2021-10-27 17:54News

27 October 2021

Mundus Nordic Green News

Vattenfall employs CDC Biodiversité to measure its biodiversity footprint 

Vattenfall and CDC Biodiversité, a French organisation that measures biodiversity, collaborate on evaluating Vattenfall’s footprint on biodiversity, in order to benchmark Vattenfall’s 2030 target of having a net-positive impact on biodiversity. CDC Biodiversité will utilise a Global Biodiversity Score (GBS) tool to provide Vattenfall with a collected representation of its direct effect on the ecosystem. Later this will be important as a scientific foundation for Vattenfall’s targets for biodiversity according to Joshua Berger, Head of biodiversity footprint at CDC Biodiversité (Press release). 

Aker Solutions expects further green growth in 2022

Aker Solutions presented an increased revenue, order intake and backlog in 3Q21, demonstrating that it is on-track with its transformation and growth targets. The company reported revenues of NOK 7.3 billion and an EBITDA of NOK 459 million. Approximately 25% of the order book value is associated with green shifts such as offshore wind and hydrogen solutions. Based on the financial highlights and the market activity, turnover for 2022 is expected to increase by 15% compared to 2021 (Press release, E24).

Fossilfritt Sverige presents first follow-up of fossil-free roadmaps

In 2018, Fossilfritt Sverige launched its first roadmaps for fossil-free competitiveness for how Swedish industries can become fossil-free by 2045 and what is needed on a political level to reach the target. Today, it presented the first follow-up of the 22 roadmaps, revealing an overall accelerated pace from both politics and business. Highlight successes included;

  • Obligation to reduce use of petrol and diesel from 2022 to 2030, and tax exemptions on biogas for 10 years and on HVO and ethanol for 1 year.
  • Increased funding through Industriklivet, to companies in the emissions trading system
  • Reinforced funding through Klimatklivet, where 75% of the funding is allocated to businesses outside of the emissions trading system.
  • Goals for halving the times of permit processes by testing alternative decision-taking methods.
  • Green credit guarantees amounting to SEK 80 billion in 2024 to decrease the risks for banks when investing in large transitions in industries. 

There are several important outstanding challenges to achieve to meet the 2045 goals; the need for circular solutions, faster and more effective permit processes, and investments in education and recruitment. The follow-up report was handed over to Per Bolund (MP), Minister for Environment and Climate, and Ibrahim Baylan (S), Minister for Business, Industry and Innovation (Press release).

Essity launches green hydrogen pilot for carbon free tissue production

Essity has launched a pilot project for carbon free tissue production at its facility in Mainz-Kostheim, Germany - using green hydrogen instead of natural gas. The hygiene and health company aims at gradually using green hydrogen in all of its production processes and says that the £4 million investment in the pilot contributes to its 2050 net-zero emissions climate target (Press release). 

European Energy sells three wind parks to Lithuania

European Energy has signed an agreement for the sale of three wind parks to an undisclosed buyer in Lithuania. The wind parks are under construction and include 34 wind turbines with a total capacity of 186 MW. European Energy has operated in Lithuania since 2018 and will build a total of 300 MW wind capacity in 2022, and has another 600 MW in its development pipeline (Press release). 

GreenHyScale project launched

The GreenHyScale project, a European Power-to-X innovation project funded by resources from the EU's Green Deal, has been launched. The project targets a 6 MW electrolysis prototype facility built in the GreenLab in Denmark that is to be up-scaled into a 100 MW electrolysis facility that can be replicated around the world to facilitate a large-scale production of green hydrogen. The EU has financed the project with €30 million, and once the prototype meets certain performance criteria, the partners will up-scale the prototype (Press release). 

What we’re reading
  • Biden plan expected to include at least $500B for climate (Axios)
  • Tesla’s change in market cap more than doubles Ford’s market cap, just on Monday (Wolf Street)



About Nordic Green News

The Nordic countries are some of the most dynamic and successful economies in the world. They are also leaders in sustainability, from renewable energy, biofuels, carbon capture and storage and the hydrogen economy, circular economy business models and battery development, the Nordics are pioneers in policy design, technology development and consumer uptake. Mundus Nordic Green News is covering this transition for the international community. Every day we clip the stories of most relevance to international businesspeople and policy experts from the flow of news. Mundus Nordic Green Indices summarise the meta-data from our daily coverage to enable easy tracking of trends. We supplement these with our own opinion pieces and commentary.