UPM-Biofore-Magazine-1-2017-ENG

Pentti Putkinen

Wang Yue

“In terms of water consumption, energy efficiency and emissions, for example, the UPM Changshu mill is state-of-the-art, even on a global scale.”

Paving the way for cleaner production Pentti Putkinen , General Manager of the UPMChangshu paper mill, confirms that UPMhas worked diligently to promote cleaner production in China. “In terms of water consumption, energy efficiency and emissions, for example, the UPMChangshumill is state-of- the-art, even on a global scale. We are operating the mill in line with international practices and regulations, utilising the best possible technology.” China has introduced stricter environmental legislation in the past few years. The country is undergoing rapid change, and the Chinese are investing heavily in clean technology while simultaneously closing down their old, polluting production plants and factories. Putkinen points out that UPM’s programme is well aligned with the strict environmental policy implemented by the Chinese authorities. Reduced emissions There are two separate resource projects currently ongoing at Changshu. “The goal of the first project is to reduce the water consumption of the three paper machines. Based on our encouraging results so far, it looks like we can continue to further reduce consumption,” says Wang Yue , the manager responsible for the development project. “Another target for improvement is the reduction of nitrogen oxide, sulphur dioxide and particle emissions from our power boilers. The aim is to achieve extremely low emission levels. As part of this effort , we are cooperating with both the power boiler supplier and the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd,” adds Yue.

reducing air emissions produced by the generation of energy. At the same time, we are looking to achieve significant cost savings by reducing our energy consumption.” Energy markets are changing Ilvespää adds that UPM is also considering the long-term opportunities provided by the rapidly changing energy market in China. “With China investing heavily in renewable energy, we will evaluate howwe can benefit from this development.” Solar and wind power are highly dependent on weather conditions and the time of year. In Germany, for example, these factors have already led to marked fluctuations in electricity supply and pricing. By actively managing both demand and electricity consumption, UPM can balance these fluctuations and achieve the flexibility required for generating renewable energy. UPM is actively implementing and cultivating models and technologies that utilise the opportunities provided by renewable energy in order to reduce costs and consumption of energy and fossil fuels.

“We have already come a long way in terms of environmental performance, but we want to continue to lead the way in the future. We must continue pushing new ideas and technologies in order to take another step forward,” says Putkinen. Moving towards a closed loop Heikki Ilvespää , Vice President of R&D at UPM, says that the aim is to move towards a closed-cycle mill. Reducing fresh water usage also decreases emissions and contributes to saving energy. “We will optimise water consumption by increasing water recycling in our internal mill processes and only using clean water if absolutely necessary. Our ultimate goal is to ensure that the water exiting the mill is clean and has no environmental impact,” he explains. “We aim to reduce water use to approximately 2–3 cubic metres per tonne of paper produced, whereas currently the amount is approximately 5–6 cubic metres per tonne. With the programme in China, we want to find out how far we can push our goals.” The programme is also geared towards improving energy efficiency. “Optimising electricity consumption also involves

Heikki Ilvespää

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