19/5/09

This morning I visited  JGA Wood, a sustainable sawmill.  The JGA plant is 30km from Växjö. Clas, a fourth generation member of JGA's family owners, met us.

The first thing that struck me was the huge area of logs, awaiting processing. Mainly spruce, with some pine. These log stacks look black from a distance - almost as though they have been creosoted! However, then you see the sprinklers over the top, spraying 24x7. By keeping the logs saturated, they can prevent decomposition and store them up to five years prior to milling. Clas said that it is only recently that they have processed the last of the Hurricane Gudrun windthrow. Gudrun, was the biggest storm in living Swedish memory and occurred in 2004. When I was here in 2007 there were still large areas of devastated forest visible all around.

 I arrived in Sweden last night but unfortunately my luggage didn't! With a 40 min connection in Frankfurt something had to give, I suppose. Never mind, after four hours sleep in Stockholm (thanks Michael and Paul) I was on the 05:20 a.m. to Växjö where I was greeted by my gracious guide Suzana from Växjö Kommun (council). First up we visited a district heating plant using 100% wood processing residue from a local sawmill.

Silve Piejko showed me around the plant. Silve is VP of the plant's manufacturer, Järnforsen Energi System AB, www.jf-energi.se.

Key facts about the plant:

One thing that strikes me is how the Nordic countries especially Sweden and Finland have their heads around innovation in bioenergy. Anyone wondering about how this works should take a look at http://www.biofuelregion.se/dokument/43_120.pdf  because it is a great example of many stakeholders co-operating for innovation and economic growth. Shaun

Watch TV1 Breakfast weather spots on Friday, March 27th to see a whole range of Scandinavian experiences hosted by Amy Kelley, the weather lady.

Featured will be Icelandic horses, Danish dancing, Finnish sports, a Swedish Lucia procession, and action from the Norsemen!

by Bo Samuelsson

The Labour government put together a development package for domestic sea freight with the goal of increasing the transport mode's share of domestic transport from 15% to 30% by 2040. Recognising the environmental benefit, national importance of regional businesses' access to markets and the international trend of larger vessels calling less ports, the package was coupled to a development fund to help NZ operators achieving this goal.

All very nice and forward thinking and welcomed by the industry. However, the National government has now reviewed the package and reputedly decided to scrap the development fund saying that they do not want to favor one transport mode over another.

Welcome to my random thoughts on bioenergy in New Zealand and Scandinavia.  I'll be making some observations about how bioenergy markets and technology are emerging both in New Zealand and in the Nordic countries. And what possibilities there may be for co-operation and sharing bioenergy knowledge between Oceania and Scandinavia.

For those interested in bioenergy technology in New Zealand,  visit www.bkc.co.nz. For those interested in the same in Sweden, visit http://www.svebio.se/?p=726