedish cars everything right. And still I used one and a The Midnight Sun Dialogue on Climate Another is to reach national consensus back- are the worst polluters in the EU and that CO2 half globes. This illustrates that just by chang- Change, at Riksgränsen in mid June, was ing the national climate policy. That is anot- emissions from industry rose last year. Yet in Sweden ing your own behaviour you can never save the the third in a series of such dialogues fol- her part where I really hope for far-reaching there is a higher than average ownership of green Earth. What we need are the scientists, the lowing one in Greenland in 2005 and an- results here in Sweden. I hope Sweden will be cars and a high engagement in environmental issues political decision-makers, and the business lea- other in South Africa last year. an international example and a role model for among the public as a whole. What has gone ders to save the world. And that has to be done In a statement after the meeting, others to follow. wrong? globally. Carlgren said: “We all share the same fun- Thirdly, there is the marine environment. AC: First of all you could say that we are not damental goal: the climate system has to There is money in the budget on a completely so very far from the objective of ending our ST: Are you positive that steps will be taken in time be protected for the benefit of present and different level than before, and I think we will dependence on oil. The former government to tackle climate change and protect the environment? future generations. This requires substan- end this period with results, measures and formulated the goal of ending our dependence AC: On many aspects, yes. I think we have tial reductions of greenhouse gas emissions programmes far beyond what has been done on oil by 2020 and I am sure this will be part come to a turning point when it comes to peo- based on the principle of common but dif- before. of what I hope will be national objectives that ples’ awareness. Here in Europe you could say ferentiated responsibilities. At the same we can formulate together with as many par- that it is the top issue in most countries. We time we have recognized that action must ST: Sweden often puts itself forward as an example ties as possible next year. But the great chal- have seen a great shift, both in people’s awa- be a part of the global effort to achieve sus- of how you can have a strong economy while still lenge is of course the transport sector. It is true reness and politically. But as I sit in some of tainable development world-wide, to sup- looking after the environment. What can it teach that our cars are quite big compared with these international meetings I still meet port economic and social development, and other countries? Europe, and that they are quite old, and they sometimes a great cynicism and ignorance to to reduce poverty.” AC: First of all I think we can teach other coun- use too much energy. That is a part of what we towards environmental issues. So there is still Carlgren said the discussions meant tries that a concrete policy to decouple [the are now trying to change. The new green car a struggle going on and it is a huge challenge, those present had a clear picture of the relationship between economic growth and the subsidies are built on the principle that we but we have to solve it as the alternative is various countries’ positions before the increased use of energy and other resources] shouldn’t decide what technology people should catastrophe. Conference of Parties in Bali in December. really works. We have managed to achieve eco- use, but rather how much they should reduce “It was felt that the conclusions by the nomic growth of 36 per cent since 1990 while their emissions and their energy use in their ST: Just what is it with Swedes and the environ- European council and those of the G8 sum- at the same time going far beyond our Kyoto cars. That is the start of a new policy. ment anyway? mit have created favourable prospects for targets and reducing our emissions by seven AC: We are one of the smallest national popu- the negotiations at this conference in Bali. per cent. Since the 1970s we have reduced our ST: The US ambassador to Sweden is busy promo- lations in the world but we live in one of In particular we considered that it would carbon dioxide emissions by 40 per cent, while ting Swedish alternative energy technology to Europe’s biggest countries by size. That has be possible to agree on the main elements at the same time having GNP growth of more American investors. Is this not a job for the Swedish created a special relationship with nature. Every of a climate regime for the period after than 100 per cent. So both in a 40-year per- government? Christmas we try to bring nature into our 2012.” 16 NO 1 2007 ENVIRONMENT/ CLEANTECH SwedenToday HANS BLOMBERG : Business leaders PHOTO call for action

• When meeting the German Federal The Business Leaders’ Initiative 3C (Combat Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin in May, Climate Change) is a global opinion group con- business leaders united in the 3C initiative sisting of companies showing leadership by called for a global policy to reduce the demanding an integration of climate issues emissions of carbon dioxide and other into the world of markets and trade facilitated greenhouse gases to acceptable levels as by means of a global framework coming into rapidly as possible whilst providing secure force in 2013. In May a selected number of and affordable energy for a stable, global member leaders met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Lars G Josefsson: ‘we need strong leadership’ development. “We are all concerned with the way climate change poses a threat to humani- ty, to sustained welfare and to glo- bal security. We already have the technology to drastically reduce the carbon dioxide emissions, but HOLMEN AND ITS WORLD 2006 lack the financial incitements to do so. Therefore we need strong leadership, from politicians as well as from companies,” says Lars G Josefsson, President and CEO of Vattenfall. Social responsibilty. Launched in January The 3C Initiative was launched in January of this year when presented to the European Commission’s Concern for the environment. President José Manuel Barroso in Brussels. There has been a signi- ficant interest among the world’s leading companies to join. Today Financial development. 40 companies from 11 countries on 4 continents participate (see list below). The 3C companies are committed to take their share of the responsibility to combat cli- Holmen and its World mate change and they are prepa- red to take action now. The sup- describes Holmen from the port of the global community is perspective of sustainability. needed to create incentives for commercial solutions, technologi- It provides an account of Holmen and its W cal development and market-based the Group and its activities investments. orld The 3C initiative has set up an that focuses on social internal working process based on three themes: responsibility, concern for • Promoting efficient policies the environment, and by mapping abatement potentials in the global fi nancial development; economy. in other words, Holmen’s • Making use of markets by developing Emissions Trading role in the world and its Systems and flexible mecha- relations with its many nisms. • Achieving a strong tech- stakeholders. nology push by supporting and disseminating key tech- nologies. Copies may be “Let us join forces around a obtained from common vision of a low-emitting, sustainable society and let us toget- Holmen’s website her create and promote a common www.holmen.com roadmap that will, step by step, lead to the realisation of this or by phone vision,” says Lars G Josefsson. +46 8 666 21 00. The companies participating in the 3C initiative are: Holmen and its World ABB, Alcan Inc., Alstom, Areva, is available i Swedish, Bayer, British Petroleum BP, British English and Spanish. Sky Broadcasting Ltd, Centrica, CEZ Group, China National Offs- hore Oil Corp., Citigroup Inc., Deut- sche Bahn, Deutsche Post, DONG Energy, Duke Energy Corporation, E.ON AG, EnBW AG, Endesa S.A., Enel, Eskom, Fortum, General Elec- tric Co, Hitachi Ltd, Iberdrola, Luft- hansa, Munich Re Group, Norske Holmen produces paper, paperboard and Skog, NRG Energy, Nuon, Otto sawn timber from wood, a renewable raw material. Group, PG & E Corp., PNM Resour- Holmen is one of Sweden’s largest forest owners with ces, RAO UESR, Reuters, SAS, more than one million hectares of productive forestland. www.holmen.com SAP, Siemens, SUEZ, Tata Power Company Ltd, Wallenius Lines, Vattenfall and Veolia. NO 2 2007 17 SwedenToday ENVIRONMENT/ CLEANTECH

Swedish/Californian Michael Wood: biogas agreement ‘technology is key to tackling climate change’ The United State’s largest gas supplier, Southern California Gas Company, has signed a con- tract with a Swedish company, Scandinavian Biogas, to investigate possibilities of large- scale production of biogas from biological waste in California. ”The Governor of California, A. Schwarze- negger, is very committed to renewable energy. That we received the contract to investigate the possibilities of large-scale biogas pro- duction proves how far ahead Sweden is in this area,” says Per Ewers, CEO Scandinavian Biogas. Southern California Gas Company, with 16 million customers, is planning one or more biogas production facilities, with manure and slaughterhouse waste as probable primary substrates. The facilities may combine the pro- duction of ethanol and biogas, which greatly SCANPIX / expands their total capacity. Two million cows makes agriculture one of the biggest industries in California. This FREDRIK PERSSON

: provides great potential to produce biogas for electricity and as a vehicle fuel. Sweden PHOTO Ambassador has already achieved much success, and we will benefit greatly from Scandinavian Biogas’s experience,” says Phil Baker from Southern California Gas Co. Sweden is considered a world leader in the production of biogas as vehicle fuel, with over on a green mission 7000 gas-driven vehicles and production of more than 16 million normal cubic meters for • Michael Wood, the US Ambassador to Sweden, has created quite a stir in the Swedish environmental technology sector. The former 2005, which corresponds to about 18 million liters of gasoline. Biogas has now surpassed businessman and close personal friend of President George Bush is on a mission to identify promising Swedish alternative energy inno- natural gas as the main gas-based vehicle fuel. vations that can benefit from cooperation with the American private sector, researchers at American universities, or US Government Sweden’s leading position creates excellent opportunities to become a prominent export agencies. He is travelling the length and breadth of the nation to see for himself some of the exciting technologies which could play nation for both technical expertise and the a role in weaning the world off fossil fuels, and then presenting his portfolio of companies to American venture capitalists. construction of biogas facilities. Scandinavian Biogas, based in Uppsala, is growing fast, mainly due to the increasing “I really do believe that technological break- 650 gas stations in Sweden where ethanol is has recently announced funding for promising interest for biogas as a climate friendly alter- throughs are the single most important key to available, and about 850 in the US,” he says. young companies, particularly in the alterna- native to gasoline and diesel. The core busi- an appropriate response to concerns about cli- “The Swedish figure represents about 15-20 tive energy technology sector. “So now the pos- ness concept is to optimize production of raw mate change,” Ambassador Wood said in an per cent of the total, whereas 850 in the US sibility exists that a Swedish inventor with a biogas from waste water treatment plants and interview with Sweden Today. “And I just represents about six tenths of one per cent. So great idea for second generation biofuels could to produce biogas from other organic mate- happen to be ambassador in Sweden, which has the President’s question was how did Sweden end up with a US venture capital firm back- rials, such as stillage from ethanol produc- a terrific research and development infrastruc- do that? That is an example of the kind of policy ing them along with the support of the tion plants. ture. Sweden is famous for breakthroughs in decision where I think the US can study what Ministry of Industry, and that would be a nice medical technology and life science technolo- Sweden has done.” example of the cooperation between the US and gy, and I am finding out in my travels that they Meanwhile to promote cooperation on rese- Sweden on alternative energy,” says Ambassador Biofuel firm selected are also very advanced in areas of alternative arch and development, Ambassador Wood is Wood. energy technology.” establishing a Fulbright professorship for alter- for Pentagon funding native energy research at Chalmers University Seatbelt of alternative energy Presidential backing of Technology in Gothenburg. According to the ambassador, his friend in the Swedish Biofuels AB, a Stockholm-based com- When Ambassador Wood was picked for the Oval Office has been full of encouragement and pany that develops alternative motor fuels, post by Mr Bush in the summer of last year, Positive response support for the initiative. “He is interested in has been selected to receive research funding he shortlisted three topics on which to focus The ambassador has visited companies from whether I will be able to find an idea or an from the Defense Advanced Research Projects his energies during his tenure: encouraging Örnsköldsvik in the north to Lund in the south, inventor or a technology or a policy in Sweden Agency (DARPA), a division of the U.S. Sweden to join NATO; promoting democracy and has received a number of company CEOs that we can use in the US to get where we want Department of Defense. The U.S. Embassy abroad; and cooperation on alternative energy. at the embassy. His travels have also taken him to go more quickly,” says Ambassador Wood. in Stockholm facilitated contacts between He says that both the Swedes he discussed to most of Sweden’s leading technical univer- “In one of my meetings, a former CEO of Volvo Swedish Biofuels and DARPA and assisted his choices with and Mr Bush thought he should sities. Asked what technologies have impressed reminded me that there are two Swedish inven- Swedish Biofuels in framing the grant request. choose the latter, and his timing was perfect. him most, he names a second-generation etha- tions that today you can find on any car made According to Michael Wood, the U.S. “Most people who are involved will agree that nol made out of wood chips, and a technology anywhere in the world – the seatbelt and the Ambassador to Sweden, “This shows we are sometime in the early fall of last year the whole for the gasification of municipal waste. catalytic converter. So I guess what I am trying on the right track in our efforts to build coo- world seemed to reach a tipping point on cli- The companies that made it on to his list to do is find the seatbelt of alternative energy.” peration between the U.S. and Sweden in the mate change concerns. So I was convinced I of 30 were carefully vetted before being pre- dw area of alternative energy. There are some had picked the right topic. I liked the decision sented to a gathering of west coast vencap firms The ambassador’s list great ideas in Sweden that can be deve- when I made it, and the tipping point that was at Stanford University in April. Ambassador loped with American assistance.” reached made it seem like an even better idea.” Wood says the response from the potential Among the “investable” Swedish Subject to negotiation, Swedish Bio- He threw himself into his task and took investors was positive. “Of course it is not the companies are: fuels is expected to receive approxima- the subject matter to heart, even going out and sort of situation where someone is going to tely €1.5 million in initial funding buying an ethanol-powered, Swedish-made write a cheque on the spot, but the process was Bioprocess Control Sweden: to begin the process of developing a jet Saab. “I didn’t lack for environmental concerns begun. We are now exploring the idea of having biogas production optimiser fuel containing 100 per cent biocom- or knowledge of technology developments in a follow-up mission for the members of that ponents. The Embassy supported the alternative energy a year ago, but I have cer- group that were most interested to come to ChromoGenics Sweden: smart windows project as part of the “One Big Thing,” tainly learned much more about the subject,” Sweden and meet with members of the Swedish (see article to the left). DARPA may he says. “I have read every article I can find, I government and the CEOs of the companies Climatewell: solar cooling system provide additional funding to continue have read a dozen books, I have talked to experts that were on the list. That would be another step the work toward a biofuel jet fuel if the from many different countries. I have set about in the process. At this early stage I would say Effpower: bipolar vehicle batteries initial efforts are successful. making myself as knowledgeable as possible and the interest among US investors is quite high.” Swedish Biofuels AB was established opening my mind to as many ideas as possible.” Inevitably the response from the Swedish Electric Line: electric vehicle propulsion system in 2000 and has developed motor fuels Together with the staff at the Stockholm environmental technology sector has been containing high energy biocomponents embassy, Ambassador Wood drew up 29 spe- enthusiastic; who wouldn’t want a top-ranking Parans Daylight: fibre optic solar lighting for standard motor engines and the cific goals for what he has termed his “One Big US diplomat acting on their behalf? advanced technology to produce such Thing”, which fall into the four categories of “Yes, they seem to like it,” says Ambassador Seabased: wave power solutions biocomponents. In the DARPA project, research and development, financing and invest- Wood. “The only negative comments I have Swedish Biofuels will apply this tech- ment, public awareness, and policy exchange. heard – and I don’t believe these are directed Sekab: bioethanol, cellulose ethanol nology to jet fuel. Company founder Dr. In the policy exchange category, he cites as an at me or our effort – is why can’t the Swedish Angelica Hull says, “Developing a 100 example of an area where the US can learn from banks or investors themselves provide the fun- SkyCab: personalised rapid transit systems per cent biological jet fuel is a great chal- Sweden the Swedish law that all petrol stations ding to help these companies take off?” lenge. But we have the know-how to do above a certain size must sell alternative fuels. Coincidentally or not, Maud Olofsson, the Swedish Biofuels: 2nd generation biofuels it.” Swedish Biofuels’ research is based “The President knew that there are about Swedish Minister for Enterprise and Energy, on grain crops. Currently there is no jet fuel on the market containing biological components. 18 NO 2 2007 ENVIRONMENT/ CLEANTECH SwedenToday Opening up a world of possibilities

• By being a pioneer in the sector, Sweden sibilities,” says Gullbransson. “Then we pre- has been able to build up a leading repu- sented our materials to the Swedish Trade tation within environmental technology. Council, who then looked at what foreign To ensure that reputation is used to best markets these companies could fit into.” effect in generating business, the Swedish A similar effort will now follow for the Environmental Technology Council (Swentec) water treatment area and the waste handling was established. and waste management sector, where Swedish companies have a wealth of experience and com- “One of our main purposes is to map and ana- petence. “Again we will look into what we have lyse environmental technology in Sweden, and and what our strengths are in Sweden. “We this is important because we have a very good have to focus on being in the right place and reputation in environmental matters,” says Berit on working with others,” says Gullbransson. Gullbransson, Swentec’s director. “There is an Swentec was part of a Swedish delegation interest from the government in environmen- – which also included Environment Minister tal technology, but we have to know what is Andreas Carlgren – which visited California in going on so we can utilise our national resources January. The trip was part of the Memorandum in the best way.” of Understanding between Sweden and Swentec, which was set up last year, has California, and among Swentec’s contributions been tasked with strengthening business oppor- was a seminar on biogas held in Sacramento tunities and competitiveness for the estimated and another on the Sustainable City concept 3 700 Swedish companies within environ- and energy efficiency, held in Los Angeles. mentally-adapted goods, manufacturing pro- “There was great interest from the cesses and services in both the domestic and American companies, especially from dairies international markets. Swentec’s board consists and farms and how to upgrade to use biogas,” of leading figures from the public and private says Gullbransson. “There was also considera- sector, as well as smaller businesses, consul- ble interest from various agencies, the energy tants and networks. authorities and the environmental department “We want to be a modern authority, small on how to get that knowledge at the policy and flexible, and our role is also to coordinate level.” and concentrate,” says Gullbransson, who is a Swentec is also in the process of compiling former environment director at paper giant a report on the market with the biggest poten- SCA. “We coordinate the activities within the tial for environmental technology firms – area”. Because environmental technology is China. “We have a lot of big companies wor- such a hot area right now, there are so many king in China, and there are many regional different initiatives so it is good to have a good initiatives underway, lots of contacts between overall view. So we keep an eye on what is hap- municipalities, but now it is time for business,” pening in the south of Sweden, what is hap- says Gullbransson. pening in the north and how they can take advantage of each other.” www.powercircle.org Another key task is to see that the public and private money being fun- nelled into the sector is used in the right way, and Swentec has also created a role for itself as a meeting point for the industry. “We sometimes use the phra- In Stockholm, se one-stop shop,” says Gullbransson. “If smaller enterprises contact us we can waste is no longer tell them where to go and the same for a problem - it travels international inquiries.” underground Playing to strengths Swentec is using its position as a national In the sustainable city beauty, not waste, dominates the picture. centre to compile in-depth reports on Instead of being transported by truck through the the various sub-sectors under the envi- city, waste travels by air - underground. This invi- ronmental technology umbrella. Its first, sible solution contributes to a better environment published earlier this year, concerned on both local and global level. biofuels and bioenergy. It highlighted companies with high potential and loo- Envac - a sustainable contribution to the city ked into the various types of support environment they need from authorities or agencies. It became one of the sources for US Ambassador Michael Wood’s list of pro- mising Swedish companies presented to American investors. “When we made this investigation Envac Centralsug AB, SE-117 84 Stockholm, Sweden. Phone: +46 8 775 32 00. E-mail: [email protected] www.envac.net about bioenergy and biofuel we map- ESTER SORRI : ped what kind of companies we have in Berit Gullbransson: ‘our role is Sweden, and then we looked at the pos- to coordinate and concentrate’ PHOTO

The LFV Group is a State enterprise with Irish to invest in Swedish wind power reported sales of SEK 6.0 billion for 2006. Irish renewable energy group Airtricity is The company, which has just launched Our mission is to generate added value for to invest €800 million in wind farms in operations in Portugal, aims to build 125 Sweden as part of a drive to increase its wind wind turbines in Sweden and expects its our customers and promote air travel by power operations in Europe outside its investments to lead to the creation of 20 operating cost-effective, safe and well man- domestic market. jobs in the country. Airtricity is planning The company, one of the world’s largest to build its first Swedish wind turbines in aged airports and air navigation services. wind generators, has spent six months exa- 2008 or the year after. mining the Swedish market and locating “Wind power is the most profitable form business partners, receiving assistance from of renewable energy we have today,” said Invest in Sweden Agency in this process. Örjan Hedblom of Swedish wind power Airtricity chief executive officer Eddie association SVIF. “It only takes three years O’Connor says: “Sweden offers great condi- to build a wind farm compared to up to ten tions for wind power – partly because there years for hydropower or nuclear plants.” are large uninhabited areas of land and part- The main problem for wind generators ly because the financial incentives provided is a shortage of turbines, which has pushed by the Swedish government make it easy to up prices and causes project delays. establish profitable wind farms.” NO 2 2007 19 SwedenToday ENVIRONMENT/ CLEANTECH Cleantech fund rides the growth wave • Sweden and the Nordic nations offer a that if you are going to do venture investing, wealth of interesting investment opportu- a lot of it is about managing growth, hiring nities in cleantech companies, according people, being close to the entrepreneurs, adding to the co-founder of a private equity fund experience and time.” aimed at the sector. Not casting their net too widely will also be important. “We will not invest in too many Anders Frisk, together with American Andre companies,” he says. “We will be more involved Heinz, has started Sustainable Technologies and deploy more money over time, instead of Fund, which aims to invest in companies with spreading the risks worldwide as many other proven clean technologies. cleantech investors and other generalists do.” He says the conditions for investing in the Heinz and Frisk will exploit their respec- sector are ideal. “Today we have a situation tive networks – Heinz in the US and Frisk in where we have both strong market drivers and China – when the time comes for the compa- a big and growing pool of companies. We are nies to grow internationally. living in a situation where energy is a scarce Frisk and Heinz both have extensive expe- commodity; we have an increasing population rience of sustainable development, such as from Climate expert is worldwide competing for the same kind of the Swedish-based non-profit organization The resources, which will drive up prices. It is Natural Step, which specialised in education gigantic fundamental change which will cre- and consulting around sustainable develop- ate a lot of business opportunities.” ment. Frisk says this experience is fundamen- top of the profs Frisk thinks Nordic companies are well tal to their investments. “This is a fairly new placed to capitalise on those opportunities. industry and there are a lot of fund managers Christian Azar: “We believe that the Nordic countries have interested in doing something here, but just • He has been labelled “the pop star of climate change” ‘technology is very interesting technologies – maybe not the like any other you have to know the industry doubled-edged sword’ by one Swedish tabloid and has emerged as one of few largest companies worldwide, but if you boil you are in. You don’t have to know all the tech- recognisable faces in the wall-to-wall media coverage of it down to the technology level, they have the nologies down to the detail level, but you have the climate debate in Sweden. leading technology in many areas.” to have an overview on the fundamental market He points to wind and solar technology, drivers and why that is happening.” cutting-edge wave technology, and bioenergy While the same newspaper’s claim that “when considered more important than fuel efficiency. expertise. “Then you have the more traditional Corn versus cars the long-haired professor Christian Azar talks Whether technology will bring us closer or far- end-of-pipe technologies – recycling, purifi- He points to the ethanol industry as an exam- climate, women faint and kids swarm around ther away from environmental sustainability cation, waste management, driven by legisla- ple. Until recently corn- and sugar cane-based him as if he was a pop star” may be overdoing depends on the path technological develop- tion and subsidies, and a general desire among ethanol was held up as a potential long-term it a bit, the football-playing, salsa-dancing aca- ment takes.” citizens in this region to take care of nature replacement for petroleum, but in recent demic is in huge demand as a speaker, panel- and the environment.” months question marks have been raised about list and interviewee. Rising sun its long-term sustainability. “I’m not saying Azar, 38, is Professor of Sustainable Indust- Renewable energy is a key leg of Azar’s rese- Pushing the pedal ethanol is wrong, but as an investor you have rial Metabolism at Chalmers University of arch, and he sees solar energy and biomass as Frisk and Heinz – scion of the food empire of to take into consideration how ethanol as a Technology in Göteborg. His image is just two sources with particular potential. He says the same name – launched Sustainable Tech- transportation fuel fits into the long term. about as far away from that of the typical aca- the amount of solar energy reaching the earth nologies Fund in January 2007. It has a man- People start to realise corn- or sugar-based demic as it is possible to be – he listens to Bob is about 10,000 times greater than the total date to do investments worldwide, but is focu- ethanol is competing with food and agricul- Marley, for instance – but his credentials are present use of fossil fuels, hydro-power and sing primarily on the Nordic countries, and tural land. Is it really sound that we have impeccable; he is on the board of several inter- nuclear power. “It is important to make sure will invest in established companies with sales Americans running around in their SUV’s national journals and a member of a number that there are niche markets where solar cells of €2m to €7m. “We are not targeting the seed powered by corn-based ethanol while Mexicans of international research groups and commit- can thrive. This would create incentives for or start-up stage; companies need to have a pro- can’t get food on their table because corn pri- tees, including the Intergovernmental Panel continued R&D aimed at solar cells and larger ven technology, they need to have a market that ces have doubled?” on Climate Change (IPCC). production volumes, which would lower pro- is out there asking for their products or ser- Frisk says their fund is more interested in, Through his research, Azar aims to under- duction costs.” This, in turn, would enlarge vices,” says Frisk. for example, biodiesel, which doesn’t necessa- stand the long-term dynamics of energy and the market potential for photovoltaic (PV) cells. Fully deployed, the fund will invest in about rily compete with agricultural land, has a bro- materials use. Among the issues he deals are “An analysis of the material requirements and ten to 14 companies, at about €3m to €7m per ader feedstock, can use waste products, and where targets should be set for concentration constraints for new solar cells is necessary to company, with an investment period of five allows more efficient combustion. “That is of CO2 in the atmosphere; what sort of policy gain an insight into which type of PV techno- years. The fund’s lifetime is set to eight years, taken from a strict resource sustainability per- options will encourage the likes of China and logy society and industry should focus on,” he but could be extended up to ten. To date Frisk spective, and when investors start to under- Brazil to accept targets; and what technologi- says. and Heinz have met with about 60 companies stand that, that will have dramatic effect on cal options are available to meet those targets. Azar says that biomass from short-rotation from their database of 1,000. how stocks will perform,” he says. “We apply Among his tools he uses is energy systems plantations is predicted to play a key role in “There are a lot of companies that have until the backgrounds we have with The Natural modelling – developing models of the global the drive for lower CO2 emissions, but high- recently experienced a fairly slow but steady Step to our investment analysis. That is a way energy system and setting targets for the atmos- lights the concerns about the effects this could growth, that are now experiencing dramatic to avoid risk from a strictly scientific and busi- pheric concentration, and then letting the have on the food crops with which they com- change due to the high and volatile energy prices, ness perspective. Other investors try to do good model pick the technologies that provide the pete for growing space. “Since bioenergy plan- global climate change, energy security, together both financially and for the environment, but required energy, but at the same time meeting tations generally are monocultures, this might with the fact that cost per kilowatt for rene- with a lack of competence the good intentions the carbon emissions constraints introduced have a negative impact on biodiversity. wable energy technologies are coming down might go wrong. And that is bad for sustaina- into the model. However, plantations may also be established to healthy levels,” says Frisk. “Many of the com- ble development, because then critics will get Using such models, Azar has shown that to reduce erosion and prevent soil degradation. panies we meet are up and running, they have fuel for their arguments that it was just a bubble the limiting of emissions will not necessarily Furthermore, they would require large areas of products, they have clients, but they are not with nothing behind it. “ have to come at the expense of further econo- bioproductive land to play a significant role on used to this situation, and are thinking about mic progress in the developing world. “At pre- a global scale.” Azar says there is a “considera- pushing the gas pedal harder and taking their sent, industrialised countries emit roughly ten ble risk” that bioenergy will compete with food chance to ride this growth wave.” Anders Frisk: ‘change times more CO2 per capita than developing production, as farmers will grow energy crops Frisk says Sustainable Technologies creates countries,” Azar says in an interview on if there is more money to be made from them Fund aims to be an important partner business Chalmers’ website. “If we are to stabilise the than from growing food. “But since we need for these companies, sharing the risk opportunities’ climate at levels that may be considered safe, food, food prices will rise to the point where and providing the necessary expan- CO2 emissions should ultimately be reduced food production is competitive,” he says. “We sion capital to take a company and to levels below those prevailing in developing have shown that this might increase food prices its products on to the export mar- countries today. Meeting the objective of the by a factor of two, although uncertainty ranges ket. “We are not primarily seeking UN convention on climate change is not an are large.” to take a ‘tech bet’ where you invest easy challenge. We have, nevertheless, develo- While the urban poor may suffer at the in unproven technologies that might ped energy system models that demonstrate hands of higher prices, some poor farmers may have a market in ten years.” the technical and economic feasibility of mee- benefit from getting higher prices for their ting stringent emission constraints at the same crops. “An improved understanding of the pos- Time and experience time as welfare improvements are achieved sible environmental and social consequences of The fund seeks to take a 20 to 49 per throughout the world.” large-scale bioenergy plantations is important cent stake in companies. “The idea Azar says that technology is a double-edged when designing land-use policies, since it is is not to come in and run the com- sword – it is both the cause of many environ- possible to counteract at least some of the poten- pany,” says Frisk. “The companies mental problems and also a key to solving them. tially negative impact,” says Azar. must be run by the entrepreneurs be- “Combustion of fossil fuels causes CO2 emis- According to Sweden’s “pop star of clima- cause they are in an entrepreneuri- sions while solar cells might offer ways of obtai- te change”, the sticking point when it comes al phase. Therefore we are not inter- ning cleaner energy.” He points out that cars to the widespread use of renewable energy is ested in having a majority stake.” in the 1930s consumed less fuel per kilometre not so much technological as political. “There’s He says they will focus on being than the average car of today. “The reason of no scarcity of renewable energy, there’s just a specialists in one stage and in one sec- course is that other characteristics, such as acce- lack of will to penalise fossil fuels so that the tor. “It is my experience and my belief leration, speed, safety and comfort, have been new technologies gain ground.” ENVIRONMENT/ CLEANTECH 20 NO 2 2007 SwedenToday Forest sector takes key Environmentally friendly role in climate issue papermakers • Studies by NASA and Columbia University blame manmade greenhouse gases and wooden buildings capture carbon for hundreds warn of dangerous climate consequences. Although carbon dioxide emitted from petro- of years. As an example, an ordinary EU home • On the Financial Times Sustainability chemical products in combustion engines is the major culprit, reducing emissions in contains 12-20 cubic metres of wood, and the- Index, FTSE4Good, Storebrand SRI and fields such as the forest industry promises feasible, faster, and significant reductions. refore can store up to 13 tons of carbon dioxide. Global 100, Holmen ranks among the “The more forest that grows, and the more world’s best companies in terms of sus- For Sweden’s forest industries, providing vital environmental issues have utmost priority with forest products that we use, the better that it tainability. goods and services in an efficient and a sus- companies around the world.” becomes for the climate,” says Arwidson. tainable manner has become part of daily busi- The entire Scandinavian forest products ness challenges that are being undertaken by Growth thwarts threats Priority with politicians industry, and especially the Holmen Group, the sector’s own trade and employers’ organi- To maintain carbon dioxide balance, forests “Things are serious now,” says Lars-Erik Axelsson, is far ahead when it comes to the environ- sation, The Swedish Forest Industries must be managed in such a way that the pro- who works with energy and political issues at ment, says Lars Strömberg, Group Director Federation (SFIF). The federation represents duction capacity of the ground is optimised. SFIF. “This is a high priority issue, and many poli- of Sustainable and Environmental Affairs. around 60 pulp and paper mills owned by 29 In Sweden, the forests are growing faster than ticians now realise that it’s possible to find solu- With three decades of experience with- groups of companies and some 150 sawmills they are being harvested. Therefore, the quan- tions by taking advantage of opportunities that in the forest products industry, Strömberg’s owned by about 80 companies, plus other firms tity of bound carbon is increasing year by year. are available in Sweden’s forest industry.” responsibilities include producing the fir- closely affiliated with pulp, paper and sawn Meanwhile, current projections predict growth Unlike fossil fuels, forest products can be m’s environmental reports, which Holmen timber. increases between 25-50 per cent in the next converted into energy that can be replenished. has done now for a dozen years. Published During travels abroad, Marie S. Arwidson, ten to 60 years. Numerous Swedish companies (such as Holmen since 2004, their yearly sustainability report SFIF’s Managing Director, has observed that “The world’s forested lands are threatened - see accompanying article) are involved in the is “about more than just the environment” “our firms are among world leaders in develo- by agriculture and heating in countries where production electricity and biofuel. For paper and has “become something of a reference PHOTO COURTESY: SCA production, recovered fibre has become book for everyone who is interested in our an increasingly important raw material. company,” says Strömberg. The forest industry is Sweden’s largest consumer and likewise producer of bio- Holmen’s world fuel. Averages for Swedish forest indus- While reaching beyond corporate business tries show electrical energy consumption itself, this environmental report, “Holmen being 20-25 per cent self sufficient today. and Its World“, shows the firm’s selection The branch uses some 22 TWh annu- and use of raw material and resources, its ally, of which five are generated by fores- development for the future, an overall and try companies themselves, and this is pre- comprehensive concern for the environment dominantly from biofuel. A further incre- and the company’s high standards of social ase in output from 5 TWh to 6.5 TWh responsibility are described. per year can be expected. Only ten to 15 Holmen meets a lot of its electricity per cent involves fossil fuels, and Axelsson requirements from internal sources. Holmen thinks that this portion will continue also owns, wholly or in part, 23 hydropo- shrinking. wer stations that produce 20-25 per cent of Christina Wiklund, Environmental its total electric energy requirements. In Director of SFIF, declares, “We must addition, the Group produces back-pressure break our dependency on oil. Here is power at some of its biggest mills, so the where raw materials from the forest have self-sufficiency ratio is about 30 per cent. great importance.,” “Energy costs a lot of money, and we use She reports that, since the end of the a lot of energy at Holmen, especially at sixties, pulp and paper production in Holmen Paper, our printing paper business Green growth: Swedish forest industry is Sweden has doubled while, at the same area. Therefore, it’s in our interests to keep a leader on environmental issues time, energy consumption for this volu- energy use as low as possible,“ says Strömberg. me has decreased by nearly 80 per cent. The With over a million hectares of pro- ping certification, sustainable forest manage- wood provides energy for warmth, cooking, TMP process has also helped to reduce oil con- ductive forest land in Sweden, Holmen’s ment and also environmentally-oriented pro- and so on. A healthy forest industry demands sumption. In addition, SFIF’s policies promote business is based on wood raw materials cesses in our factories”. new planting and maintenance. These are major far reaching environmental implementation in from sustainably managed forests. In the Commenting after attending the 3rd CEO opportunities through which the forest indus- the forest industry’s transportation activities, next five years, the Group expects that the Roundtable of the International Council of tries can contribute to societies,” says Arwidson. both over land and at sea. need for fossil fuels at the Swedish mills will Forest and Paper Associations (ICFPA) in Forest products contribute to dampening “The Swedish Forest Industry will partici- be reduced by 75 per cent. This will redu- Shanghai, Arwidson, a former ICFPA chair- the greenhouse effect by absorbing carbon diox- pate and develop both diversity and increased ce carbon dioxide emissions by 200,000 ton. person, said: “In our estimations made follo- ide and furthermore by storing this in trees production so that the forest can be sufficient wing the Shanghai meeting, Sweden is among and wood products. Producing lumber requires both for raw materials as well as increase avai- Homemade energy the leaders. It also became apparent that many less energy than plastic, metal or concrete, and lability of biofuel,” promises Arwidson. Biofuel, mainly in the form of bark and wood- containing liquors from the sulphate pulp process, covers about half of Holmen’s ther- mal energy requirements. Combined with heat recovered from the TMP process, almost two-thirds of Holmen’s thermal energy needs Sweden’s 16 is produced internally. The company estimates that it will be possible to more than double production of Environmental biofuel in Sweden within about 15 years. “Besides using biofuels, many of the energy saving measures being adopted by Holmen Quality Objectives entail procedures, construction and other acti- vities at our facilities that increase our Group’s overall effectiveness,” says Strömberg. can be instrumental when establishing a EU targets stipulate 56 per cent recy- clear environmental focus for your business. cling of papers and periodicals. About 70- 74 per cent of Swedish paper is recovered. In 2006, Holmen used 1,025,000 tonnes Find out more on of recovered paper at two Swedish mills and one Spanish mill. Advanced water utilisa- www.miljomal.nu tion and purification is another far-reaching Read more: endeavour of the firm. Higher yield per hectare is another envi- Whether your business is small or large, environmentally ronmentally-friendly accomplishment, and Holmen aims to increase in its forests‘ certified or not, your environmental efforts are crucial for growths by 25 per cent in 30 years. In the achieving sustainable development. longer term, they believe that 50 per cent is attainable. Company statements assert that solu- The Objectives can facilitate your environmental efforts tions for environmental problems perhaps via increased knowledge, as well as be supportive when present mankind‘s greatest challenge. They maintain positive approaches toward initi- setting up your business own environmental goals. atives to master these threats. “Our sustai- nability activities put Holmen at the fore- front in the public eye,” says Strömberg. NO 2 2007 21 SwedenToday ENVIRONMENT/ CLEANTECH

and they trust Swedish companies. Our licen- see in the US said that even the Americans re- cognise that the Swedes are best in this area.” But Rosendahl says he would like to see more help from the Swedish government for domes- tic companies looking to break into the export market. “We have the know-how, we have the technology, we have the experience, but we do not have the power of Volvo or Ericsson.”

Help wanted All this interest has meant that Swedish firms are expanding as never before, particularly in the biggest growth area of middle-sized boilers and middle-sized cogeneration plants. “They will have to increase their personnel and get more subcontractors,” says Nyström. “If they dare to expand, it is the right time to do it.” He says that while many are trying to take on new staff – KMW Energi is in the market for five new engineers to cope with demand – they are not doing so at the rate the branch organisation would like them to. “It is a big Boom time step to double the size of their enterprise. You have to get investors to invest in more work- shops, you have to start cooperation with other for bioenergy equipment manufacturers, and there are many potential problems.” But there is hesitation to expand among industry some companies. Nyström says that some fami- ly companies are wary of bringing in external investors, while others are uncertain just how Forest waste is a major source of bioenergy in Sweden long the good times will last. Svebio was founded in 1980 when bioenergy accounted for about ten per cent of Sweden’s • Growing global concern for climate change has meant a bonanza for Sweden’s bio- energy; farming crops, such as wheat which is energy supply, most of it used internally within energy industry. The ever-increasing flow of official reports, documentaries and new- used to make ethanol for automotive fuel; peat; the forest industry. A non-profit organisation, spaper articles about mankind’s impact on the planet, as well as fears for rocketing oil and industrial and domestic refuse, which can Svebio has played a major role in the develop- prices, have been matched by spiralling orders among boiler makers, biofuel produ- be burned to make biogas. ment of bioenergy, initially providing the net- cers and bioenergy consultants. work necessary for the commercial use of wood ‘Bubble won’t burst’ chips in district heating systems. Its conferen- “The increased interest in climate change and to put your finger on one sector – we are good KMW ENERGI, which develops and manu- ces have played an important role in turning renewable energy has had a huge effect on the at all of them because we have dealt with them factures biomass-burning combined heat and bioenergy into a commercially-accepted fuel. industry,” says Kent Nyström, MD of Svebio, for so long. We are pretty unique because we power (CHP) plants, is one of the recent suc- Svebio also takes part in delegations abroad the Swedish Bioenergy Association. “I have tal- have such a big broad home market. We have cess stories. Last year it took orders valued at in cooperation with the Swedish trade Council ked to manufacturers who have not been able small, middle and large scale. We have gase- around SEK 700m on the Nordic market alone, and Swedish embassies. A recent matchmaking to answer all the queries they receive. They are ous, liquid and solid biofuels. We have elec- and this year it expects export orders to start event in Dublin shows just how much interest just too busy.” tricity production, heat production, liquid fuels rolling in. Swedish bioenergy companies are generating Sweden has become a leading bioenergy for vehicles. I think we have all sectors cove- Sales manager Christer Rosendahl says: “I abroad. “There were six Swedish companies there nation through experience. With no domestic red at the same time. And we are somewhat usually compare it with the IT bubble, but this and 155 Irish delegates, most of them represen- reserves of coal oil or natural gas, the country unique with our big district heating sector bubble will not burst. I think that we are in ting companies, came to meet them,” says Nyström. was forced to find alternatives by the oil crises which is mostly bioenergy fuelled. Sweden is the same situation, not just with bioenergy but “There were about 20 Irish companies interes- of the 1970s. So while other nations are now a big collective heating country and on these renewable energy in general, but the differen- ted in joint ventures, buying licences, or beco- rushing to develop renewable sources of heat heat demands we produce electricity as well.” ce is that this market has more substance. This ming a retailer for each Swedish company.” and fuel and the equipment to burn them, About 115 terrawatt hours (TWh) of bio- is about energy, this is about surviving. There Nyström says that offers have poured in for Sweden is able to draw on around 30 years of energy are produced each year in Sweden, a are a lot of big issues mixed up here. From top Svebio and its member companies to visit coun- experience. Today more than a quarter of the figure which has grown from 48 TWh in 1980. politicians to an ordinary person filling their tries from China to Chile. “But I hesitate becau- nation’s total energy demand comes from bio- This comes from five biomass sources: bi-pro- car with petrol this is a huge issue and a huge se these are not our closest and most natural fuels, generating more energy than hydropo- ducts of the forest industry, such as sawdust, market.” markets. We must concentrate on closer to wer or nuclear power, and accounting for more bark and rotten wood; black liquor, a bi-pro- Rosendahl says that being a Swedish com- home. The whole of Europe is now open to us, of its heating needs than oil. duct of the pulp industry which produces elec- pany can have its advantages when looking for and when Europe is full of Swedish equipment Nyström says that Sweden does not have tricity, steam and heat for the industry and business overseas. “Companies abroad know then we can go to South America and India.” any specific specialities in the field. “It is hard accounts for about a third of Sweden’s bio- that Swedish companies have this experience dw

Wide interest That opportunity presented itself in the New ethanol method Welin says the technology has great potential, form of Taurus Petroleum Development, a stock with the biggest business opportunities in agri- exchange-listed company which was involved cultural areas of southern Europe, the US, Brazil in prospecting for oil in Morocco. “They did- turns waste into profits and India. “Wherever you have agriculture, n’t find any oil, but they had the company on then we have big potential.” the stock exchange and still had some money • A new method for producing ethanol fuel water and yeast. “This sugar that you produce Taurus Energy’s business idea is to sell licen- left,” says Welin. “So it was decided that from the waste products of the forest alcohol from in this way contains six carbon ces for the technology, and the firm recently Forskarpatent should buy out approximately industry and agriculture has been develo- atoms in the molecule, but there is also sugar signed a memorandum of understanding with 70 per cent of Taurus. Then they changed the ped by a company in Lund. that has five carbon atoms in the molecule,” an Indian company. “The company is involved name of the company and its business switched he says. “Until now it has not been possible to in producing agricultural fertilisers, but there from petroleum development to ethanol.” Taurus Energy was until earlier this year focu- ferment this kind of sugar into ethanol, but are many other types of company that are The researchers, who today own about 30 sed on prospecting for oil under another name. this is what our 12 patents are able do. They looking at this as a new potential business per cent of Taurus Energy, have been retained But in a sign of the times, it has switched from can produce alcohol based on carbon five area for them,” says Welin. “It is not only by the company to give technical support as it fossil fuels to the development of biofuels. atoms in the sugar molecule. This is those involved today in gasoline pro- works on the process of introducing the tech- The environmental benefits of ethanol have brand new.” duction.” nology on to the market. Their patents con- been called into question recently, with reports The first generation of ethanol, av- Taurus Petroleum has its roots in cern modifications made to regular bakery yeast pointing out that the large-scale growing of ailable as E85 fuel today, is produced Lund-based Forskarpatent, which aims used in the fermentation process. the plants from which it is produced will drive mainly from maize and sugar cane to support researchers with the com- deforestation, push small farmers off the land where only use the starch and the mercialisation of their patents. Proven technology and lead to food shortages. sugar is used. “So you use the fruits,” Forskarpatent has over the last five Taurus Energy has proven its technology in But Taurus Energy’s technology for making says Welin. “With today’s technolo- or six years collected together 12 laboratory scale in Lund and the next step will second-generation ethanol avoids these pro- gy you cannot make ethanol from the different patents around the pro- be to prove it in a pilot plant. Welin estimates blems as it uses the leftovers of other indus- stem, from the leaves and so on. In the duction of ethanol filed by a num- that full-scale production could start in three trial processes as its raw material. existing process these are waste pro- ber of leading professors working to five years. “We don’t use resources that would other- ducts which today are either burned independently at different univer- “We already have some very interested wise be used to support humans in some way, or turned into animal feed, but we can sities around the world. “When potential customers who are ready to purchase only waste products,” says Lars Welin, Taurus use them to make ethanol with this Forskarpatents had assembled these the technology as it is today, but for us it is Energy’s managing director. “We turn this new technology. And this can also be 12 patents they were considering more profitable if we can run it successfully in waste into profits.” done all over the world with cellulose how they could put them on the a pilot plant, and then the technology will be Welin explains that ethanol has traditio- from trees. From the whole tree we can market in the best way,” says much more valuable.” nally been made by heating a mixture of sugar, produce ethanol.” Welin. 22 NO 2 2007 ENVIRONMENT/ CLEANTECH SwedenToday A bridge of sustainability between academia and society • The International Institute for Industrial Environmental Economics (IIIEE) is engaged Åke Thidell says that over the years, IIIEE lyst or an interpreter of academic knowledge in multidisciplinary research activities with the aim of furthering systems of production has dealt with analyses of how individual enter- into those projects,” says Kisch. Taking the and consumption that support sustainable development. It is part of Lund University prises relate to their environmental issues. “The Högestad project as an example, he says the – the largest institution of research and higher education in Sweden – and its watch- aim has always been to provide guidance to estate’s owner’s chief interest is the future of words are “prevention is better than cure”. preventative strategies for the enterprises’ indi- agriculture. “If he goes to the university and vidual environmental works, considering lowest asks about pine tree forest management, for possible negative impact from the activities.” example, the problem is that he gets a very says that when it comes Krister Wiberg says that Carl Piper, who specific answer. But initially he doesn’t need a to climate change, there is featured in one of the following articles, is specific answer; he needs a more holistic and is no doubt that univer- an extraordinarily good example of someone generic strategy of which direction he should sities have a responsibili- who wants to contribute solutions to the com- be going, and then you can hook in the diffe- ty – and at the same time mon and impending environmental challenge rent detail ideas. In that sense the group act as a great opportunity – to of climate change. “He is opening up for an a partner and a catalyst for moving knowled- support society in its interesting development of knowledge at the ge from research to companies or society in efforts to establish long- same time as he is – with characteristic bravery general.” term “survival” plans. – cross-pollinating ideas.” “But the level of success Fundamental shift is also a question of how Interpreting research Kisch says there is underway today a funda- to organize a multidisci- While Sweden’s universities – and indeed those mental shift in the way research is done. “We plinary approach.” elsewhere – are awash with creative thinking are moving from the old days in which uni- A group of experts in the area of sustainable development, getting versities were studying the world and then deli- has been assembled from that knowledge out to society to be applied for vering the truth because knowledge and rese- IIIEE, DeLabs, Respect the benefit of all remains a problem. DeLabs, arch are now accessible to all. So the research Europe and KW Archi- in Landskrona, is a spin-off from IIIEE which and innovation process is changing itself,” says tects. “We are acting as acts an interpreter between these two worlds Kisch. pioneers, getting know- and so facilitates the spreading of that know- “There is no way you can drive develop- ledge and experiences – ledge. ment with the old way of thinking. When you Assembled experts: back row, Peter Kisch and Åke Thidell hopefully useful – for a “There is a large chunk of knowledge that talk about acceptance of new solutions, then Front row, Krister Wiberg, Carl Foung, new kind of relevant rese- never goes beyond academia’s walls,” says Peter you need to interact more with society. Faced Per-Uno Alm, and Lars Hansson arch and education, Kisch, DeLab’s director. “The other side of the with the twin challenges of the rapid deve- which will be needed and coin is the fact that society – or more impor- lopment in society and the growing threat of Thomas B. Johansson, director of IIIEE, says: requested in future,” says Foung. “We proba- tantly the companies – only ask for things they climate change, universities should focus on “The institute works on environmental pro- bly also will open up for new kinds of exciting know, along the same lines of thinking. So finding mechanisms or organisational setups tection in the context of sustainable develop- relations between the university and different these are two worlds that do not really match. to allow for the movement of knowledge to ment, and we do this through education and actors in the society.” Our idea is to bridge this dysfunctional situ- society. research with a more intensive interaction with Lars Hansson says that socioeconomic ana- ation between academia and society, with a par- “The traditional way for a university to society than the university at large. In the arti- lyses of environmental impacts have become ticular focus on sustainable development. Our work and think is to be independent and say cles that follow are some examples of local inter- very important, both when it comes to assess- prime focus is the fact that the turnover rate that nobody should interfere with what we are action that we are engaged in towards the objec- ment of environmental policies with support of knowledge is too low. We want to make doing,” says Kisch. “But I don’t think that is tive of sustainable development. This enriches of cost benefit analysis, and in the implemen- things happen!” a very good way of moving ahead. Universities the work at the institute, makes adapted rese- tation of market-based instruments such as Other projects DeLabs has been involved no longer have a monopoly on knowledge and arch information available to partners, and green taxes. “This is especially relevant in trans- in cover areas from innovative marketing of research, so if they don’t get accustomed to the helps increasing the penetration of new ideas port and energy-related projects, but also more high-quality organic food to dental appli- new world of abundant knowledge and rese- in society.” and more when it comes to ecosystem services cations for a tree resin to environmentally- arch, then they are going to have problems. It Project Coordinator at IIIEE Carl Foung in general,” he says. friendly windows. “Our role is to act as a cata- is a question of survival for all parties.” Report guides port growth

• The seaside town of Ystad, on the south- Börjesson says that an expanded port berths with two longer ones, the inner break- que in its long-sighted approach to the rede- ern tip Sweden, has long been an impor- would make it an attractive destination for water will be removed and the outer one added velopment of a Swedish port, was has been used tant connection point with the Continent other ferry operators. “Other owners in the to. In total 1m cubic metres will be dredged in the port’s application to Sweden’s across the Baltic Sea. Now Poland’s acces- Baltic are showing an interest in us so we have from the port to allow for bigger vessels. Environmental Court and in its application for sion to the EU has opened up new trade to plan for that.” EU funding through Motorways of the Sea. and tourism opportunities in both direc- An expansion of the port is also needed to Uniquely long-sighted The expansion of the Port of Ystad has at tions, and the municipality of Ystad – best enable it to take the next generation of ferri- Such a large redevelopment brings with it a times been a sensitive issue in the town, but known abroad as the setting for the best- es. “Traffic has increased considerably in recent number of environmental considerations Börjesson says he hopes the report has gone selling Wallander crime novels – is keen years and the port is too narrow for the ves- which IIIEE’s report examined, such as some way to alleviating people’s concerns. to capitalise on them. sels,” says Börjesson. “We have a maximum moving port operations to the far side of the “There are a lot of feelings involved in this sub- length today of 170m and the next generation port and away from residential areas of the ject. It is a tough mission to convince people The town’s port, through which timber and of ferries will be 207m. The draught is also town, and reducing noise and emissions from that things are not as bad as they think they wood products head south, and steel, chemi- not enough – we have a depth of 7.20m gua- the port. This could be achieved by allowing are, so this is why we need a report such as this. cals and Ikea furniture come north, is set for a ranteed and it allows us 6.50 maximum, and ferries to connect up to mains electricity and [The report’s authors] were out in the town major expansion to allow for what port offici- they are close to that today.” The expansion of therefore turn off their engines while in port. meeting people, doing interviews and at public als hope will be a doubling of traffic. the port will replace the existing three shorter ferry The report, which is believed to be uni- meetings they stood up and give their profes- As part of the planning process, the Port sional view on these questions. of Ystad turned to IIIEE to assess what chal- Officials at the Port of Ystad are hoping to double its traffic “This was the first step in lenges and opportunities the expansion would our cooperation with the insti- create, as well as its effect on the environment tute but I am sure we can cont- and the local community. “We wanted to get inue it.” a neutral view of these connections between At present the port is the environment, the economy, port handling somewhat disconnected from and so on,” says Lars Börjesson, MD of Ystad the rest of the town and there

Hamn Logistik, which runs the port. YSTAD HAMN LOGISTIK AB is nothing there to attract casu-

Deputy MD and financial manager Johan : © al visitors to the area. But the

Lundqvist, says the report looks at the macro- PHOTO report also addressed how the economic impact of the port. “What they have port area can be redeveloped to done is they have tried to calculate what the make it a part of the town. “The financial aspects of the environmental impact report had some good solutions are.” about how this could be done Ystad port handles 1.8m ferry passengers and how the town could bene- each year, of which 1.3m pass through on the fit from the port even more way from the Danish island of Bornholm to than it does today,” says Copenhagen. The other half million are tra- Lundqvist. Börjesson adds: “A velling between Ystad and Swinoujscie in key question was ‘is Ystad a Poland. The latter is the source of the bulk of port town or a town with a Ystad port’s freight, with around 2.5m tons port?’ We would like it to be a passing through the port each year. port city.” NO 2 2007 23 SwedenToday ENVIRONMENT/ CLEANTECH Power to A 150-year the people perspective

• For many company bosses, thinking is why the input from IIIEE has been so appre- long-term means thinking ahead to Q1 ciated. “For many big companies their way next year. Carl Piper works on an alto- of looking at time is from Q1 to Q2. Then you gether different scale: about 150 years. have the politicians, and they think in terms of four years until the next election. But when Piper is Skåne’s largest private landowner and we plant beech trees today it will take about the recipient of awards for his work with sus- 150 years before they are ready to cut.” tainability on the Högestad and Christine- The estate has a ten-year rotation plan for hof estate which has been in his family for 13 its 7,000 hectares of forest. A decision was generations. The aim of his stewardship of taken in 1993 to replace the softwood speci- the 13,000 hectare estate, which is roughly es with hardwood. At the time the forest was half agricultural land and half forest, is to about 70 per cent softwood, and the plan is minimise the negative environmental impact to change that to 70 per cent hardwood over on the land while increasing the positive. the coming decades. “There is no future for Steps include extensive planting of decidu- softwood in this part of Sweden,” says Piper. ous trees, organic farming methods, and ope- “We are already south of the southern limit ning up the land for recreation and cultural for where it grows naturally, and with the cur- activities. IIIEE has become involved to help rent rate of climate change this limit will guide Piper as he plans for the next century move further north. There is no reason to put and beyond. something in the earth that the earth does The estate was founded in 1747. One not want to have.” Christina Piper – the current owner’s great- Growing crops for biofuels is a possibility great grandmother – started a mining busi- for the estate, although no decisions have been ness around the alum found in the area. It was made. Houses on the estate are already heat- FOREST AND KIM STARR : the only known source in northern Europe at ed by a small-scale district heating system

PHOTO Lund Energikoncernens´s planned biofuel powerplant that time and she became very rich. Under that burns bales of straw, and they are inve- (below) could be fuelled by hemp and elephant grass the fideikommiss (estate in tail) system, she stigating a renewable alternative to diesel for received the estate against a pledge to pass it the vehicles – either ethanol or biodiesel. • As an energy provider, Lunds Energikon- and a number of Swedish TV programmes have to the next generation in the same or better Currently 20 per cent of the agricultural cernen has to take account of the demands really brought up the focus on climate issues condition. The system was abolished in the output is organic – a proportion Piper would of both its customers and its owners on in the company.” 1960s and the land is today owned by a com- like to increase. “But it is not that easy because issues of price and environmental impact. Lunds Energikoncernen is the fifth-biggest pany of which Carl Piper is managing director. the whole farming system is adapted to the But because it is municipally owned, it does energy company in Sweden in terms of infra- “Creating this back in 1747 was a kind chemical farming way,” he says, pointing out not have to focus as hard on the bottom structure and has 163,000 customers through- of sustainability, although maybe not in the that there are no mills or bakeries in the area line as some of its competitors, and so is out southern Sweden. Owned by Lund, Lomma, way we look at it today,” says Piper, who as for the organic grain they have grown pre- able to think and act a bit more long term. Eslöv and Hörby municipalities, it has been a member of the nobility has a title, but refu- viously. ISO 14001 certified for a number of years, but ses to use it. “It was sustainability in the way Experts from IIIEE are putting the final “If you are a privately-held energy company has never used an environmental commitment it was passed from one generation to the next. touches to a report on the long-term possi- then you are just in it for the money, but I guess in its sales pitch. The other way of looking at sustainability is bilities for the estate. “What IIIEE has done one of the benefits of a municipality having an “That is what we want to do now, to focus related to how fast we see the climate is chang- is to give us knowledge, and the possibility energy company in its portfolio is that it should on being a sustainable and environmentally- ing and what that means for our way of doing to get more knowledge,” says Piper. “We have be able to use it in the community’s best inter- friendly supplier of energy services,” says business. It scares me. For my children I am asked them to look into the future and try to ests,” says Magnus Thysell, Lunds Energi- Thysell. “I think where we will definitely find a not too afraid, but for my grandchildren I am understand what the world will be like in 50 koncernen’s head of business development. benefit is in the trademark. Just be able to create very afraid. I don’t think we realise how great years and 100 years and how can we adapt to Those best interests include reducing the an environmentally-friendly profile will create the changes are that we have to make to our that. Not only the physical changes, but also impact of Lund Energikoncernen’s operations value, because we have seen in the last couple way of living to cope with this.” related to how our minds will change and on the environment, both on the local and the of months that customers are looking for energy what it is that makes our minds change. global scale. The company already sources 63 per suppliers who are climate neutral.” Looking into the future “So IIIEE is one of our most important Piper says that taking a long-term perspective partners when we try to look into the future. Local knowledge on the running of the estate is crucial, which But also for me personally. I dropped out of Thysell says that while environmental Lund University some 45 years ago, and now I STOCKHOLM , expertise was top of their list when they am back.” approached IIIEE, the fact that the inter- TENGBOM : nationally-renowned environmental insti- tute was in their backyard was a bonus.

ILLUSTRATION “Basically we were after knowledge, but Carl Piper and his son Fredric: obviously it is a huge advantage that they ‘IIIEE has given us knowledge’ are here in Lund. We are in southern Sweden so we could be working with a university in Göteborg or Växjö or elsew- here. But with everything else that is hap- pening here in Lund – the possibility of getting ESS here, a huge drive for wind cent of the fuel it uses to generate energy from power – it seems like there are so many diffe- renewable sources, with just 14 per cent from rent jigsaw pieces that fit together.” fossil fuels, and has managed to reduce CO2 The local aspect should also help with cre- emissions by over 100,000 tons. But it wanted a ating contacts with other actors. “What IIIEE more long-term environmental strategy, and so will help us with is to create opportunities turned to IIIEE. “This is obviously a very broad for us to meet companies or private inves- topic, and IIIEE help us find out what we as a tors or entrepreneurs here in our geo- municipal energy company should be focusing graphic area, and that will be more dyna- on,” says Thysell. “To be honest I was not sure mic for us.” what they could do for us, but after we met it Thysell says that with consolidation was clear that they had done this before. We are in the Swedish energy industry contin- a Swedish company with a focus on southern uing, one of Lunds Energikoncernen’s Sweden, but feel secure that we have a partner main strategic goals is to grow. that has their hands on the whole picture.” Renewable fuels will play a key part in that growth: the company is planning a Brand benefits new 155MW biofuel-burning combined Thysell says there are both ideological and pure- heat and power plant, and the possibility ly business reasons behind taking a more long- of buying forests or buying farms to grow term view of operations. “Obviously we would biofuels has been discussed. Thysell thinks like to make some money out of it, but had we that linking up with other municipally- been a company listed on the stock exchange owned power companies in Sweden will also or privately held, I think the middle-term focus be necessary long-term. “We think that for would have been so much greater. But I would our customers we are a better alternative than be lying if I said that everything that has hap- a foreign-owned company. What we would STEVEN QUIGLY pened recently has not had a big impact on like to see is that municipalities around : what both we think and what our customers Sweden combine their forces on windparks, PHOTO think. The Stern Review, the Al Gore movie, biofuels and biogas projects.” 24 NO 2 2007 ENVIRONMENT/ CLEANTECH SwedenToday

“There is a long history of biogas production, large-scale production is growing substantial- ly, and this growth will continue globally as New technology boosts biogas becomes a step on the road towards a hydrogen-based society. What we are doing is simply optimising an existing process.” Cook says that other knowledge-based optimisation techniques will be integrated into the product. biogas profitability Bioprocess Control and its application have received much coverage in the trade press, which has in turn led to widespread interest • An award-winning technology from a other products,” says Cook. “We are merging of time, at the same time as you get increased from the biogas industry. “It is something of new Lund company promises to increase two different areas: an understanding of bio- stability.” a unique position when potential customers the profitability of biogas plants. Biogas technology and biogas and industrial auto- Biogas Optimizer will not be an off-the- actually call you, and now it is about capita- Optimizer will also add an element of sta- mation.” shelf solution; rather it is 90 per cent complete lising on that position,” says Cook. bility and reliability into the currently unsta- Dr Liu, who is today head of R&D at Bio- with the remaining ten per cent specially adap- The company was formed last year, and at ble biogas production process. process Control, was recently selected to lead ted to each site. the moment product development and busi- the biogas research group at the newly-formed “The good thing about our system is the ness development are developing in tandem. Biogas Optimizer has been developed by Bio- Chinese Academy of Science Qingdao Research digestion technology works today – it is not “We are certainly not going to wait for the process Control, which was on the list of 30 Institute for Bioenergy and Bioprocess like we are introducing a whole new way of perfect product to be developed,” says Cook. exciting Swedish companies which the US Technology. “This will allow us to gain access generating renewable energy,” says Cook. “We are testing the product on a pilot scale ambassador to Sweden presented to US ven- to an exciting pipeline of new innovations as basis, and from that we will go on to a num- ture capitalists earlier this year. The applica- well,” says Cook. ber of early adopters next year. Then we will tion was named the year’s top cleantech inno- increase sales activities in parallel with our vation at a recent Swedish innovation compe- Better knowledge, better management development activities.” tition. Now the company behind it is seeking Biogas plants are typically built in an over- Bioprocess Control aims to partner with both financial backers and partners in the bio- dimensioned fashion – that is, the reactors are Kristofer Cook project managers at biogas sites, distributors gas industry to help bring the technology on much bigger than the actual capacity utilised. and Jing Liu: of biogas related technologies and other orga- to the rapidly-growing market. This means systems are operated way below award-winning nisations with an interest in the “We bring to the market a way to both their maximum capacity, and thus there is innovation biogas industry. “We are a increase the stability of the process and acce- scope to increase gas production. niche player and I think lerate the production of gas,” says Bioprocess “What our technology does is measure dif- we fit nicely into the Control’s managing director, Kristofer Cook. ferent parameters in the environment,” says value chain,” says “For some of those who invest in biogas pro- Cook. “With this information we control how Cook. duction the profitability is quite low, so our much substrate gets pumped in and when. ambition is to increase the profitability by get- Better knowledge of what information exists ting more biogas out of a production facility.” allows for better management of the sys- Cook says that increases in gas production of tem.” the order of ten percent are possible with the The basic principle is much the technology, although considerably greater same as with a turbocharger in a car. increases can be achieved. “With a turbocharger you intro- The technology was one of a number being duce more gasoline to the motor developed at Lund University by Jing Liu, who and get more energy out of the is one of the leading researchers in the field. engine. In our case you intro- “We decided that this application was the one duce more substrate into the that had the greatest likelihood of being a suc- reactor and get more biogas cessful first product from a portfolio of many out over the same amount NO 2 2007 25 SwedenToday ENVIRONMENT/ CLEANTECH SE . SWEDEN . IMAGEBANK .

WWW Water treatment expert / BO LIND

Environmental :

PHOTO wins Stockholm prize objectives get • A pioneer in the development of the Exemplary model understanding of biological and chemical Meanwhile, the Stockholm Industry Water business backing processes for the safe supply and treat- Award for 2007 goes to PUB Singapore, for its ment of water has been named the win- holistic approach to water resource manage- ner of the 2007 Stockholm Water Prize. ment. PUB, which is the national water agency for Singapore, charged with waste- and storm- The work of Professor Perry L. McCarty, from water management in the city state, will receive Stanford University, California, has led to more the award for its work making water use sus- efficient biological treatment processes, in par- tainable for different sectors of society in a uni- ticular anaerobic (oxygen-less) treatment sys- que and challenging urban island environment. tems for municipal and industrial wastewaters, The development and implementation of the biological nutrient removal, and the develop- complete management system is ongoing but ment and use of biofilm reactors. has taken place over a period of about 40 years. In its citation, the nominating committee PUB’s approach has resulted in a lower said: “He has established the role of funda- dependence on external water sources by diver- mental microbiology and chemistry in the design sification of water sources, including water re-use, of bioreactors. Professor McCarty has defined desalination, storm-water storage in new water the field of environmental biotechnology that is storages and supply of very high quality recycled the basis for small-scale and large-scale pollu- water to industry with some internal reuse of tion control and safe drinking water systems.” this supply. The Stockholm Water Prize is a global award “PUB has succeeded in combining all the com- founded in 1990 which is presented annually plex components of a well-functioning water by the Stockholm Water Foundation to an indi- management system that has been accepted vidual, organization or institution for out- by the general public, business and industry,” standing water-related activities. The activities says Lars Gunnarsson, chairman of the Award can be within fields like education and awa- Committee. “The PUB story would fit well as a reness-raising, human and international rela- study example in the education of water mana- tions, research, water management and water- gers. This is an exemplary model of integra- related aid. ted water management in a framework of good Prof McCarty will receive the award from policy and innovative engineering solutions.” Sweden’s King Carl Gustav at a ceremony in The Stockholm Industry Water Award is an A balanced marine environment is one of the objectives Stockholm during World Water Week in honorary award that recognises innovative cor- August. porate development of water and wastewater • If Sweden is to achieve its highly ambitious Environmental Quality Objectives (EQOs) Prof McCarty’s work combines knowled- process technologies, contributions to environ- the engagement of the business community is needed. So the involvement of Svenskt ge in physical, chemical, biological and micro- mental improvement through improved per- Näringsliv (the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise) in the next in-depth EQO report biological processes which are then transfer- formance in production processes, new pro- to the government has been welcomed as a positive step. red into technical development widely used ducts and other significant contributions by all over the world as the basis for design and businesses and industries that help improve the “Swedish enterprises are a key player in order there is a need to give a picture of the socio- operation of wastewater treatment systems. world water situation. It was established in for us to reach the objectives,” says Robert Andrén, economic consequences of not bringing in such His other important contribution was the iden- 2000 by the Stockholm Water Foundation in head of secretariat at the Environmental a ban; what would that mean for bad air quali- tity of mechanisms for biodegradation and the collaboration with the Royal Swedish Academy Objectives Council, which was set up to pro- ty and what would that then cost society in fate of hazardous and anthropogenic trace che- of Engineering Sciences and the World mote consultation and cooperation in imple- the number of deaths and costs for healthcare? micals, as well as appropriate engineering for Business Council for Sustainable Development. menting the EQOs. “That the private sector It is not just the costs of action, but also of water quality improvement of ground- and This year’s World Water Week features and Svenskt Näringsliv are more positively inaction.” surface water and soils. about 40 seminars and nine workshops at the into having a discussion, having a dialogue So now all authorities, both at the regio- An educator and researcher at Stanford Stockholm City Conference Centre between and contributing is something I perceive as nal and national level, and private organisa- since 1962, Prof McCarty is a member of the 12 and 18 August. The theme of this year’s very, very positive.” tions and enterprises that contribute to the National Academy of Engineering and an conference is “Progress and Prospects on Water: The EQOs were adopted by Swedish par- report, should take consequences into consi- Honorary member of the American Water Striving for Sustainability in a Changing liament in 1999 with the aim of handing over deration. “If you propose a new tool or a new Works Association and the Water Environment World.” One whole day of the event will be to the next generation a society where the main measure, you need to give us a good picture Federation, and a Fellow of the American given over to the challenges associated with environmental problems have been solved. The of the socioeconomic consequences,” says Association for the Advancement of Science, water and climate change. Other topics will 16 objectives include reduced climate impact, Andrén. the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, include balancing water for food and ecosys- clean air, a non-toxic environment, a balanced and the American Academy of Microbiology. tems, and water supply and sanitation. marine environment, thriving wetlands and Growing awareness sustainable forests. To reach these goals, set for Until now, coloured smiley faces have been the year 2020, public agencies, organisations, used in the reports to show the progress made enterprises and individuals in Sweden are all towards the objectives. In next year’s report, Singapore’s national water agency won expected to devote more effort to environ- arrows will also be used to show the trend for the Stockholm Industry Water Award mental issues and sustainable development. each objective: that things are moving in the Interim targets have also been set. right direction, even if the target will not be reached, for example, or vice versa. Costs of inaction “What we have realised is that the closer The Environmental Objectives Council is in we are getting towards 2020, the more red the process of compiling one of its four-year- faces we will probably have,” says Andrén. “It ly in-depth evaluations to the government is not easy to reach these objectives – they are which will examine not only what progress has very ambitious – but by using the arrows we been made towards achieving the objectives, will show the trends behind the objectives.” but also proposing new tools and policies to Andrén says that despite the fact that all make them achievable. of the objectives have earned either a red face The Confederation of Swedish Enterprise’s (unlikely to be achieved) or yellow face (could contribution to the next report will include be achieved if considerable effort is made), the an analysis of to what extend SMEs have incor- trends behind most of the objectives are loo- porated the objectives into their operations, king positive. another looking at how larger corporations Also positive is the growing awareness of have taken them into consideration, while a environmental issues, says Andrén. “What we third examines views on the EQO from with- are seeing is an increased focus on environ- in the private sector. mental problems; people are more conscious Award for Växjö Also new to the next report, due to be deli- now. That has followed from having climate The City of Växjo in southern Sweden won the award “Sustainable Energy for Europe Award” vered to the government next year, will be an change on the political agenda and in the media 2007 during the European Sustainable Energy Week this spring. Former mayor Carl-Olof analysis of the potential consequences of mea- more. What we see today is that more and Bengtsson and environment officer Henrik Johansson received the award at a ceremony Brussels. sures taken to protect and improve the envi- more actors in society, among private enter- The city’s overall work with climate change was recognised as their reason for receiving ronment. prises, organisations of various kinds, are beco- the number one award, with major factors including political consensus and its good co-ope- “If there is a ban on, for example, using ming involved. ration with several actors. In 1996 the politicians of the City of Vaxjo, Sweden, took a una- fossil fuels in agriculture, then that will have “Also today we have four out of five local nimous decision to become a fossil free city and initiated the Fossil Fuel Free Vaxjo programme a bearing – a cost – on the agricultural sector,” municipalities with local environmental objec- to reduce human impact on global climate change. Now, more than 50 per cent of energy says Andrén. “We need to look at how big that tives based on our national ones, or about to comes from renewables, and in the heating sector, nearly all energy comes from biomass. cost is and what kind of effect that will have finalise them. That, together with the fact that The changes have resulted in a 24 percent per person reduction of carbon dioxide emis- on other political objectives like having a living all 21 county administration boards now have sions between 1993 and 2005 and they are on track to achieve 50 per cent reduction by their rural environment. On the other hand, and their own regional objectives, shows that the 2010 goal. this is very important, we have also said that awareness is growing.” ENVIRONMENT/ CLEANTECH 26 NO 2 2007 SwedenToday ABB will Promoting warm 1m clean Chinese electrical power ABB has completed the delivery of one of China’s largest district heating projects, bringing clean and energy-efficient heat to one million people and eliminating green- house gas emissions of more than 500,000 BERNE LUNDKVIST tons a year. :

The combined heat and power system PHOTO brings clean, efficient and optimal heat to one million residents in the Daoli district of Harbin in northeast China. Harbin has one of the coldest, harshest climates in China, with temperatures constantly below zero for six months of the year. The new district heating system ensu- res Daoli residents enjoy indoor tempera- tures of at least 18°C and a cleaner heal- thier outdoor environment made possible by the removal of more than 2,000 coal- • Working under the association name of Vattenfall, Bombardier Transportation and Another two billion have extremely limited burning boilers that consumed 300,000 Power Circle, a cluster of central Sweden’s Svenska Kraftnät. Offshoots from these big supplies of electricity. tons of coal a year. top electrical firms and organisations are companies have grown and are now also joi- “We’re in the lucky third of the world that The replacement of coal-fired boilers promoting the future of this clean and vital ning Power Circle. has lots of electricity to provide the power tha- with energy-efficient ABB technology technology. Defining the need for Power Circle, CEO/ t’s needed by our modern societies. There is an brings an immense reduction in annual Chairman Stig Goethe says, “Some people these enormous world market, and this benefits from emissions of greenhouse gases, adding up Following closely behind the Swedish forest, days believe that electricity is a dirty word, Sweden‘s advanced position in electrical power to more than 500,000 tons of carbon diox- steel and chemical industries, annual exports but nothing could be further technology. The demand of el- ide (CO2), 2,200 tons of sulfur dioxide from the country’s electrical power manufac- from the truth. In fact, elec- ectricity creates enormous (SO2), 11,000 tons of dust and 7,500 tons turers and suppliers reach about €5.5bn and trical power is clean from an potential in the foreign mar- of soot. account for 100,000 jobs, of which 45,000 are environmental standpoint. ket. Exporting electrical power in their own territory covering Mälaren Valley, The particular means of technology is easier for Sweden Autonomic adjustment the broad area around and east of the capital. generating electrical power to accomplish than exporting The solution pumps hot water from a power As a collective mission to promote and fur- is what can cause environ- activities because there is less plant through underground pipes to heat ther enhance the position of the Swedish elec- mental problems.” international competition in exchangers which heat up water in the tric power industry, Power Circle contributes Furthermore, he contends this field,” says Goethe. secondary distribution network and feed it to its competitiveness, provides effective repre- that that there is no such Power Circle is a lobbying into consumer radiator systems. The tem- sentation for the industry in public affairs, and thing as electrical “energy“. organisation. “We keep politi- perature and flow velocity of the water promotes the role of electric power in the Instead, electricity is the cians informed. We speak with adjusts automatically according to indoor advancement of society. flow of electrons transferred the public. We hold speeches heat consumption and outdoor temperature. Established in 2005, Power Circle represents by electrical power techno- Stig Goethe: and lectures, and we publish ABB’s scope of supply is far-reaching one of world’s largest electric power clusters. logy to another geographi- foreign potential the results of an amount of rese- and ranges from pre-insulated pipes and Members of Power Circle are at the forefront cal point that collectively arch that we conduct that de- heat exchangers to several hundred energy- in electrical power R&D, education, manu- constitute electricity – and this push can be scribes this field and its importance,” says Goethe. efficient variable frequency drives, an advan- facturing, construction, generation, transmis- generated using fuels including wind, water, Serving as an industry trademark, Power ced SCADA network management system, sion, distribution and consumption. Power oil, light, atomic fission, and so on. Once this Circle disseminates information to the govern- as well as project management and opera- Circle and its members have cooperating con- electrical force arrives at its end user, it deli- ment, the public, and to the EU about the sig- tor training. nections in the EU and internationally. vers heat, motion, etc. Its use is so widespre- nificance of electrical power technology. The €100 million installation is included ad that electricity itself has become irreplace- Another purpose entails being a link that strives in the Clean Development Mechanism Big firms and offshoots able. Therefore, electrical power production to obtain sanctions to continue investment and (CDM) contract between Denmark and For integrating resources and collaborating on technology is indispensable, too. expansion in the areas of electrical power tech- China. Denmark has agreed to buy the CO2 solutions, Power Circle unites companies, rese- nology. reductions achieved by the installation for arch centres, laboratories and universities. The Three-way electrical pie Education and research are also important the next ten years in order to meet its green- association is hosted by the Royal Swedish Nearly all countries need more electricity and focal areas for Power Circle. At centres and house gas emission reduction targets. The Academy of Engineering Sciences, and spon- electrical power systems. Two billion people universities in Ludvika, Västerås, Uppsala and market price for CO2 is currently €8 per ton. sored by some 23 members including ABB, in the world have no electrical power at all. Stockholm, world leading R&D in electric power generating, electric power storage, high voltage transmission, control systems, auto- mation, operation, using IT in electric power systems, maintenance of electric power sys- tems and electric engines for the industry and heavy vehicles is conducted.

Hybrid passenger cars “ %COEX¬WILL¬HELP¬YOU¬lND¬THE¬EXPERTISE¬ “We are also active in bringing investments to this field. For instance, Power Circle encoura- ged R&D and utilisation of superconductors AND¬TECHNOLOGY¬YOU¬NEED¬TO¬REACH¬YOUR¬ in motors and brakes for railway trains. This technology continues to be developed for potential energy saving use in hybrid fuel pas- ENVIRONMENTAL¬GOALS” senger cars,” says Goethe. This illustrates Power Circle’s work to illu- minate the fact that electrical power techno- logy is a field with powerful growth potenti- al. Looking forward, Goethe is convinced that discovering new techniques in the future is a key to changing the world, societies, and nations. “To continue Sweden‘s leadership in elec- trical power technology, Power Circle also works toward interesting young people to enter studies of electrical power technology. Electrical efficiency as well as production are vital areas for the future that require the best 7E¬OFFER¬ACCESS¬TO¬THE¬EXCEPTIONAL¬7EST¬3WEDISH¬CONCENTRATION¬OF¬EXPERTISE¬IN¬ENVIRONMENTAL¬ young minds to solve. If we can interest a new TECHNOLOGY¬THAT¬INCLUDES¬BUSINESSES¬AND¬INDUSTRIES¬AS¬WELL¬AS¬PUBLIC¬ORGANISATIONS¬AND¬ generation in electrical power technology – RESEARCH¬INSTITUTIONS¬4HESE¬ARE¬ALL¬SUCCESSFULLY¬WORKING¬TOGETHER¬TO¬DEVELOP¬NEW¬ENVIRONMENTAL¬ instead of merely being angry because ad- TECHNOLOGY¬AND¬SYSTEM¬SOLUTIONS¬%COEX¬WILL¬BE¬HAPPY¬TO¬ASSIST¬YOU¬IN¬TAKING¬PART¬OF¬THIS¬WEALTH¬ verse conditions exist – then we have come OF¬EXPERIENCE¬AND¬KNOWLEDGE¬0ROJECT¬-ANAGEMENT¬"USINESS¬2EGION¬'ÚTEBORG¬ quite a long way toward solving the world’s WWWECOEXSE environmental problems,” says Goethe. tb NO 2 2007 27 SwedenToday ENVIRONMENT/ CLEANTECH

Pearl of a project lopment but the result is fantastic,” says Törn- Envac on its way In Qatar, Envac has been awareded a €31m con- blom. “You do away with all the trash on the tract to install an extensive waste system on streets and open up the city for other activities. The Pearl, a lavish development being built on You don’t need to have refuse trucks going 400 hectares of reclaimed land in the Persian through the city. The value to the environment to Wembley Gulf off Doha. Here Envac will handle waste is larger in these historic and attractive city from luxury homes, five-star hotels, marinas centres than the new urban developments.” • A string of large and prestigious interna- no cockroaches and no rats. Törnblom says there and top-end retail facilities. Envac has won its first contract in the US, in tional orders has earned Envac a place as are also social benefits of such a system. “We Last month the Stockholm-based compa- Indiana, which it regards as its pilot installation one of Sweden’s most successful envi- try to design these waste receptacles as a mee- ny announced a €20.6m contract for a mainly on that market. “We are not really exploring ronmental technology companies. ting point for residents. In these types of deve- residential area covering 9.5m sq metres north the US at the moment,” says Törnblom. “We lopments you often have both social housing of Seoul, Korea. Four parallel underground have been planning on using Canada as our The automated waste collection system manu- and very expensive housing and it can be very waste handling systems will handle waste from entry into the US because of the greater simi- facturer has in recent months won its first UK difficult for the two to meet. The central loca- over 46,000 households. The customer, the larity of norms, rules and customers to Europe.” contract – for the urban development around the new Wembley Stadium – and its largest Curiosity and scepticism order to date at the multi-billion-euro Pearl Despite its runaway success, and the fact Qatar luxury island. that Envac has delivered over 600 systems “The technology is making inroads every- since the 1960s, Törnblom says there is where and there is more interest than we have always some initial hesitance among cus- ever seen before,” says director of marketing tomers when Envac enters a new market. and communications Jonas Törnblom. “It is “There is a lot of curiosity but they are looking very good for us.” still often sceptical about whether it could Envac’s vacuum-powered underground really work. Waste handling has not been automated waste collection systems have now a prioritised issue on the urban develop- been installed in 30 countries, giving the com- ment agenda. It has been neglected com- pany a 70-plus per cent global market share. pared with the rest of the urban infra- The Stena-owned company’s turnover of €92m structure – sewage and water and so on last year – its highest ever – was an increase of – which is all part of a grid today. nine per cent over 2005. “Most cities collect waste in much the Envac’s Wembley project, will involve the same way as we did in the Middle Ages; collection of around ten tons of waste per day they drive around and pick it up house from households, retail, and office premises by house. When we talk to developers it when fully built out. There will be separate is sometimes difficult for them to really receptacles for recyclable, non-recyclable, and London Calling: the Wembley project understand what the true costs are with food waste, either in the common areas of multi- is the latest prestigious deal for Envac waste collection in their developments.” storey buildings or in courtyards. But that is changing rapidly now, “There are considerable space savings to be tion will also improve the residents’ propensity Korea National Housing Corporation, says the especially in the UK because of the move made inside the buildings, but also labour to separate their waste.” main driver behind their order is the environ- towards sustainable urban development, high- savings,” says Törnblom. “We estimate that Törnblom says that the strong development mental improvements it will bring. lighted recently in Gordon Brown’s plans for the estate management will save ten full-time of real estate prices both in London and elsew- Besides new developments, Envac is also a series of “eco-towns” across the country. employees who would otherwise be employed here means the system becomes much more able to do retrofits of existing urban develop- “Traditional ways of building communities are collecting and handling the waste inside the lucrative for the operators because of the space ments. In Spain it has done a number of pro- questioned and they are looking to find new estate.” savings and the handling improvements. “We jects in historic city centres, including two in solutions, new technologies which improve the Another benefit of the system is hygiene; save space for the developer which can be used downtown Barcelona for 36,000 households. urban environment and the global environ- there is no risk of overflowing bins, no odours, for other types of premises.” “It is more expensive than doing a new deve- ment,” says Törnblom. Give plastic trash bags the sack

• A unique material composition develo- start sorting waste. This means that they need of the market,” says project manager David to three years ago, and commercial deliveries ped by Wermland Paper allows its WP bags and sacks as system components in the Jaretorp. started last year. Today, we’re systematically Biokraft, used in sacks and bags, to decom- disposal systems. After years of research and testing, filling orders, and there is a rapid increase of pose rapidly in nature and, thereby, com- Speciality paper producer Wermland Paper Wermland Paper has introduced a material that these, too. We supply rolls of the WP Biokraft ply with EU regulations regarding landfills. undertook developing and producing WP decomposes in less than 112 days, yet is strong paper to converters – manufacturers who pro- Biokraft in the beginning of this decade. “The enough to hold together while it contains hou- duce sacks, bags and other products in varying About half of all household waste is biodegra- EU demands better sorting and composting of sehold wastes that can contain up to 50 per sizes,” says Jaretorp. dable. Amassed in mountainous heaps in land- everyday garbage, and this has made the inven- cent moisture until it reaches its final resting The finished sacks are sold by the conver- fills, the plastic bags that contain this garba- tion of WP Biokraft especially important. place in nature. ters to waste disposal companies, communities, ge can take up to 400 years to biodegrade. The Nordic homes commonly use large paper sacks etc., who place them with businesses or house- EU prohibits bio-disposal use in landfills, which for household waste, and this gave us a good Solves a global problem holds. He adds that demand from communi- puts the pressure on regional governments to estimate of the needs, size and applications “Wermland Paper is proud to have develo- ties has been so large that sales volumes have ped a product that can deliver solid benefits doubled in a short time. Christer Simrén : ‘solid for the environment over the entire world. After benefits for the environment’ all, the environment is a global issue,” says Numerous uses Christer Simrén, MD. Printing can be added on bags according to the “One stumbling block has been the lack of needs of end users. “We foresee many different a suitable container for the biodegradable waste. areas for applications for this sort of material Many people have certainly experienced pro- where you can use biodegradable benefits to blems with leaking and smelly receptacles under offer to environmentally conscious shoppers in the kitchen sink. With bags and sacks made of groceries, boutiques, and so on,” says Jaretorp. WP Biokraft, decomposition can begin as soon “There is a large and growing demand as wastes are cast into the garbage and without among Swedish buyers, and we are convinced mess or odours.” that WP Biokraft has the potential of beco- Jaretorp points out that WP Biokraft’s bio- ming a successful export product,” adds Simrén. degrading process is faster than that of any Germany, France and the UK are target other material on the market. The material in markets for WP Biokraft. “European govern- WP Biokraft can hold water and yet resist brea- ments are adapting their waste disposal sys- king apart from interior or exterior moisture. tems much more rapidly than before. Of cour- Moreover, it contains neither plastic nor gene- se, the other overseas markets, such as Asia, tically-modified corn starch. The paper’s per- have huge problems,” says Jaretorp. formance has been certified by the Swedish Over 80 per cent of the production from National Testing and Research Institute (SPFI). Wermland Paper is exported to some 70 coun- Under proper storage conditions, without tries. Wermland Paper’s annual production humidity, the paper remains fresh and useable volume is 165,000 tonnes, and 40 per cent of for normal periods of time until the bags are this is accounted for by sack papers, which filled and set out for disposal services to gat- include the new WP Biokraft. Today with 371 her and remove. The paper is also strong enough employees, annual turnover of about €10m and to hold garden trimmings. owned by Procuritas, Wermland Paper was for- “After determining quality parameters and med in late 2003 by merging the Bäckhammar production methods in close networks with and Åmotfors mills, both established in the customers, evaluation of the paper began two 19th century. JOHAN EKLUND : PHOTO 28 NO 2 2007 ENVIRONMENT/ CLEANTECH SwedenToday Stockholm to 6ZHQWHFFUHDWHV share clean WKHPHHWLQJSODFHIRU FOHDQWHFKEXVLQHVV GHYHORSPHQW vehicle expertise

• Stockholm is a world leader when it it comes to clean vehicles. One in five new ZZZVZHQWHFVH comes to use of environmentally-friendly cars bought today in the city either runs on vehicles and fuels, and this autumn it will renewable fuels such as ethanol or biogas, is a be sharing its experiences with the world. petrol-electric hybrid or a “city car” with high fuel efficiency and low emissions. There are The Clean Vehicles and Fuels European Sym- about 30,000 of them on the streets of the city, posium and Exhibition will attract interna- as well as over 400 buses running on ethanol tional experts to the Swedish capital for an or biogas. Winner of Swedish Clean-Tech Innovation of the Year 2007 event which is the biggest of its kind in Europe. “This is unique in an international com- Bioprocess Control has the ambition of becoming a biogas production process, thus leading to “We have had a market breakthrough for parison,” says Landahl. “It has been developed global leader in the market of supervisory and signifi cant increases in biogas output. Our strength these vehicles here in Stockholm, while many over the last four years thanks to the incenti- control applications for optimising the commercial rests in our innovative products, dedicated customer other countries and other cities they are just production of biogas. The company’s prize winning service and growing global network of partners ves we have put in like reducing the tax on process optimisation application Biogas OptimizerTM working in or related to the biogas industry. Visit us at starting the work,” says Gustaf Landahl, chair- fuels, common procurements to get vehicles has the ability to both accelerate and safeguard the www.bioprocesscontrol.com. man of the event who is also responsible for on the market, and work with the fuel provi- city’s projects on clean vehicles. “It is benefi- ders to put up the filling stations.” cial for them to learn from the experiences of Attendees as the event will include people other places, because there is a lot to learn from all levels of the public sector involved about how to go about this.” with transport and environmental issues, repre- The three-day event consists of one day for sentatives of the private sector, as well as indi- Swedish buyers of fleet vehicles, with the other viduals keen to explore for themselves the www.bioprocesscontrol.com two given over to international days featuring potential and benefits of clean vehicles. seminars on a range of issues. Among the spe- Landahl says there are four reasons why akers will be the team behind the Stern Report Clean Vehicles and Fuels is both an important on the financial implications of the climate and a timely event. “Firstly, we have to have challenge for the transport sector; US Ambas- vehicles that reduce the local pollution. Cities sador Michael Wood on the business oppor- have problems meeting air quality directives tunities presented by renewable fuels; as well in Europe and elsewhere, and traffic is gro- as Swedish Minister for Enterprise and Energy wing all the time.” Maud Olofsson. Second is greenhouse gas emissions. “We “This is the only event which has a focus have to find ways to bring them down, and exclusively on clean vehicles and fuels, with traffic is the area that is most difficult,” says both an exhibit and a symposium,” says Landahl. “The number of vehicles is growing Landahl. and this is the area where the problems are the The exhibition itself will feature a wide greatest and the targets are not being met. range of products and ideas from the field of The third reason is the impending appro- clean vehicles and fuels. Exhibitors will in- ach of so-called peak oil, the date after which clude vehicle manufacturers, fuel producers oil production is predicted to go into terminal and distributors, and sustainable transport decline, and the necessity this creates for fin- companies. ding alternatives. A technical tour will include a guided visit Landahl says the fourth reason is that bio- to Stockholm Public Transport for a demon- fuels can create local jobs. “Ethanol and bio- stration of its “clean” buses, as well as a bio- gas from methane can be produced locally so gas production plant and a clean fuels filling you can create local jobs rather than just sen- station. ding your money to other parts of the world for oil.” One in five The Clean Vehicles and Fuels European Sym- Stockholm is setting an example for the rest posium and Exhibition takes place at Stock- of Europe and indeed the world to follow when holm International Fairs from November 7-9.

Green machine: Stockholm is a global role model SCA runner up SCA has been ranked number two in a compilation of the world’s most environmentally friendly companies undertaken by EIRIS (Ethical Investment Research Services), a leading provider of independent, global responsible investment research, and The Independent newspaper. Jan Åström, CEO of SCA, is very pleased about the distinction and cites in particular the overall perspective applied by the survey. “It is a great pleasure to receive this atten- tion for the breadth of our environment work”, comments Åström. “We are working con- sciously with the carbon dioxide issue, and during the past year we reduced our emis- sions by 4 per cent. But there are also many other areas in which we are making sub- stantial progress, such as waste management, water use and raw material recycling.” In its survey, EIRIS reviewed the entire fibre flow, from FSC-certified forest mana- gement to the production process and reuse of products. According to Patrik Isaksson, Director of Environmental Affairs at SCA, EIRIS inclu- de thousands of companies in its analyses. “EIRIS is one of the leading European players when it comes to socially responsible investment research, with approximately one hundred institutional investors and fund managers among its customers,” says Isaksson. NO 2 2007 29 SwedenToday ENVIRONMENT/ CLEANTECH

‘Holy Grail’ found in

• Despite being all but unpronounceable to most who come here from overseas, the northern Swedish town of Örnsköldsvik has become the Mecca of the renewa- Örnsköldsvik ble fuels industry. This industrial port town of 55,000 people, 600km north of Stockholm, is home to what is probably the most advanced cellulose ethanol plant in the world.

While ethanol powered cars are a common sight The timescale SEKAB is working to is to from 75 to 160 people in 12 months, so there most impressed by on his mission to find Ame- in a number of countries today, the shortco- have the next plant up and running by about is a lot of work to be done just building up the rican investors for Swedish renewable fuels mings of the fuel on which they run – first- 2010, to further fine-tune the process and then organisation.” He has also had to reduce to a technologies, and Carstedt says this reaction is generation ethanol distilled from sugar cane, to have full-scale production taking place by minimum the number of seminars he gives. “I a common one. “People see what we are doing, wheat or corn – are quickly becoming appa- around 2013. All the while the company will was doing that a lot when most people didn’t and they see that things are really happening.” rent. Chief among these is the fact that land continue to produce ethanol based on the cur- understand this challenge. Now they do, but The fact that SEKAB does not make too growing crops for fuel cannot grow crops for rent first-generation technology. “That is the there is another challenge now, and that is to much noise about its progress also means that food. Cellulose based ethanol, on the other plan,” says Carstedt. “To provide the fuel to make things happen.” visitors to the plant are often surprised by just hand, which can be produced from all type of the market with the existing knowledge in SEKAB is organised into four business how advanced the technology is. “We have a waste products from agriculture, forest indus- parallel with developing the new technology units. SEKAB E-Technology focuses on R&D policy of not doing press releases; we don’t brag try or even households, avoids these problems, where you can access the enormous amount of in industrial processes for cellulose-based bio- about what we do,” says Carstedt. “That is part and is being billed as the most promising alter- new feedstock that is cellulose. Hopefully these fuels in bio-refineries, while SEKAB Industrial of our nature coming from northern Sweden; native to gasoline and diesel. two can seamlessly run into one another.” Development takes care of the industrial deve- we try to do the things and then let the results The centre of all the attention is a pilot Carstedt say the global interest in renewa- lopment and future construction of cellulose- talk for themselves instead of trying to attract plant run by the SEKAB group, and it is to ble fuels combined with SEKAB’s reputation ethanol combines. “Those two are working in a lot of attention.” here that researchers, politicians and energy means that interest in the company has beco- conjunction to develop the new technology but Carstedt speaks in impassioned terms about industry executives have been flocking to watch me somewhat overwhelming. “To be honest it also seeing to what extent we can develop that man’s impact on the environment, but his fears and to learn. SEKAB is the largest bioenergy distracts us from doing the day-to-day work,” worldwide, so the technology can be used every- are balanced to some extent by the knowled- company in Scandinavia, the largest provider says Carstedt. “We have enormous interest from where,” says Carstedt. ge that he is sitting on a technology that could of biofuels to the market in northern Europe, the US, from Europe, from China. It boosts SEKAB International is a project organi- go some way to reducing that impact. “I am and a world leader in developing the second the ego but it’s not good for our focus on deve- sation for international investment in produc- very positive that we will deliver large-scale generation of ethanol from cellulose. At the loping the technology.” tion plants, and SEKAB BioFuels & Chemicals solutions with cellulose ethanol,” he says. helm is Per Carstedt, who during 15 years of The interest comes from the research com- is responsible for the provision, refinement and “However, I have been involved with this international promotion of sustainable etha- munity, from the political community – an marketing of bioethanol as fuel and chemicals, for 15 years, but I am even more worried today nol has earned himself the moniker Mr Ethanol OECD conference was recently held in Örn- and is northern Europe’s largest provider of that I was five years ago. The signals we are and who is something of a guru in renewable sköldsvik – plus from companies looking to ethanol. getting from researchers regarding the accele- energy circles. “Everyone is talking about cel- become players in the renewable fuels sector. rating climate change are just getting more lulose ethanol as the Holy Grail, but we have Carstedt himself has been trying to cut back Making an impression and more scary. And if we in parallel are run- been into this for 20 years,” he says. his own hectic schedule to focus on business. SEKAB has been singled out by US Ambassa- ning into a shortage of fossil fuels then you can The pilot plant, which was part financed In the week before speaking to Sweden Today dor Michael Wood as the company he has been bet we are heading towards chaos on this pla- by the Swedish government and the EU, was he had been in Brazil, and China the week net because the entire industrial sys- opened in 2004 and is today the workplace of before that. The next week the destination Per Carstedt: ‘results tem, including agriculture, trans- about 20 operators and ten researchers who are was Africa. speak for themselves’ portation and energy, is dependent applying cutting-edge research conducted in “I have tried to reduce it now because we on fossil fuels. Swedish and other international universities. are focusing now on getting these things to “So even if I am very optimistic “This plant has all the process steps,” says work,” he says. “The company has grown about us and others being able to Carstedt, who is also chairman of the provide solutions, I am afraid that BioAlcohol Fuel Foundation. “We are putting the world has underestimated the wood chips in one side and getting ethanol out time it takes until that really makes at the other side. We are producing ethanol, Green cars facts a large-scale difference. And unfor- but that is not the point. The point is that we 36,611 ‘green’ cars sold in Sweden 2006 tunately in that time the probability are producing new cutting-edge knowledge, (majority E85 ethanol, but also biogas and it still high that we will run into real- particularly about the industrial processes.” ly big disruptions in the global eco- hybrid-powered) nomy, because of a shortage of fossil Seamless transition fuel and the effect that climate chan- The next step will be to industrialise the pro- 156 per cent increase over 2005 ge has through hurricanes, drought cess, although full-scale commercial produc- and flooding around the world.” tion is still a number of years away. “We have Carstedt fears that if and when a lot of respect for what it takes to take this to ‘Green’ cars accounted for 13.5 per cent we enter this more disruptive mode, the industrial level,” says Carstedt. “When you of new car sales 2006 people will become more short-sigh- work with this and you get your hands dirty ted and lose focus on the end goal of you also realise what the challenges and the sustainable development reality of this are. We are ready now to build Saab 9-5 BioPower was top seller (10,941 “That scares me, but it also gives the plant that is about 50 times larger, but that sold), followed by Ford Focus Flexifuel (5,483) me more energy to work with this.” is still not full commercial scale.” dw ENVIRONMENT/ CLEANTECH 30 NO 2 2007 SwedenToday Project boosts steel’s green credentials

• Concern for the environment has long been a part of the day-to-day operations of the Swedish steel industry. But a unique four- year research project involving the industry and academia is aiming to significantly reduce environmental impact through increased recycling, reduced emissions and creating greater efficiency. The result will not only be environmental improvements, but also incre- ased competitiveness for the Swedish steel industry.

The Steel Eco-Cycle project (Stålkretsloppet), runs until next year, has won praise from foreign in the steel eco-cycle are included and so that investment level is very high both at home and which is coordinated by the Swedish Steel experts. Members of the scientific review panel there is an economic motivation within the abroad, hopes for the future are high. Our com- Producers’ Organisation (Jernkontoret), in- which recommended that the Steel Eco-Cycle industry,” says Lindblad. “The projects are panies are earning a lot of money and employ- volves researchers from leading technical uni- project get the go-ahead concluded: “The em- aimed at improved scrap handling, new mel- ing highly skilled people.” versities, research institutes as well as many of phasis on energy-efficiency in making techni- ting concepts, and environmentally-friendly Nilsson says that environmental issues have the country’s top steel firms, and has attrac- cally-advanced high-strength steels displays a construction techniques.” been increasing in importance in the industry ted interest from overseas. confidence in technical development not found Among the projects is one developing in Sweden for several decades. “One reason is The end results will be significant: a reduc- elsewhere in the world. Other industries would methods for the simultaneous preheating and the more stringent environmental legislation, tion in carbon dioxide emissions of 1m tons doubtless focus on circumventing the difficul- surface cleaning of steel scrap which has the but it is also because now it is no longer accep- per year; a reduction of energy use in the in- ties in making these technically-advanced pro- potential to increase both resource and ener- table to have a polluting plant. You can’t attract dustry of 600GWh/year; and an end product ducts, leaving environmental concerns as a gy efficiency, while improving the working new people to a business that has a bad repu- which is lighter and stronger and therefore has secondary consideration. Outstanding techni- environment in steel facilities. Another, invol- tation. And the people that are leading these knock-on effects on efficiency in for example cal ability allows the Swedish steel industry to ving researchers from across Europe as well as companies want to be out in nature with their vehicles. pioneer approaches that others will be forced Sweden focuses on improved steel scrap quali- children. So it is a genuine interest. They will Programme director Birgitta Lindblad says follow as environmental pressures accumulate ty through the use of lasers to analyse the che- not tolerate that their plant doesn’t look good. the project is the result of discussions between worldwide.” mical makeup of scrap. It should look clean, be clean, and be attracti- the steel industry, researchers, authorities and Funding for the Steel Eco-System project is “We have a lot of exciting results but they ve as a workplace. So they are working very research finance agencies: “We started thin- split between industry and Mistra, the Foun- are very preliminary at this stage,” says An- hard to improve the environmental situation.” king about the eco-cycle of steel and had a lot dation for Strategic Environmental Research. dersson. But another factor is quite simply the bot- of discussions with these other actors. We came Mistra, which contributes €4.6m, plays an Elisabeth Nilsson, president of Jernkon- tom line. “Reducing energy consumption saves to the conclusion that what is most important important part in environmental research in toret, who has been involved in the industry money,” says Nilsson. “The environment and for the future of the steel industry was the eco- Sweden by supporting projects with a long- in Sweden for over 20 years, says that the pro- costs go hand in hand, and energy is a key issue cycle: to decrease the use of virgin materials, term perspective. The main part of Mistra’s ject’s goals are ambitious and will make a sig- in our future competitiveness.” decrease the amount of waste, and reduce the funding is focused on broad-based interdisci- nificant contribution to Sweden’s efforts to impact on the climate.” plinary programmes, and it distributes around tackle climate change. “It is being discussed Assistant programme director Göran €22m to research in Sweden each year. that the European Parliament should stay in Andersson adds that bringing together the dif- The steel companies that are taking part in Brussels to save 20,000 tons of CO2,” she says. GÖRAN NILSSON

ferent parts of the circle to integrate results is the project have a direct influence on the rese- “The cut in CO2 that we are talking about for - STIG

key to achieving these goals. “We have very arch being conducted in the sub-projects and the Swedish steel industry is 50 times more. : good research in the steel industry itself, but So this is a lot of CO2 we are talking about.”

can therefore ensure that the results will be use- PHOTO if we are looking at the chain, the whole steel ful to the industry. “One of the strengths of the The steel industry is one of the pillars upon eco-cycle, we can make very good improve- project is that knowledge levels are raised which Sweden’s economic success is based; two ments by combining research results from dif- simultaneously among all the different com- hundred years ago it accounted for about 70 ferent parts.” petences that are taking part,” says Andersson. per cent of the nation’s exports. Today exports “The participants from industry and academia remain crucial to the industry, with about 85 Pioneering approaches get the opportunity to develop together a cut- per cent of production exported. A key part of Sweden has long been a world leader in steel ting-edge competence in the environmental Jernkontoret’s activities focus on lobbying at research and the industry here is one of the area which they will be able to apply in the the national and European level to ensure that most research intensive worldwide. The strong development of new processes and new steel the industry’s access to these overseas markets research infrastructure focusing on advanced products.” remains unhindered. grades of steel has allowed companies to remain highly profitable despite operating relatively Economic motivation Bright future small-scale plants and paying higher wages There are 11 sub-projects underway within Nilsson says that demand for Sweden’s speci- than competing low-cost countries. Steel Eco-Cycle. “We have consciously chosen alities in advanced steels remains high today. Elisabeth Nilsson: The 8m Steel Eco-Cycle initiative, which research projects so that all the important stages “Our companies today are doing very well. The ‘energy key to € competitiveness’

Steel Eco-Cycle facts

budget: €8m funded by industry and Mistra, the

JERNKONTORET Foundation for Strategic Environmental : Research

duration: 4 years ILLUSTRATION COURTESY

aims: reduce energy use by 600GWh/year

reduce CO2 emissions by 1m tons/year

make steel constructions 25 per cent lighter

increase competence and increase competitiveness of Swedish steel firms

www.stalkretsloppet.se NO 2 2007 31 SwedenToday ENVIRONMENT/ CLEANTECH High-strength steel raises fuel economy

• Much of the debate around environ- lations are made on one single trailer,” says mental impact and climate change has Larsson. “In this case there are 25 trailers in focused on the transport system and in the fleet and if all of them were made of extra particular on fuel types. While more envi- high-strength steel it would reduce carbon ronmentally-friendly fuels like methanol dioxide emissions by 650 tons a year.” and biodiesel can reduce harmful emias- SSAB Swedish Steel, which was formed sions, the use of higher strength – and the- from the merger of three steelworks in 1978 refore lighter – steel in vehicles will also and employs more than 9,000 people in 40 help reduce environmental impact by redu- countries, has been producing extra and ultra high-strength steel for more than 20 years. But cing fuel consumption. it is only fairly recently that the steel’s envi- ronmental advantages have been in focus. At the forefront of the manufacturer of these “It was primarily developed to give a ligh- extra and ultra high-strength “Green Steel” ter and stronger steel, and it first came into use grades is SSAB Swedish Steel. “Every kilo saved in products where strength and low weight reduces the amount of carbon dioxide emis- were essential for the final customer,” says Scrapheap challenge: car dismantlers sions,” says Jonas Larsson, manager of the Larsson. “Two typical examples are crane booms are a major client for Stena Gotthard Environment Department at SSAB Swedish and impact beams, as well as other safety details Steel’s rolling mill in Borlänge. “We can gua- in cars.” rantee that our Green Steel benefits sustaina- Although there is an obvious environmen- ble development in all the stages of manufac- tal advantage in both these examples, this was Top award for turing, production and final use. And further- hardly mentioned at first. “But today we can more, steel is the most recycled material in the use the experience from manufactured products world.” to calculate exactly what impact the use of extra As the debate on environmental issues has and ultra high-strength steels have had from Stena Gotthard intensified, so has interest grown in SSAB’s an environmental point of view,” says Larsson. products. The company reported its strongest • Recycling company Stena Gotthard has impact of the steel industry. ever quarter for Q1 this year, with profits up All-time high scooped a prestigious Ford World “We see today that we are taking more by 38 per cent to €1.55bn. Deliveries of extra The actual manufacturing process for extra Excellence Award for its services to the waste for recycling instead of landfill,” says and ultra high-strength sheet increased during high-strength steel is also kinder on the envi- automotive giant. It is the first time a Svenner. “Even if our other volumes are incre- the quarter by 25 per cent compared with last ronment than lower grades of steel, generating waste management or recycling company asing, the amount that goes to landfill from year, and Larsson is convinced that high demand close to 20 percent less carbon dioxide emis- has won such an award, which usually our organisation is going down.” will continue far into the sions per square goes to component suppliers. Stena Metall Group is the Nordic leader future. “Thus far it has been metre compared in recycling and environmental services. “Our quite easy to market the with mild steel. “The award shows that we are not only good goal is to be a pioneer in customer solutions, extra and ultra high- This was shown on price and service but also on the way of production and competence in the recycling strength steels to the manu- last year when working and the level of commitment we have area,” says Svenner. “The aim is to become facturers of cars, trucks trai- SSAB had an all- developed in the company, “ says Stena Gott- better in every area and stay a step ahead with lers and all kinds of rolling time high produc- hard’s managing director, Monica Svenner. innovative solutions for customers, environ- stock,” he says. “These are tion of these steel “We make things better for our customers ment and society.” areas where it is easy to see grades, while it and therefore they are loyal to us.” In a move which has filled a gap in the the benefits of lighter pro- also had an all- The company – Sweden’s biggest processor research world and is expected to have long- ducts. However using less time low for car- of ferrous and non-ferrous scrap – is part of term environmental benefits, the Stena Metall steel is good within most bon dioxide emis- the family-owned Stena Metall Group, which group has endowed a unique professorship in segments of industry.” sions per tonne of in turn is part of the Stena Sphere which is industrial recycling at Chalmers University produced steel. active in everything from shipping to pro- of Technology in Göteborg which will be fun- Weight = emissions “Even our perty to finance. ded for at least ten years. The professorship A clear example of just how Jonas Larsson production process Much of the material Stena Gotthard re- will focus on chemical engineering, and deve- big a difference using ligh- is saving energy cycles comes from manufacturing industry, lopment areas include recycling of rare metals, ter and stronger steel can make can be seen in and reducing emissions of carbon dioxide and but also from municipalities and from car dis- and recycling metals and plastics from waste the side-dumper trailers manufactured by other compounds,” says Larsson. “And by using mantlers. “We do a total concept waste mana- which is otherwise incinerated or dumped in Brazilian company Pastre. “This is a highly- less iron ore we can contribute even more to a gement programme for the companies,” says landfill. specialised trailer for the transportation of sugar better environment.” Svenner. “We take care of all types of waste “Creating this professorship will put the from the plants to refineries,” says Larsson. “In But it is when vehicles made with high- products and help our customers with deve- issue of recycling at a higher level within aca- all it does 28,000 kilometres a month and it strength steel are in use that the environmen- loping their systems and doing so in an effi- demia here in Sweden which we think is very has a total weight of 57 tons.” tal advantages come to the fore; 80 per cent of cient way. We also increase the competence important,” says Svenner. “It will create the By going from mild steel to Domex 700 environmental impact comes when the car, in the company around waste and waste mana- possibility to have research done within areas MC, extra high-strength hot-rolled steel, and truck or trailer is in daily operation. gement.” which are important to the industry but which Docol 1000 M, ultra high-strength cold-rol- “Lower weight either results in more pay- Ford’s award – one of only 15 Gold Awards are so long-term that companies do not have led steel, the Pastre trailer can take an addi- load or reduced fuel costs. In both cases it is presented to its thousands of global suppli- the resources to do it. We also hope that more tional payload of 2.2 tons each trip. This makes beneficial for the environment as well as pro- ers – was given in recognition of Stena Gott- students will want to work in the recycling every 20th journey unnecessary, saving 26 tons fitable for the user,” says Larsson. “No other hard’s work as a supplier to Volvo Cars. Stena area, and perhaps work with us.” of carbon dioxide per trailer and year – which material offers this excellent combination of Gotthard, which employs around 650 people In September, Stena Gotthard will merge is more than 10,000 litres of diesel costing manufacturing properties, strength and good in Sweden, works at a number of Volvo plants with three other companies within the group approximately €9,000 in Europe. “The calcu- economy.” around the country, handling not only scrap – Stena Scanpaper, Stena Miljö, and the recent- metal but also paper, plastic, wood and ly acquired Reci Industri – to form Stena hazardous waste. The awards are presented Recycling. “We will have all the competences Let’s roll: SSAB’s deliveries of ultra to suppliers that excel in quality, cost, and within the same organisa- high-strength sheet are up by a quarter delivery. tion which means we will be able to Innovative recycling serve our cus- Svenner says that besides the obvious envi- tomers even ronmental reasons for recycling, economic better,” says considerations play an important role in the Svenner. growth of the industry. “Obviously there is a big focus on environmental issues at the moment, and so the major benefit here is that if you use recycled material instead of virgin material you save a lot of the world’s resour- ces,” she says. But you also save a lot of ener- gy. “Making steel from virgin material takes four times as much energy as making it from Monica recycled scrap,” says Svenner. “For aluminium Svenner: it is 20 times more. So there is great poten- ‘customers tial for saving energy there.” are loyal’ Swedish industry is aware of this and is recycling ever more today, meaning more business for Stena Gotthard, which is active within the Swedish Steel Producers’ Organisation’s Steel Eco-Cycle project (Stål- kretsloppet) to reduce the environmental ENVIRONMENT/ CLEANTECH 32 NO 2 2007 SwedenToday

At the Centre for Renewable Electric Energy at Uppsala University, research is ongoing into three energy sources climate change and renewable energy were not that have great potential for replacing fossil fuels. Led by one of the world’s leading engineers in the field, Mats yet Global Topic No 1 and when IT was where the excitement was at. Leijon says he made his Leijon, researchers are working on technologies for wind, wave and marine current power which could be produced decision based on the analysis of, and prognosis on a large scale and therefore become cost-efficient energy solutions. The centre is within the Division for Electricity, for, energy consumption that was available at which is part of the Department of Engineering Sciences, and is based at the Ångström Laboratory in Uppsala. Here the time. “And it is now worse than we expected then,” he says. we look into the work under way at the centre, and present the companies which have spun off from it. Money isn’t everything Leijon has been quoted in the Swedish press as saying that he is not particularly interested in technology – a curious statement for one of Large-scale renewable Sweden’s top engineers. “I think [the energy issue] is rather important for mankind, and if you can contribute to that then I think you are happy about it,” he says by way of an expla- energy solutions nation. But the reluctant technologist is willing to describe himself as an environmentalist “but • Professor Mats Leijon boils down the work hours (TWh) of electricity per year off the 15 PhD students, and on its steering committee not the type you see on the street,” he says. “I of his colleagues and students at the Swedish British coast. “That is half a nuclear power sit representatives from government authori- think we are of much more use doing good Centre for Renewable Electric Energy at plant,” says Leijon. “In two years you have built ties as well as state-owned energy supplier engineering in this area.” Uppsala University into one succinct sen- one nuclear power plant. Just getting the per- Vattenfall and representatives of electricity- That good engineering is starting to bear tence: “Our goal is to get cheap access to mits to get one nuclear power plant built takes intensive heavy industry in Sweden. fruit, and companies have been set up to com- renewable energy in large quantities.” about 15 years, so from that perspective it can “What is interesting for me is that you keep mercialise the research carried out at the cen- go very fast. And people don’t realise this.” the system perspective here,” says centre coor- tre – Leijon’s “energy empire”, as one magazine Leijon and his colleagues are aiming to achieve Working on this industrial scale, Leijon dinator Katarina Yuen. “Rather than being put it (see following articles). All will require this from the as-yet largely untapped sources says that after 20 years a full 100 TWh of wave really specialised on just one small part and investment of a long-term nature – perhaps 20 of waves, wind and marine currents – basically power – a quarter of national consumption – then zooming out and realising that it doesn’t or 30 years, he says. harnessing natural movements and converting could be deployed around Britain’s coasts. work in reality, you get the bigger picture first “There is a lot of fast money available now, them directly to electricity. The technologies “So by thinking in those terms it is a total other and then you zoom in on the details.” but we are not so interested in it because it will being developed are CO2 free, relatively simple, ballgame than if you are building one unit at Leijon says he has followed a strategy of not give the accomplishments that I want to highly efficient, and designed with mass pro- a time,” he says. “And it is the same yields for picking the best and the brightest to work with make sure that we get – cheap global access to duction in mind. all the concepts.” at the centre. “You want to work with people renewable energy. You shouldn’t be greedy if who are better than you want to attain this. Instead you have to yourself. I like to think in other terms. If it goes well we will work together with earn a lot of money, but this is not the major

PERERIC ÖBERG very talented people, issue for this development. It is very difficult SIMON TYRBERG : : and I am very proud to have that attitude in a global environment. PHOTO PHOTO of my colleagues. By But if you want to create solid companies in trying to be creative the long run where you and your colleagues yourself and listening have influence and we can avoid traps, then we to the others and then have to build it up in another way.” seeing how it all fits together, you can cre- All in the mind ate a lot.” So what is it that is holding back wave, wind Leijon made his and marine current power? Is it the politics or name while working the technology? Neither, says Leijon. “It is just at industrial giant that people’s mindset is not there yet. They ABB’s Corporate Re- don’t realise what could be done. They think Applied knowledge: Hans Bernhoff and Mats Leijon The renowned Ångström Laboratory search Department. about building large units or they think about There he hit upon an building more complicated units, but we do With the exception of the Nimby (not in World authority idea which solved the 100-year-old conund- it very simply and ready for mass production. my back yard) argument, these renewable ener- Leijon is regarded as Europe’s – and therefore rum of how to develop a high-voltage genera- There is the difference in thinking.” gy technologies are fairly uncontroversial. Most the world’s – leading authority on renewable tor that could be connected directly to the When speaking to Leijon and his team, this people would welcome them as a small-scale electric energy conversion. He set up the centre power grid. His Powerformer, which led to word “simple” pops up again and again. It is the contributor to the national grid, but surely few within the Division for Electricity, which in higher efficiency, better availability, lower same clarity of thought that helped him tackle would regard them as major energy sources for turn is part of the Department of Engineering maintenance costs and reduced environmental the 100-year-old generator riddle that has hel- the future? But this is precisely what Leijon Sciences, in 2004 with financial backing from impact, is regarded at the biggest thing to hap- ped create these exciting renewable energy has in mind. He says that by using the mass Vinnova (the Swedish governmental agency for pen in generators in the last century. technologies. Leijon says: “Some people say production techniques employed in the car innovation systems) and the Swedish Energy Recognising that the energy supply would this was a big risk project, but it is not; every- industry, one factory could produced enough Agency. become an increasingly pressing issue, Leijon thing we are doing was known about before, wave power generators to produce 5 Terawatt The centre has eight senior researchers and returned to academia in 2000, a time when but we are doing it in another way.”

Going against the flow Bigger than hydropower? Harnessing the wind

Current Power’s business plan is to commercialise the When Billy Johansson was asked by Mats Leijon to join Swedish Vertical Wind is the company set up to commer- marine current turbines being developed under Mats the board of a new company, he accepted – until he found cialise the results of the wind power research at the Swedish Leijon’s leadership at the Division for Electricity. out it was involved with wave energy. “I said forget it,” Centre for Renewable Electric Energy Conversion. Its product will be a turnkey power plant based on says Johansson, who is a former president of ABB It uses a vertical axis design which is quieter, more tole- marine current turbines, direct-driven generators and Generation in Sweden. “I didn’t think wave energy could rant of harsh wind conditions, and simpler, with only one the infrastructure to connect them and deliver the power be economical in the future. But when I saw the solu- movable part, compared with the horizontal axis wind tur- to the grid. The company’s design uses vertical axis tur- tion, I realised immediately that it had great potential.” bines commonly used today. bines, on the same basic lines as Vertical Wind’s turbi- Today Johansson is managing director of the Seabased “In the future a simpler and more robust design could nes. Group, which comprises mother company Seabased AB, compete with the horizontal axis wind turbines,” says mana- “There are not many companies in this business at Seabased Industry AB and Seabased Energy British AB. ging director Hans Bernhoff, who is also an associate pro- the moment,” says managing director Karin Thorburn, Around 20 people are employed at the companies, which fessor. “The simplicity is also interesting if you are looking who is also a researcher at the division. “Most of the other are commercialising the wave power research at the for lower maintenance costs.” companies are dealing with technology which is quite Swedish Centre for Renewable Electric Energy Conversion The vertical axis wind turbine design has been around similar to traditional wind power, with a two- or three- at Uppsala University. since the 1930s, but never perfected. “The challenge has bladed turbine and gearbox. With that you are quite “We are making an industrial application of their been that the turbine develops a huge torque which you dependent on the direction of the flow, and if you have research,” says Johansson. “We are working on more prac- have to be able to control,” says Bernhoff. “But we think a tide you would have to turn the blades around. But tical things like putting the plant together on the dra- this is very well suited to the generators we work with – with the vertical axis turbine we can use any flow.” wing board and finding the optimum solutions for both directly-driven permanent magnet generators which can be Current Power Sweden AB was set up in 2005 after the unit and the whole system, which will be beneficial designed to have a very large overload capacity. Thus we the researchers behind it took part in the Venture Cup for our customers in the future.” don’t need any mechanical control – we can do it with elec- business plan contest. The company is currently in the Seabased intends to find those customers first on the tricity which allows for much higher reliability and higher process of filing patent applications in a number of coun- home market, before turning its attention to Britain, the efficiency.” tries. rest of Europe, then Asia and the Americas. Swedish Vertical Wind is currently operating a 12kW Thorburn says the company has attracted a lot of Johansson believes wave power will be a major source prototype outside Uppsala in cooperation with the univer- interest. “Everyone is positive when I tell them what I of energy in the future. “When we finalise the technolo- sity, and the next stage is to build a small commercial tur- work with. Some people think that marine currents could gical solutions for wave power it can be as big as hydro- bine, for which the company is looking for partners. A com- be the future. Of course I think that, but it’s good to power, or potentially even bigger.” mercial version could be ready next year. hear it from someone else.” NO 2 2007 33 SwedenToday ENVIRONMENT/ CLEANTECH Unique design Underwater turbines promises cheaper exploit current assets

• While marine and tidal currents flow type on the seabed. “Maybe it would be easier wind power far more slowly than the wind blows, for someone coming from the offshore indus- the higher density of water means they try, but for us from the university it will be a have far greater energy content. Add bit tricky,” says Grabbe. • While wind power has many advantages There is no gearbox – which is known to the fact that flows are both predictable The benefits of marine current electricity and is the one of the more developed fail on wind turbines – and because the turbi- and constant, and you have a source of are clear: no emissions of greenhouse gases or forms of alternative energy, converting ne can be driven by wind from any direction, renewable energy with huge potential. indeed anything else, and no visual or audio wind energy into electricity remains rela- there is no yaw or pitch mechanism needed. intrusion. “Then if you compare with other tively expensive. In order to address this “The goal for us is to have a system that If it were to be possible to harness this energy, renewables like wind power or solar power, drawback, researchers at the Swedish would cost less per kilowatt hour,” says marine and tidal currents could contribute marine currents are much more stable and pre- Centre for Renewable Electric Energy Eriksson. “The aerodynamic efficiency may be in the region of 50 TWh of pollution-free dictable,” says Grabbe. “You know exactly how Conversion are working on a unique solu- lower or equal to that of a horizontal axis wind electricity to the European grid each year. they move and they never stop. That is a great tion which they hope will reduce these turbine, but we believe it would still be more Researchers at the Swedish Centre for advantage.” costs and therefore make wind power cost effective.” Renewable Electrical Energy more attractive. Conversion hope to do so with ver- Saving costs tical axis turbines placed on the While the wind turbines familiar today use a One of the three PhD students working on the sea- or riverbed. Research assistant so-called horizontal axis design driven by a project is looking into the aerodynamics of the Mårten Grabbe says: “To just build propeller, this new solution uses a vertical axis design, investigating the flow of wind after it a turbine and a generator and make configuration – think rotary washing line. hits the blades of the turbine. The other two sure it works – that is easy and we Sandra Eriksson, who is one of three PhD are working on a direct-drive generator – which could do it today. But to do it such students working on the project, says: “We will be installed at ground level, not at the top a manner that will work for ten believe that this design can be more cost effec- of the structure as in the traditional turbines years with as little maintenance as tive than a horizontal axis turbine. It is a sim- – which will eliminate the need for a trans- possible, that is the $10,000 ques- pler design using less material, so we believe former, thereby saving on costs and mainte- tion, and that is the reason we have that the cost for the actual unit would be less, nance. chosen to work with this techno- and it would need less maintenance due to this “We are trying to look at the whole system, logy.” simple structure.” so we are looking at the coupling between the The concept is a simple one with turbine and the generator, and only two moving parts: the turbine Quietly confident: vertical we are looking at vibrations and the rotor of the generator. design produces less noise within the driveshaft and the There is no gearbox, no electro- structural mechanics of the mechanical brake, and no pitch sys- whole machine,” says Eriksson. tem for the blades or jaw mecha- “And we are also looking at the nism for the turbine. “Keeping it system aspects, like designing mechanically very simple limits the a load for the generator, and need for maintenance and limits what we will do with the elec- the number of parts that could tricity that is generated.” break down,” says Grabbe. Late last year the team erec- He and his colleagues recently ted their first prototype, which finished the first prototype gene- stands six metres tall and has rator and are now conducting the five-metre long blades. It is first tests. Several articles on their expected to generate 12 kW at research have been published in University challenge: researchers winds of 12 m/s. “What we are international journals. When exter- Sandra Eriksson, Mårten Grabbe and doing now is evaluating this nal funding is secured, the project Simon Tyrberg turbine and measuring it per- will be expanded and further rese- PHOTO: MAGNUS STÅLBERG formance to compare with our archers taken on. Generating electricity on the sea floor holds models,” says Eriksson. great potential in countries like Great Britain Opponents of wind power No emissions where there are large tidal currents, but also have often cited the noise gene- The first major challenge the team has faced in developing countries or in areas where buil- rated by the turbines in their is designing the special generator. “This is ding hydropower dams is not allowed or not opposition, but the team beli- no off-the-shelf solution,” says Grabbe. “It possible. “According to some reports marine eves their design avoids this par- is specifically designed for the nature of and tidal currents could deliver up to five to ticular problem. “We believe marine and tidal currents. But that is our six per cent of the electricity demands of the that this design will give a less strength; we can go out to the site and mea- UK,” says Grabbe. “It may not sound like intrusive noise because we will sure the currents, then go back to the offi- much, but in money terms that is a huge have a slower rotational speed ce and design a generator that is suited to amount.” than the horizontal axis so you specifically that current.” The next big chal- won’t get the same ‘sweeping’ lenge will be in- noise,” says Eriksson. stalling a proto- JON KJELLIN : PHOTO

Wave power has huge The wave of the future? global potential • It is emissions- and carbon dioxide-free, will be joined by two more this summer. A – and high energy “The environment is very does not spoil the view, and might actu- total of ten generators will be installed at the density. “That means harsh,” says Tyrberg. “First ally improve its immediate environment. site and will generate about 300,000 kWh per that to access the you have the salt water, and Wave power will never be the silver bullet year – roughly the amount of electricity con- same amount of then the tremendous powers solution to the world’s energy needs, but sumed in a year by about 20 households. Were energy you don’t involved with large waves it does have significant advantages over the technology to be adopted on a large scale need to build struc- coming in during storms. many traditional and renewable energy in Sweden, wave power could generate about tures as large as you This puts high demands on sources. 10 TWh annually – about two per cent of natio- do for wind power how sturdy you make the nal demand. Globally, the potential for wave or solar energy,” says equipment.” Researchers from the Swedish Centre for Re- energy is in the region of 10,000 to 15,000 TWh. Tyrberg. “If you want to produce a certain A balancing act is needed between equip- newable Electric Energy Conversion are wor- “There is great potential in the oceans amount of energy with solar panels, for exam- ment which is rugged enough to withstand a king on a new concept to generate electricity around the world,” says PhD student Simon ple, you need to cover maybe half a football battering during storms, and sensitive enough to from the motion of the sea. At a test site off Tyrberg. “If you are in the right place there is field, whereas to access the same amount of be able to produce energy in calmer conditions. the coast of Lysekil on Sweden’s west coast, the plenty of energy to tap into.” energy you only need a couple of generators The basic approach of the Islandsberg project Islandsberg Wave Power Project uses a system with buoys three or four metres in diameter.” has been to keep it simple. “Making the sys- with a buoy and a linear generator. As the buoy High energy density That makes the technology cheaper, which in tem as uncomplicated as possible, in combi- moves up and down with the waves, it drives Two of the benefits of wave power are a high turn means the energy is cheaper. As the gene- nation with the fact that we have tried to put the generator on the seabed. The generator and degree of utilisation – wave conditions around rators will act as artificial reefs, they could actu- the expensive and complicated equipment on buoy are linked by a rope. Sweden’s coasts are suitable for generating elec- ally increase local biodiversity. the bottom and away from the waves, are the The first buoy, deployed last year, has al- tricity about 35 to 50 per cent of the time, The biggest technical challenges for the two things we think could make this project ready successfully generated electricity, and which is more than with solar or wind power researchers are posed by the forces of nature. succeed where others have failed,” says Tyrberg. 34 NO 2 2007 ENVIRONMENT/ CLEANTECH SwedenToday Flying into the wild green yonder

• SAS Scandinavian Airlines is offering its an environmental advantage, but 150kg is also customers the possibility to offset the car- money. There are improvements when it comes bon dioxide emissions generated by their to noise pollution, and this way of conducting flights. The move is the latest step by the a landing is also safer because the flight con- carrier as it seeks to minimise the effects trol at Arlanda knows the aircraft’s position of its fleet on the environment. in four dimensions, so this creates the possi- bility to have more capacity especially in peak SAS is also involved with the Green Approaches hours.” programme to save on fuel but also reduce noise pollution for those living near airports. Environmental awards Niels Eirik Nertun, SAS’s environmental SAS has continued its environmental work on director, says the airline felt that with global a number of fronts, again winning awards for concern for climate change and its consequ- its environmental and sustainability reports ences increasing, the time was right to launch in both Sweden and Denmark. A report publis- the carbon offset scheme. “British Airways hed by the group in March based on its eco- A green landing at Stockholm/Arlanda Airport was the first to launch such a scheme, but we efficiency indicators showed that in 2006 it are second and my guess is that others will used fewer resources and generated less pollu- follow.” tion per passenger kilometre than at any time Nertun says that the voluntary scheme is in its history. an intermediate step. “What we are waiting “The debate around emissions and clima- ‘Coasting’ planes for, and what we have been at the forefront of, te change has intensified, but we haven’t actu- is the adding of aviation into the European ally changed any attitudes or goals because we Emission Trading Scheme, which will happen have been consistent during the last ten years,” save on fuel in 2011. The carbon offset scheme is somet- says Nertun. During the past year the group hing we want to offer to our customers in the also sold off its hotel arm SAS Radisson, which meantime.” will change its corporate social responsibility and emissions SAS passengers are guided via the group’s profile and risks. website to a homepage set up by the airline’s SAS is looking forward to using biofuels partner in the scheme, the CarbonNeutral in its fleet, which it expects to become possi- • The aviation industry has been painted sengers have waiting time at the gate or in Company. After calculating the CO2 emis- ble around 2010 or 2012. The company has as something of a bogeyman within the baggage claim. Standar says that depending sions from their trip, passengers can choose to been cooperating with the Swedish company climate change debate recently due to on the aircraft, fuel savings can be between financially support one of a number of sustai- EcoPar which has already conducted tests of the effects of aircraft emissions at high 100 and 400kg. “If you save that much on nable development projects in New Zealand, its Biojet A1 fuel. “We think that in the short altitudes. But LFV, the Swedish civil avia- one flight, that is a lot of fuel and a lot of China or India, all renewable energy projects. term there will be a blend of say ten or 15 per tion authority, has proved that a concer- money for each airline. But if you can do that A typical return flight between Scandinavia cent biofuel into the normal fuel which will ted effort can minimise the industry’s with 25 airlines flying into an airport, then and Europe generates approximately 300kg of cut CO2 emissions by the same amount,” says environmental impact it is a huge amount.” The fuel savings equ- CO2 which will cost approximately €4.50. Nertun. ate to several hundred kilos of carbon dioxide Significant fuel savings stand to be made He says that SAS fully recognises the emissions per flight. from the Green Approaches programme, for impact aviation has on the environment, but LFV is operating a system which, by allowing Standar says the bottom line is that the which SAS was picked to be the test airline. that this must be balanced against the bene- aircraft to essentially coast into Stockholm’s passengers will benefit, but also that it could SAS is conducting trials of the system at fits it brings in terms of facilitating globali- Arlanda Airport on approach, cuts down on lead to improvements in the quality of avia- Stockholm’s Arlanda Airport, with a view to sation. “If globalisation is the way forward to not only fuel usage and emissions, but also tion fuel in the future. “If you can save fuel rolling out the system across Europe at a later reach the UN’s Millennium Goal of halving noise. The initiative has generated conside- it means lower costs for the airline, which date. China is also interested in the techno- poverty in the world, we will need investment rable interest in the aviation world, and besi- means that in the long run it will make it logy. and trade, and aviation is the only infrastruc- des being rolled out at other Swedish airports possible for airlines to lower their prices. But So far around 1,000 test landings have been ture that will reach that sort of goal,” he says. in the near future, it could become an inter- if you take the next step, flying an aircraft done by SAS for Eurocontrol, the European “You see a kind of balance – on the one hand national standard and bring benefits globally. down on idle will put different requirements organisation for the safety of air navigation. we have the burden on the environment, but Michael Standar, LFV’s head of Air Naviga- on the engine manufacturers and also put dif- “This creates a triple-win situation,” says on the other hand the benefits for society, tion Services Support and Development, says: ferent requirements on the fuel refineries so Nertun. “When we do a continuous descent through business and tourism and so on, which “Green Flights has been an enormous success. you can ask for better fuel. If you get R&D we save on average 150kg of fuel. That means far outweigh the burden we put on the envi- It creates a perfect situation for everyone; air- working in that direction you can probably more than 400kg of CO2 which is absolutely ronment.” lines, passengers and communities.” do something to improve departures as well.” The Green Flights system – which is also In another environmental initiative from Thumbs up: SAS pollution is at an all-time low known as Green Approaches – coordinates LFV, passengers flying to or from Arlanda are the actors involved in air transport to a gre- now being offered the possibility of making ater extent than has happened previously, to their trip climate neutral by offsetting their the benefit of all. “Today a pilot flies the air- share of the emissions generated by their craft, air traffic control controls the traffic, flight. A passenger travelling from Stockholm the airport monitors or operates the airport,” to London can neutralise their net emission says Standar. “Until now they have each done by paying around €6. Although a number of that in splendid isolation, but when you start other travel market participants have alrea- thinking that we all have an interest in dy launched web-based services for offsetting making this flight as efficient as possible from carbon dioxide emissions, the LFV service is TOMMY SÄFSTRÖM /

its departure to its arrival, you see that you the first to take into account the entire jour- LFV have to cooperate to a greater extent than has ney, including ground transport, and the first : been the case until now.” that offsets emissions other than carbon diox- PHOTO Key to the initiative is agreeing on a time ide that are also believed to be climate chang- for arrival at the aircraft’s destination, rather ing. than a departure time, as is the norm today. LFV itself has been climate neutral for more Right after take-off, air traffic controllers use than a year and has succeeded in halving the Aircraft engines for the future a data link to send a message to the aircraft’s carbon dioxide emissions from its own ope- flight management computer specifying the rations from 40,000 tons to 20,000 – despite Volvo Aero and the Swedish Government, ined shall achieve the emissions targets agreed approach path that should be used for the air- a rise in passenger numbers. A number of through Vinnova (the Swedish Governmental by the entire industry in Europe.” port. The aircraft’s computer responds by cal- other companies and organisations operating Agency for Innovation Systems) are each inves- Vinnova’s aim with the so-called “Aviation culating an exact arrival time based on cur- at Arlanda have also begun working towards ting €7 million in a commercial demonstrator technology and demonstrator program” (Swe- rent flying conditions, which is then sent back becoming climate neutral. program. The investment will be used in the dish acronym FLUD) is to promote sustainable to the air traffic control centre, where it is “One of my top priorities is to work with company’s development of lightweight com- growth in Sweden through needs-motivated automatically inserted in the list of upcoming anything within LFV to make us as green as ponents for more fuel efficient and thereby more research. arrivals. The flight management computer possible,” says Standar. Another innovation environmentally compatible aircraft engines. These goals coincide with Volvo Aero’s FLUD also calculates the exact time when the air- at Arlanda is what is effectively a giant ther- Vinnova’s decision is positive for Volvo Aero, project, “Swedish demonstrator for environ- craft’s approach to Arlanda should commen- mos where snow can be stored and then used which has worked for sometime for Sweden to mentally compatible aircraft engines.” At the ce, and this is chosen to enable the aircraft to to cool airport buildings during summer. It gain a national program to develop more envi- European level, Volvo Aero is participating in essentially coast all the way down to the run- also works the other way round, storing sun- ronmentally compatible air transport. the forthcoming Joint Technologies Initiatives way, thereby reducing exhaust and noise. warmed water to heat buildings during the “The decision was highly pleasing, since (JTI) within the EU’s seventh framework pro- winter months. Sweden has never previously had a commerci- gram. The initiative in the aviation field is Lower costs, lower prices “The environment is a very important al demonstrator program in aviation. Aviation designated “Clean Sky,” in which Volvo Aero A more exact arrival time also has advantages factor for us in Sweden,” says Standar. “Any- faces major challenges to deal with environ- is participating within SAGE (Sustainable And on the ground; it allows ground staff to be thing we can do to make sure we can make a mentally,” states Volvo Aero’s President Olof Green Engine), in cooperation with Rolls- ready at the gate when the aircraft arrives, positive impact on environmental issues is Person. “We can contribute with lightweight Royce, Snecma, MTU and others. neither early nor late, and means that pas- high up on our agenda.” technology so that the aviation industry comb- NO 2 2007 35 SwedenToday ENVIRONMENT/ CLEANTECH Sweden-China city plan is a ‘golden project’

• China’s cities, the engines behind the country’s phenomenal economic growth, have Chinese third-generation business park and ble cities in Guangdong in autumn 2008. “At become a byword for environmental pollution. Now one city in the southeast of the focuses on eco-industry.” the same time we will cut the ribbon to start country is calling on Swedish environmental technology to guide it towards a more The fact that the southern Swedish region up this huge project,” says Grevendahl. sustainable development. of Skåne has a “sister province agreement” with Grevendahl compares the offer he was able Guangdong was instrumental in the part- to present to Danzao Town with a paint pallet. nership developing “In China that is very “You can either use the whole pallet or take important,” says Grevendahl. “It opens up some of the colours,” he says. “We found out doors that otherwise would be closed. It is one that the competences and products we have in of a combination of factors that I think will Sweden could be very useful in the develop- make this a golden project; a combination of ment of Danzao Town.” the sister province agreement, our long-term Sustainable Business Hub is a non-profit relationship, a concept that is holistic, and member organisation which is financed by Swedish know-how.” Region Skåne, Skåne county council, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Nutek, as Pick’n’mix well as its private sector members. The size Sweden’s historical links with China also hel- of the companies involved ranges in size from ped. “Sweden was the first western country to one to 15,000 employees, and they come from recognise the Peoples’ Republic of China as a the length and breadth of Sweden. About state. And they still remember that. They are half of Sustainable Business Hub’s operations also aware of how Sweden has been working focus on foreign markets, particularly Poland, with environmental issues for decades.” south China, Singapore, the UK and the Step One in the project will be to make a Middle East. small initial feasibility study. “We will focus Grevendahl says that cooperation with on the needs in Danzao Town,” says Greven- Chinese companies will be a key part of the Danzao dahl. “What are the needs they know about Town project. “We have to work with Chinese and what are the needs they don’t know about. competences as well. It is a combination that At the same time we will think about how the will benefit both Sweden and China – a win- Swedish products and know-how could come win situation. They get a better environment into this project. We have to focus on both and job creation, and we get to sell products sides.” Next will be a conference on sustaina- and services, so it is a good combination.”

Karl-Erik Grevendahl signs an agreement with Danzao Town mayor Yongkang Fong

Sweden’s Sustainable City concept, honed on Swedish companies in the environmental tech- the domestic front in developments such as nology sphere. Hammarby Sjöstad in Stockholm and Malmö’s The Sustainable City concept was created Western Harbour, has already been success- by Swedish Trade Council, the Swedish fully exported to Toronto in Canada. There Environment Ministry and the Ministry for planners behind the huge Toronto Waterfront Foreign Affairs. At its heart is a holistic and development drew on Swedish experience as integrated approach to the large-scale urban they sought a more joined-up approach to sus- supply systems for energy, waste and water. tainability. “This is open for others to participate in and Now the Sustainable City concept has at- to use the concept in different cities around tracted the interest of city leaders in Danzao the world,” says Grevendahl. “There are inter- Town, in Guangdong province. “There is a big esting examples of it all over Sweden.” need for the Sustainable City concept in China,” The link with Danzao Town was establis- says Karl-Erik Grevendahl, director of inter- hed when Grevendahl was in China together national affairs at Sustainable Business Hub, with a delegation from Region Skåne. The which is based in Malmö. “And the business vice-minister of the province of Guangdong possibilities there are huge.” Sustainable had asked for help with developing the Nanhai Business Hub is now working as matchmaker National Demonstration Eco-Industrial Park between Danzao Town and a number of in the town. “This business park is the first Swedish companies are working with water and air emissions at this factory

before he goes out for the market. He wants Rosendahl says it is not necessarily the to be prepared.” steam side of the plant but rather the fuel side Rosendahl says the North American mar- where the company has the advantage. “That Exports set to build ket presents huge opportunities. “The market is what we have a lot of experience of, and not is so big and is pushing so much. Our licen- just us but Swedish companies in general.” see has a lot of experience and contacts from He says that the experience the company on record year earlier business, so we already have at least ten projects in the pipeline thanks to earlier con- • A record sales year for biofuel combustion plant manufacturer KMW ENERGI could tacts.” be just the start of things. The Norrtälje-based company landed sales last year for Portugal provides a number over €75m on the Nordic market alone. With several irons in the fire on the Portuguese of interesting possibilities for the market and licensees getting busy in Korea and the US, KMW ENERGI is now expec- company. “We are in discussion ting international sales to take off. with several clusters of compa- nies which are looking for licen- ces to produce electricity for the “We are now in the position where it could be year. It has also this year sold a turnkey turbine grid,” says Rosendahl. KMW one plant or five plants in Portugal,” says sales installation in Sweden worth over €5m. ENERGI’s quotes for the work manager Christer Rosendahl. “I think this year “We are working flat-out,” says Rosendahl, have been high, but Rosendahl we will also have a project in North America, adding that five or six new engineers and fit- is still confident of getting the and in 2008 the exports will really start to ters are being sought to enable the company contracts. “They know that this increase. I am very positive for the future.” to keep up with demand. costs a lot of money, but they can KMW ENERGI was founded in the mid- see that we have high quality products. You will get the money 50s and has built itself a reputation as one of Projects in pipeline KMW ENERGI has ten the leading suppliers of biofuel combustion KMW ENERGI has signed up a licensee in you invest back because you can projects in the pipleline plants to Swedish municipal heating compa- the US for the North American market and run these plants for 20 or 30 years nies. Its plants can run on anything from peat one in Korea who may in the future also cover and make a lot of money on it.” and waste wood to briquettes, exceed Sweden’s the whole Asian market. They will manufac- Rosendahl says that what customers get stringent emissions control regulations, and ture the plants to KMW ENERGI’s tried and by investing in the higher-cost option are a has built up on the Swedish market gives it a are known for their reliability and low main- tested design. “We are in a position now where number of advantages, including flexibility in distinct advantage over the domestic compa- tenance costs. they are building up their strategies for the fuel. Another is the ability to use fuels with nies on foreign markets which are just now Last year the company sold five combined market,” says Rosendahl. “In North America high moisture content: from ten to as high as getting involved in the industry. “We have heat and power (CHP) plants in Sweden, the licensee is looking for partners and work- 65 per cent moisture, while still being able to been doing this for 50 years and we have al- Finland and Norway, and has sold another this shops and construction companies and so on meet demands on emissions and power effect. ready met all the possible problems.” 36 NO 2 2007 ENVIRONMENT/ CLEANTECH SwedenToday Centre of energy excellence

• As a forerunner in the development of an arena around which flows dialogues and sustainable energy systems, Chalmers communications within researchers, govern- Energy Centre (CEC) gathers, coordina- ment and the commercial sector regarding tes and activates performances of R&D investments, projects, programmes and networks. applications. This consists of five functio- nal platforms: transport systems and infra- Sun, wind and water – renewable sources of structure; energy use in buildings; indus- energy – plus storage of energy are among try; power and heat production; and ener- the topics that research at CEC focuses upon. gy systems that relate to the seven prioriti- To obtain synergies in research and educa- zed areas. tion and to facilitate implementation of large “CEC works from the national perspec- R&D projects, Chalmers University of tive in areas relating to Sweden’s interests Technology in Göteborg has gathered ener- and we study the comprehensive perspective gy research into CEC. Here, interdiscipli- that considers both needs of individual com- nary research is an important cornerstone. panies and specific fields as well as the work Starting in 2004, there are nine institutions of public authorities. The research results today and over 200 researchers that com- are valuable to decision makers and politi- prise CEC. cians. Energy-oriented public bureaus, au- “For many years, Chalmers has sub- thorities and departments are important for stantially invested in research networks in assignments and finances,” explains Pet- environment and energy areas, and CEC is tersson. one significant example of this dedication. Gathering expertise and resources in the CEC is needed because individual sectors or field of energy in a centre makes the CEC disciplines have difficulty in organising an internationally competitive partner for things over broad fields of endeavour,” says research financiers, authorities and trade and industry. PHOTO: LARS KROON Bertil Pettersson, programme director and From know-how to show-how at Elmia head of Chalmers Energy Centre. Products of CEC Pettersson says that there are three “pro- ducts” of CEC. One identifies the need for research investments. Another pro- Getting the full duct is the research project itself. The third entails leaving these results to com- mercial firms so that they can use them bioenergy picture in applications. “It’s important at CEC to release results in a manner that leads to practi- • Visitors to next year’s World Bioenergy ference features an optional short field excur- cal applications,” says Pettersson. There- 2008 in the city of Jönköping will get a sion where delegates can see how the theory fore, CEC’s activities ensure that rese- complete view of this thriving industry works in practice. The trips take in facilities arch results become known, made avai- thanks to a unique combination of confe- covering everything from gaseous biofuels to lable and applied. rence sessions, field excursions and tra- large-scale pellet production to energy from CEC also monitors ongoing EU ener- deshow in one comprehensive event. agriculture. gy programmes, presents Swedish opi- And the trip to and from the event need nions, and fields inquiries from EU aut- “People go home with a holistic perspective of not be wasted time: pre- and post-conference horities. CEC’s international scope inclu- bioenergy,” says project manager Alan Sherrard. transfer tours from Arlanda Airport in des sustainable energy systems projects He says the main theme of the event is the com- Stockholm and Copenhagen’s Kastrup Airport Bertil Pettersson with the EU and universities in other mercialisation or implementation of bioenergy include study visits along the way to assorted countries. technologies and solutions. “In order to do that bioenergy facilities. Seven platforms For instance, its affiliation with the it is not enough to just talk about what is pos- CEC operations concentrate on research in Alliance for Global Sustainability (AGS) sible to do. You also have to go out into the Unique focus areas called “platforms” that cover: renewa- entails cooperation between Massachusetts field and look at a site, look at a pelleting plant Getting this complete picture of the bioenergy ble sources of energy plus storage; use and Institute of Technology (MIT), Technical or a combined heat and power plant or a har- business framework helps speed up the all- supply of energy in the construction and University in Zurich (ETH) and Tokyo Uni- vesting operation, talk to the people running important process of doing business, explains real estate sector; future production, trans- versity. these operations as well as meet the suppliers. Sherrard. “The larger and more complicated fer, distribution and use of electricity in “It’s important that Chalmers activities You get to do all those things at this event. You the project in question is, the longer the pro- Northern Europe; control systems and cli- meet the needs of the future and contribute take part in the conference in the morning, you curement process tends to be. This is partly due mate policy; holistic approach to the use of to this country’s strong leadership as an go on a study tour in the afternoon, and meet to the lengthy information research process biofuels in industry and society; technolo- international competitor in the area. There- up with exhibitors in between. And that means especially for those wanting to get into the busi- gies, systems and consequences for society fore, I believe that the CEC will develop and you see how the whole system works rather than ness. That is also why our concept is so inter- of carbon dioxide separation and storage; expand in the future so that our multidis- just looking at one aspect of it.” esting both for the exhibitors and those that and transport and the infrastructure. IT and ciplinary, system-oriented energy research The third World Bioenergy takes place next come to visit. To make a strategic business deci- materials related issues are other significant projects will be kept at the forefront focu- year from May 27 to 29 at Elmia and follows sion you need direct access to all the necessary topics. sing on the development of sustainable the very successful “Taking you from Know- market and technical information in context as To interrelate these platforms, CEC has energy systems“ says Pettersson. How to Show-How” concept from the previous well as the contacts with people who can help two events. World Bioenergy is attended by you make it happen. Here, you shorten that suppliers, manufacturers and buyers of pro- research process down considerably time-wise. ducts, equipment, technology and competence And of course in business, time is a precious within the global bioenergy sector. The pre- commodity. Visitors can find out how to get vious edition held in 2006 attracted over 4,200 involved, what technologies and solutions to participants from 60 countries. use, visit a reference facility for that and then Sweden is the ideal host for such a gathe- go home to decide what the next move should ring of bioenergy expertise and technology. be. They have the contacts already in place and More than a quarter of the total energy used in just need to pick up the phone or send an email the country comes from a bioenergy source, and to start the ball rolling. If you just go to a stand globally Sweden has the most extensive expe- alone trade show or a conference you don’t get rience in the commercial implementation of the holistic view as they generally pre-suppo- industrial bioenergy solutions. se that you are already in the business and know Wermland Paper consists of two mills. “This has not come overnight,” says Sherrard. what you’re looking for which is not necessa- “It has been a process going on for many years, rily the case in this rapidly expanding indus- year by year increasing its relative market share try sector.” That’s why we’re twice as good. in an expanding energy market. That means The event, which will be the largest inter- there is a wealth of industrial experience accu- national bioenergy conference of the year, fea- mulated over a very long time in bioenergy tures a huge diversity of systems and solutions terms, whereas many other countries are just suited to a wide variety of business situations. beginning to get into this now.” “What makes World Bioenergy different is it The conference itself will, as in previous is so unique in its focus,” says Sherrard. “There years, feature leading speakers from the field. are plenty of other trade shows and conferen- Topics this year will include certification and ces that have renewable energy or bioenergy as Wermland Paper AB, SE-681 83 Kristinehamn, Sweden. standardisation of biomass, market develop- a component, but if you compare just the bio- Tel +46 550 345 00 • Fax +46 550 345 01 • E-mail: [email protected] • www.wermlandpaper.se ments and trends, and developments in the energy aspect of it then this is the largest and transport sector. The end of each day of the con- the most international must-attend event.” NO 2 2007 37 SwedenToday ENVIRONMENT/ CLEANTECH

the small to medium-size range are served by Opening doors to eco-business Ecoex, which is managed by Business Region Göteborg AB, financed by the Västra Götaland Region and also involves both financially and • In recent years, innovative companies in tainable development. The hard part for suppliers to get their hands operatively Innovatum AB in Trollhättan as the environmental sector in West Sweden One indication of how hot Sweden’s envi- on potential sales, however, is being able to well as Green Market Sweden AB in Falköping. have multiplied dramatically. Ecoex-West ronmental sector is becoming is shown by the know precisely where these potential custo- Swedish Environmental Export helps open example seen with Ecoex, a project sponsored mers are located in the world. For firms in West Two-way promotion efforts doors to export markets for these enter- by the municipalities in West Sweden. In only Sweden, some help and guidance was needed. “Ecoex accompanies Swedish companies abro- prises. two years since its inception, Ecoex has expo- ad to their potential customers and, in the other sed its region’s environmental-oriented firms Exports, jobs, growth direction, brings these potential customers to With years of experience in producing suc- to potential markets from China and Europe “West Sweden’s political leaders observed that the West Sweden region to discuss their needs, cessful solutions, West Sweden companies are to California so successfully that the organisa- we have many good environmental compani- to demonstrate our own solutions and make world leaders in development of cleantech. tion’s scope may soon now expand to include es, however, the amount of exports was rather introductions to local companies. One great Collaboration between government, industry, its Scandinavian neighbours. low in comparison to the potential in this field. strength of our project is being familiar with companies and research gives advantages to Around the world today, there is an abundance Politicians here realised that they could play the companies and identifying their needs to West Swedish environmental technology this of public and private customers that are inter- an important role as a door opener with the develop export competence as well as assisting have resulted in numerous solutions for sus- ested in environmental products and services. ultimate purpose of increasing exports in this them in making business arrangements,” says market from West Sweden and also Strömberg. create growth and likewise em- She says that Ecoex has target markets are ployment in our region,” says Maria Poland, France, Norway and, to a limited Strömberg, Project Manager at degree, the USA. Ecoex brought some 17 West Business Region Göteborg AB. Sweden companies to Chicago this year to meet Transportation, logistics, clean potential customers during Entrepreneurial vehicles, waste management, recy- Days, which was sponsored by the Swedish- cling, water purification techno- American Chambers of Commerce. logies, bio-energy, energy-saving “The project has so far arranged four envi- technology and IT solutions are ronment seminars in throughout France with among many segments in the West a successful outcome when it comes to busi- Sweden area that offer products ness results for the participating companies. In and services for export. Ecoex coor- the near future, we will assess the potential in dinates contacts between West Italy, and we will also commence activities at Sweden’s environmental compani- the beginning of 2008 in China,” says Ström- es and decision makers outside berg. “In the future, we’ll consider working to Sweden that require environmen- group companies so that they can deliver lar- tal expertise and serves as a net- ger system solutions. Ecoex will be growing work, contact broker, and public because the potential and the demands for relations office. Swedish environmental technology are quite “We aim toward developing substantial.” export competence here at home Ecoex was initially planned to function among small environmentally ori- until the end of this year but with the increa- ented companies so that they beco- sed environmental awareness growing world- me confident in making invest- wide, she is certain that the project will last ments in their respective export into the future. activities. From another perspec- “We’re working with the Oslo region, tive, we work with selected mar- Norway and the Skåne region in South of kets in which there are great export Sweden , Norway, on marketing assembled potentials and where we can assist Scandinavian environmental exports and, the- in shortening the process of reaching reby, becoming more widely based to handle these companies’ potential custo- large markets such as China. After this year, Ecoex coordinates contacts mers,” explains Strömberg. we will function as Ecoex Scandinavian between West Sweden firms Today, some 270 companies in Environmental Export,” says Strömberg. and decision makers abroad Expo gears up for 2008

• Expectations for environmental innova- the exhibition floor will again focus on pro- in 2008, Biogas Highway, aims again to gat- bination of methane and diesel, and delivers tions and new technology are already high duct areas including Waste and Re-cycling, her around 30 companies that range from waste the full power of a diesel engine. “During our for the 11th biannual Eco-Tech Scandinavia Energy, Transport, Environmental Competence sweeping firms to consultants, biogas enter- time at Eco-Tech 2006, we had three days to environmental technology trade show in and Air, and Soil and Water. Another retur- prises or builders of fuel stations at a coopera- look at all the stands and also attend seminars. Göteborg in the autumn of 2008. ning feature, Speakers Corner, will also show- tive section. Along with prominent Swedish We probably met a future partner who is a pro- case an array of environment-profiled persona- firms, this included some international com- cess control manufacturer. It was a very good Late last autumn, 116 exhibitors, 2,600 visitors lities being spontaneously interviewed. panies from Denmark, Germany and the UK show, we were honoured to be there and it was and 1,665 companies gathered for three days “Water and energy will be significantly last year. fantastic,” says Trevor Fletcher, the Hardstaff in Göteborg at the Swedish Exhibition Centre large areas of the Eco-Tech Scandinavia 2008 “Much interest was generated from visitors Group’s MD. during Eco-Tech Scandinavia’s exhibition, exhibition. Our Innovation Street, which will to Biogas Highway. Now that knowledge about Furthermore, Åfeldt says that they plan which became an exciting venue for meetings also reappear, will introduce newly started com- these firms and their technologies is improved, focus in 2008 on special areas such as meeting and business in environmentally oriented in- panies that are still in incubator phases,” reports there are better conditions for doing business places where visitors will have the opportuni- dustries. Åfeldt. in our area,” says Bernt Svensén, manager of ty to mingle with one another. “Much happens Among records that were set, the event at- Eco-Tech’s successful matchmaking por- the sponsoring organisation, Biogas West, around the exhibition itself, and we will inte- tracted 50 per cent more international guests tion, through which some 80-100 meetings which is a cluster that stimulates the produc- grate this more with the conference and mee- than the previous year. Besides European media were arranged during the exhibition, will be tion and distribution of biogas and promotes tings that we present. We are now working coverage, Chinese television filmed the event, offered in 2008, and the networking at the the market for biogas-powered vehicles. with industry organisations as advisors to cre- and a Chinese delegation attended. exhibition will again be in service. Åfeldt says ate Eco-Tech Scandinavia 2008. This will be a “More companies were represented than they are likely to present the prosperous theme Partner found brilliant opportunity for environmental com- previously, and I think that the environmen- of Capital, which was visited by many risk capi- In connection with this last year, the Hardstaff panies to demonstrate products and contact tal focus of the event as well as our matchma- talists. Group from the UK demonstrated a heavy- purchasers from European and international king services were reasons contributing to the Another winning feature that will repeat duty diesel truck that uses Dual Fuel, a com- markets.” overall increases,” says manager Ann Åfeldt. Organisers expect next year’s event to build on past successes Repeating successes She says that Eco-Tech Scandinavia 2008, that will take place October 7-9, will repeat successes from last year’s show including seminars and confe- rences. Some 290 participants atten- ded ten seminars. “We began with a general event each day that was for everyone and followed this with four parallel seminars,” says Åfeldt. Overall themes that were repre- sented by companies in sections on ENVIRONMENT/ CLEANTECH 38 NO 2 2007 SwedenToday World-première for ethanol hybrid bus

• A full-size low-floor city bus that cuts fos- eting system is a big step in this direction. Pas- sil CO2 emissions by up to 90 percent if senger comfort and circulation are outstanding fuelled with ethanol and saves at least 25 for a full-size city bus. percent fuel – that’s the essence of Scania’s “The ethanol hybrid concept bus demon- hybrid bus concept. The concept bus is strates Scania’s commitment to participate in conceived to make a major contribution the transition into a sustainable urban trans- towards sustainable public transport. port system – a transition that needs to start right away. We see no reason to wait for other Welcome to The concept bus achieves all of these objectives, new fuels and technologies that could become while meeting the lowest emission levels (Euro viable in ten years’ time. Clean Vehicles and Fuels 5 and EEV). It also appeals to passengers be- “With our innovative hybrid-drive con- cause it is convenient and comfortable, to cept we improve fuel economy and cut emis- European Symposium drivers with manoeuvrability for the tightest sions by at least 25 per cent and running on city environments and to operators since it uses ethanol reduces fossil CO2 emissions by up to and Exhibition technology designed to last the life of the bus. 90 per cent. This combination of technologi- Energy storage makes use of supercapacitors, es paves the way for affordable and realistic city 7-9 november 2007 which are much more robust than batteries in transport for many years to come. heavy-duty operation. “We are truly proud of this achievement,” Stockholm, Sweden he concludes. Demonstrates commitment Twelve conventional ethanol buses equip- Debuting at the UITP public transport con- ped with Scania’s hybrid-drive system will start www.cleanvehicles.net gress in Helsinki 21-24 May 2007, the con- regular operation in Stockholm in 2008 and cept bus is the result of a three-year develop- 2009 in cooperation with the city’s public trans- ment project conducted at the Scania Technical port operator, SL (Storstockholms lokaltrafik). Centre in Södertälje, Sweden. Ten of these are partly financed by the Swedish Hasse Johansson, Group Vice President Re- Energy Agency. search and Development says: “Making public Scania considers ethanol to be by far the transport more convenient to attract more pas- most cost-efficient renewable fuel on the mar- sengers is the best way to combat congestion ket today, taking into account factors like avai- and reduce environmental problems in cities. lability, infrastructure and access to proven Scania’s concept bus, with its low floor, big technology. Depending on production method, doors, uncluttered interior and automatic tick- fossil CO2 emissions are cut by up to 90 per cent. SCANIA : PHOTO COURTESY

œÀÊ>ÊVœÃÌÊivwÊVˆi˜ÌÊ>˜`Êi˜ÛˆÀœ˜“i˜Ì>Ê vÀˆi˜`ÞÊ«Àœ`ÕV̈œ˜ÊœvÊÊ Ì >˜œÊÊ Scania’s concept bus cuts CO2 ÊqÊÌ iÊ}>܏ˆ˜iʜvÊÌ iÊÊvÕÌÕÀi emissions by up to 90 per cent

ÜÜÜ°Ì>ÕÀÕÃi˜iÀ}Þ°iÕ First hybrid train Rail technology specialist STT has become the first European company to fit a hybrid engine to traditional diesel locomotives, radically reducing emissions and fuel consumption. Working with US counterpart Railpower, Nässjö-based STT has developed techno- logy to convert diesel locomotives to more environmentally friendly hybrids partly powe- Absolent – absolute clean environment red by batteries. The technology minimizes the advantages of idle running diesels. Conventionally Absolent – the filters that take care of oil mist, oil smoke powered shunting locomotives often run idle for as much as 75 percent of their time in and dust like no others, thanks to a unique design for active use. low maintenance, a long service life and unsurpassed Stellan Hagman, STT chief executive officer, says: “It’s extremely exciting to be first in launching a technology which gives so many advantages, both environmental and financial.” fi ltering effi ciency. The hybrid trains, whereby battery modules are fitted as a complement to existing If you want the best, you want Absolent! diesel motors, reduced emissions of nitrous oxides and diesel particulates by 80-90 per- cent. The new technology cuts fuel consumption by half and also dramatically reduces noise levels – a key advantage in urban areas. The hybrid locomotives, now being used Kartåsgatan 1, SE-531 40 Lidköping, Sweden by transport company CargoNet in Stockholm, were best suited for use as shunting and Phone +46 510 48 40 00 • Fax +46 510 48 40 29 switching engines. E-mail [email protected] • www.absolent.se
L܏i˜Ì Germans invests in Uppsala The German Faulhaber Group is investing €4.5 million in Uppsala-based micro motor manufacturer PiezoMotor. The Swedish company specializes in tiny but powerful motors that can be used in consumer electronics, navigation systems, medical technology and other applications. ENVIRONMENTAL The two companies had signed an extensive cooperation agreement aimed at laun- ching “innovative custom designed precision and micro systems based on proprietary ‘piezo motor’ technology.” EXHIBITION AND CONFERENCE. Founded in 1997 as a spin-off from Uppsala University, PiezoMotor said the tie-up was a breakthrough and would enable it to move from the development phase to full- scale manufacturing. “We’re talking about very large volumes and we simply don’t have the capacity to GÖTEBORG, SWEDEN 7-9 OCTOBER 2008 manufacture them ourselves,” says chief executive officer Per Oskar Lithell. WWW.MILJOTEKNIK.COM Faulhaber intends to use PiezoMotor’s micro motors in its products, which include micro drive units and systems used in medical technology equipment. Under the terms of the deal, Faulhaber is purchasing a minority shareholding in PiezoMotor. SwedenToday NO 2 2007 39 ENVIRONMENT/ CLEANTECH

Adressing climate change and reducing dependeny on fossile fuels in the transport sector are two of the most urgent global issues of our times.

REenergize your business at

Choose Bioethanol For enquiries contact: – naturally! Alan Sherrard Elmia AB, ph: +46 36-15 22 14 Fax: +46 36-16 46 92 e-mail: [email protected]

www.worldbioenergy.se www.sekab.com

Test Site Sweden – An Environment V.I.P. Lane

Imagine a congested highway packed with Environmental testing is one of the focus areas of Test Site commuters on their way to work. Since you are Sweden. To meet the testing demands of clean technology driving an environmentally friendly car, you vehicles, Test Site Sweden is planning several environmental testing facilities for the E45 highway: are safely passing the queue by cruising in a dedicated highway lane. The Test Site Sweden Traffi c fl ow testing: Transponder technologies for speed control, exact position monitoring and other ITS systems project is planning for an additional 5th lane of the E45 highway from Trollhättan to Göteborg. Electrical vehicles testing: Electrical charging stations Fuel testing: Infrastructure for all fuels (such as CNG, LNG, The lane will be a part of a substantial automotive proving Ethanol, RME, Hythane) together with well-defi ned road profi le infrastructure initiative and will be available to clean technology for precision consumption testing cars when not used for testing purposes. Service Stop: A “base camp” for the environmental testing Test Site Sweden is a cooperative project between the activities in the middle of E45. It will provide fuels at Swedish vehicle manufactures, the Swedish road requested mixtures, charging facilities, workshops, garages, administration, the region of Västra Götaland and Vinnova (the telecommunications and hotel and conference facilities. Swedish Governmental Agency for Innovation Systems). Test Other focal areas of Test Site Sweden are safety, logistics, Site Sweden is unique in its ambition to cover the complete communication and community security. In each area, Test Site chain of testing activities from virtual testing, prototype testing Sweden provides dedicated infrastructure, support systems and verifi cation in real traffi c. and tools to conduct state-of-the-art vehicle development testing, verifi cation or validation.

The Test Site Sweden project is lead by Lindholmen Science Park where key players within automotive and transport, mobile communications and modern media technology are brought together. All have overlapping interests regarding the advanced use of information and communication technology. For more information about Test Site Sweden contact the project leader Peter Öhman at [email protected] www.stenametall.com

”Waste is what’s left when imagination runs out”

Christian Ekberg, the Stena Endowed Professor of Industrial Materials Recycling

Stena has endowed a unique professorship in industrial materials recycling at Chalmers University of Tech- nology in Göteborg, Sweden. It is another step in Stena’s efforts to develop resource-efficient recycling processes and contribute to society’s long-term sustainability.

Stena Metall is the Nordic leader in recycling and environmental services. We take care of your waste and convert as much as possible to new raw material. We offer innovative and customized waste management solutions with a primary focus on our customers and sustainable development throughout the recycling chain. With our collective expertise in more than 100 locations in Sweden, we are working to reduce society’s wastes while allowing more people to utilize nature’s resources. No hocus pocus. Just creative thinking and innovative recycling.