2021-10-09 15:02News

8 October 2021

Mundus Nordic Green News

Sweden, Finland and 4 other Member States object to Commission’s forest strategy

As reported by Nordic Green News on October 7, Sweden is set against proposals from the European Commission over how to manage its forests. Sweden is joined in its rejection of the Commission's proposal by 5 other Member states - Germany, France, Finland, Slovakia and Austria. In a joint statement issued last week the forestry ministers of the six countries, objected that the Commission had not involved member states in preparing the forest strategy, which it had presented in July, and had thus not sufficiently respected their “competences (…) in forestry in the sense of subsidiarity”. The countries also took aim at the “unbalanced consideration of the three key components of sustainability”, namely ecological, economic, and social sustainability. Austria’s Forest Minister, Elisabeth Köstinger said it “cannot allow the forest to be seen only as a sink for carbon anymore.” (Euractiv)

Norrbotten wants to become the test bed centre for developing green fossil-free steel

The municipal councils in Boden and Luleå, Norrbotten, have joined forces and written a letter to Prime Minister Stefan Löfven (S) to make Norrbotten the test bed centre for developing green fossil free steel. Underlying this decision is the massive industrial investments in Norrbotten from large companies such as SSAB and H2 Green Steels amounting to SEK 700 billion. To this end, they want Sweden to propose a high-level conference in the EU to discuss the ambitions of green steel in Norrbotten (Metal Supply). 

IKEA joins as official partner for COP26

IKEA UK and Ireland announce that IKEA will join as an official partner for the United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP26, in Glasgow, and is to furnish key areas of the COP26 venue. The partnership aligns with IKEA’s long-standing commitment to climate actions such as phasing out fossil fuels across their value chain by 2030, circular designs in their products, and using low carbon transport and logistics for their home deliveries and other product transport (Press release). 

Svevind presents large renewable energy project in Kazakhstan

Svevind and its subsidiary company, REC Renewable Energy Qazaqstan presented plans to build large-scale renewable energy and green hydrogen facilities in Kazakhstan. Financing has not yet begun, but the expected time period is 10 years if financing goes forward, according to Svevind. The plan envisions a capacity of 45 GW of wind and solar energy in central and western Kazakhstan whereof two-thirds of the output would power electrolysers that produce 3 million tonnes of hydrogen annually (eurasianet).    

Nilar and Kopp join to revolutionise nickel-metal hydride energy storage solutions

Nilar and Kopp will cooperate to revolutionise the market for smart and sustainable energy management with their first energy storage system product, based on a nickel-metal hydride. They will present their joint product at the ees Europe battery fair in Munich. The battery targets residential systems, predominantly in Germany, with a capacity of 5.76 kWh and a 15-year warranty (Press release).

TECO 2030 raises NOK 21.5 million

TECO 2030 has raised approximately NOK 21.5 million through a private placement of 4,125,170 new shares. The share price was set at approximately NOK 5 per share and issued to one investor that is not disclosed in the press release. The net earnings from the private placement will be used in the continued development of clean technology solutions, primarily for the maritime industry, with their marine fuel cells, according to Tore Enger, CEO of TECO 2030 (E24). 

TECO 2030 sign MoU with OTD: Provision of cleantech for maritime industry

Further on TECO 2030, they have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Singapore’s Offshore Technology Development (OTD), enabling OTD to provide TECO 2030’s cleantech products, such as hydrogen fuel cells and exhaust gas cleaning systems, to its clients within the maritime sector. Additionally, TECO 2030 will provide technical support and collaborate with OTD on handling all of its solutions, as well as providing training to their personnel (Press release). 

Northvolt unveils investment push in bid to win market share

Battery start-up Northvolt is on a new investment push. The Swedish next-generation battery-maker will invest SEK 6.6 billion (or USD 750 million) to give its laboratory in Västerås a makeover in a bid to become the first site for research and development that covers their batteries’ ecosystem. The initiative could result in another 600 engineering jobs opening up in Västerås within the next five years, which could help Northvolt acquire more market share as it competes with major manufacturers like CATL. (TT/SvD Näringsliv)

Green Volvo Cars to be built in Belgium

Volvo is expanding its line of green cars manufactured in Ghent, Belgium. Joining XC40, the brand’s first fully electrified model, the C40 will be Volvo Cars’ second model that will be assembled there. In connection to C40’s launch this spring, the Geely-owned manufacturer said it will sell solely electrified cars by 2030. Aiming to manufacture 135,000 electrified cars annually in Ghent, Volvo Cars plans on having at least half of 2022’s production volume to consist of electric vehicles. (TT/SvD Näringsliv)

What we’re reading
  • 11 Examples Of AI Climate Change Solutions For Zero Carbon (Forbes)
  • Clean environment is a human right, UN council agrees (The Guardian)
  • UK public now eating significantly less meat (BBC)
  • Google, YouTube to prohibit ads and monetization on climate denial content (Axios)



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.