Green solutions from Sweden

success through cleantech

Vol.1 EcoCycle Design imitates nature Action at the eleventh hour Minister for the Environment:

Sweden – take the lead!

Backpacks made of fishing nets ecotourism – from coast to mountains

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GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN | 1

Time to wake up!

Even for advertising agencies.

T

he majority of people want to “do good” and participate in reducing mankind’s environmental impact. This presents opportunities for serious companies with environmentally sound products. A new mindset in the target group generally means changing the message – and those who take that job most seriously will be the most successful.

Syre is making extra efforts to be the best advertising agency for communication using green claims, and now has an expert association that is unique in advertising. Dr Andreas Gyllenhammar has a Ph.D. in Environmental Analysis and with him we have the analytical expertise to identify environmental strengths and weaknesses, so that we can base market communication on credible arguments founded on facts. Are you afraid of getting lost in green washing, green noise or have you already ended up in green muting? Let us help you.

Stortorget 8, SE-831 31 Östersund. +46 63 57 50 70 Engelbrektgatan 9, 3 tr, SE-114 32 Stockholm. +46 8 546 101 20 www.syre.se

2 | GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN

Energy from the forest

www.forestproducts.sca.com

wind-power production in Sweden – an investment totaling SEK 16 billion.

Our growing forests bind carbon dioxide, provide valuable raw materials for Sweden’s most important industry and provide renewable electricity – without the need for burning first-class industrial raw materials to produce energy.

SCA FOREST PRODUCTS

MELLERSTEDT DESIGN

SCA and the Norwegian power company Statkraft are investing heavily in wind power. The two companies will construct six wind farms in the woodlands of central Norrland, with a total of 450 wind turbines. When fully constructed, this venture will generate 2,400 GWh of renewable electricity per year, corresponding to 2% of Sweden’s total electricity consumption, and three times the current

GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN | 3

let ter from the publisher

highlights

Wake Up and take action World!

Welcome to the first magazine about green products and technology from Sweden. We want to bring knowledge, information and inspiration about green, profitable and sustainable long-term solutions from Sweden.

It is now time to move from words to action. We only have one Earth to share, and the number of us that have to share it is growing rapidly. We all bear complete responsibility for what we do – and what we don’t do.

We are moving from the old economy to a new, green economy.

Sweden has genuine knowledge of and long experience of the subject; it is our obligation to make an active contribution to sharing this knowledge. It is a pleasant bonus for Sweden Ltd that our environmental technology companies can increase their business.

We must also persuade the rest of the world to ride the train to the future. Read the article about our Minister for the Environment, Andreas Carlgren, who is encouraging Sweden to take the forefront in CleanTech. This message is in tune with the times, as for six months from july 1 we hold the presidency of the EU. A new economy also requires new leadership – a leadership that is genuine, credible and sustainable. Göran Carstedt takes up these important issues on pages 16–19.

Work is now beginning on building a sustainable world. The biggest challenge is that of population growth, which is stunningly depicted in Thomas Friedman’s book “Hot, flat and crowded”. The clock is ticking and by 2020 another billion people will be living, eating, working and consuming on our shared globe.

We cannot continue along the same path, as then things will never change. Population growth is without doubt the greatest challenge facing us.

Eco-cycle design, the concept of eco-friendly construction that you can read about on pages 62–75, shows how we need to think and act in order to succeed in managing the provision of homes in the future.

Green Solutions from Sweden wants to convey feelings and experiences. We hope that you will put the magazine to good use and that you will encourage others to read it. You can find more suggestions for profitable green choices at www.cleantechregion.com.

Let’s assume our shared responsibility and leadership for a sustainable, green future. Let’s decide that the future will be bright.

cover © Sören Larsen/ Johnér

highlights Vol.1 006.

Cleantech to boost the world economy Cleantech is a rapidly growing global industry offering lots of opportunities for investment and growth.

016.

Action at the eleventh hour Göran Carstedt, Clinton Climate Initiative: “We need demanding objectives that force us to look for solutions. It’s only then that we might find them.”

022.

Sweden – take the lead in cleantech!

Andreas Carlgren, Sweden’s Minister for the Environment, believes Sweden is one of the countries in Europe with most experience in successful, long-term work on climate change, and he wants to take the lead within cleantech.

Welcome to the new green economy!

Lars Ling

Project Manager, MidSweden Chamber of Commerce

022.

4 | GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN

026.

Traps salt and stores solar energy The Swedish company Climatewell has developed a groundbreaking method for solving a problem researchers have puzzled over for one hundred years!

040.

Building bridges to the future Sten Söderberg, the man behind the GreenTech Building in Stockholm and the Green CEO Network, says that the world is rapidly approaching an abyss.

046.

Who does what how? ”We need a worldwide springboard for sustainability issues, to get a global policy framework in place.” Carl Mossfeldt heads one of the world’s leading forums for climate issues, the Tällberg Foundation.

050.

Stored snow cools hospital When the snow cooler replaced the air-conditioning machines at Sundsvall Hospital electricity consumption for cooling dropped by more than 90 percent.

062.

062.

102.

“EcoCycle Design is about imitating nature, a tool to use when building sustainable societies.” The founder of the concept, architect Anders Nyquist, approaches all projects – both buildings and social planning – from an ecocycling perspective.

Ecotourism is one of the fastest-growing areas of tourism globally. It is no coincidence that most ecotourism companies in Sweden are located in this region.

“Everyone can be part of this fascinating evolution”

Room for sustainable tourism and natural experiences

076.

Miniature rainforest cleans air The Royal Palace in Stockholm has discovered the advantages of ‘living filter’ technology.

088.

The fast track to a more climatefriendly future Enormous environmental benefits, cheaper transport and childishly easy to load and unload. The fully automatic railway carriage that makes all this possible is already here.

094.

Green Highway – Scandinavia’s green transport axis Along the full length of the E14 (almost 500 km), there will be facilities for filling up vehicles with biogas, ethanol, rapeseed diesel and, not least, electricity.

076.

120.

Backpacks made of nylon recycled from fishing nets “Using a backpack made from recycled material cuts the use of natural resources by 28 percent and even cuts emissions by the same 28 percent,” says Eva Askulv, head of marketing at Klättermusen.

126.

at the forefront of green snow Prior to the upcoming season, a new snow cannon is being tested, designed to radically reduce environmental impact. Lars Åke Svensson, sales director: ”What we’re working with now is next generation technology, a completely new way to make snow.”

126.

GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN | 5

6 | GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN

CLEANTECH TO BOOST THE WORLS ECONOMY

Cleantech to boost the world economy Cleantech is a rapidly growing global industry offering lots of opportunities for investment and growth. World leaders are currently competing with one another to become the person speaking most warmly in favour of cleantech.

BY gunnar andersson

The European Commission has put forward a stimulus and recovery package worth a total of 200 billion euro.

One aim of the recovery package is to promote efforts to cope with climate change and, at the same time, to create badly needed job opportunities, through initiatives such as investment in energyefficient buildings and energyefficient technology.

PHOTOs istockphoto, scanpix

S

ome describe cleantech as the next technological revolution – the sixth in a row. If that proves to be true, cleantech is going to offer huge opportunities in future. To date, the threat of climate change and the supplies of energy and water have been the drivers behind much technological development, but with the global financial crisis, cleantech gained a broader role in economic development.

One of the people recently to stress the significance of cleantech is EU Commissioner for the Environment, Stavros Dimas – at a breakfast meeting in Brussels in May, he highlighted the importance of eco-technology to the hard work involved in combating climate change. He also stated

his opinion that the economic crisis has proven to be a golden opportunity for increasing the rate of investment for creating an economy based on low carbon-dioxide emissions.

However, perhaps the new government in the USA has come out as most hard-hitting. There, the environmental issues have been interwoven into the stimulus package which is intended to get the US economy back on its feet again. US$ 150 billion over ten years for renewable energy and more fuel-efficient cars are to provide five million green jobs. Barack Obama and his government have not held back on their climate commitments, and their investment is now being followed by millions of hopeful voters, environmental organisations, companies and politicians the world over.

GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN | 7

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CLEANTECH TO BOOST THE WORLS ECONOMY

“

e are strengthening the EU’s energy W security while also providing a massive boost to technology with low carbon dioxide emissions.

The UK’s Gordon Brown is another of the world’s leaders who have entered the race. In the Observer newspaper in January, he maintained that the UK’s plans to create a new generation of green jobs, relatively speaking, would become a greater investment than Barack Obama’s investment of US$ 150 billion. He hopes that, in the years to come, around 100,000 new jobs will be created because of investments to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

The European Commission has put forward a stimulus and recovery package worth a total of 200 billion euro. One aim of the recovery package is to promote efforts to cope with climate change and, at the same time, to create badly needed job opportunities, through initiatives such as investment in energy-efficient buildings and energy-efficient technology.

“With these measures, we are strengthening the EU’s energy security while also providing a massive boost to technology with low carbon dioxide emissions,” said Stavros Dimas at the breakfast meeting held in Brussels on 7 May.

The European economic recovery plan, the American stimulus package and other similar initiatives in countries such as China and South Korea, have been formulated to stimulate the economy by investing in energy-efficient technology and renewable sources of energy. Stavros Dimas believes that growth will be created on the basis of lower carbon dioxide emissions.

“This fully reflects the European Council’s vision of an integrated climate and energy strategy,” Stavros Dimas said.

Many cleantech companies are now turning their eyes towards all of these investments. However, the question is whether these green winds are truly going to result in export opportunities and consultancy assignments?

Eileen Claussen is President of the American environmental institute, the Pew Center. She tells the Swedish industry journal, Miljö & Utveckling [Environment & Development] that there are huge opportunities for companies but that she is unsure of what the future is going to hold in more concrete terms.

One obstacle that she points out is the socalled Buy America clause in the American stimulus package which is intended to favour American companies. At the same time, she says there is a lot to indicate that most eco-technology will need to be imported and that this clause excepts goods which the USA is unable to manufacture in sufficiently large quantities.

Robert J Silverman, Chargé d’Affaires and acting American ambassador to Sweden, states his opinion, in the same journal, that great opportunities are going to open up for Swedish companies with the new American government and its stimulus package.

The former American ambassador to Sweden, Michael Wood, worked hard to promote Swedish eco-technology in the USA, for example by drawing up a list of recommended Swedish companies, currently numbering 52.

“Wood started a good initiative, and we really want to continue with that,” stresses Robert Silverman to Miljö & Utveckling. n

8 | GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN

engy

Efficiant energy solutions for the local community Engy offers major energy consumers an opportunity to reduce costs, increase operational margins and raise the value of their properties. At the same time, compliance with current climate and environmental requirements is also made possible.

Engy’s unique concept Supply means that Engy offers green and environmentally certified energy direct from the source, on the basis of specific customer needs and the prevailing local circumstances.

Demand means that Engy identifies total actual energy requirements and adapts energy consumption to the specific needs of the operational activities. We ensure that our customers’ properties, systems and facilities are suitably dimensioned, furnished with the optimal technology and benefit from the correct settings. Engy also works to ensure that energy is utilised in accordance with the requirements and wishes of the tenant or end consumer.

Engy AB GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN | 9 Eriksbergsparken 1 / 114 30 Stockholm / Sweden / Tel +46 (0)8 407 32 00 / Fax +46 (0)8 694 93 50 / www.engy.com

engy-anonns-02.indd 3

6/7/09 10:41:07

CLEANTECH EXPANDING

Cleantech expanding Technology that’s not only durable but also good for both your wallet and the environment – that’s what we call Clean Technologies, or, more commonly, cleantech.

Just five years ago, cleantech was a fairly unknown concept to most people. Today, cleantech is a trend that is quickly spreading throughout the world.

BY emma lindqvist

PHOTOs scanpix

I

t spans everything from clean vehicles, wind turbines and energy-efficient housing to consulting services and manufacturing industries. You can’t really call cleantech a unified industry, even if all cleantech companies work towards the same goal: to develop technologies that reduce environmental impact at as competitive a price as possible.

Since the cleantech concept is relatively new, innovators and producers need to show a fair amount of perseverance. The cleantech companies found in Sweden are still relatively small and the muscles that are needed to reach export markets are still under development. Success requires a great deal of hard work with product development, sales packaging, marketing and capital. However, most agree that a considerable increase in exports is to be expected.

According to new statistics from Statistics Sweden, sales in environmental engineering reached SEK 115 billion in Sweden in 2007, and there were 4,887 companies.

“These are not particularly impressive figures, but we’re working to improve them,” says Berit Gullbransson, head of operations at Swentec, the Swedish Environmental Technology Council.

In order to be classed by Swentec as an environmental engineering company, the company must work with a technical solution that is more suited to sustainable development than existing solu10 | GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN

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GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN | 11

CLEANTECH EXPANDING

things. Currently, Germany, Denmark and Norway are the most interesting countries to work with,” she explains.

One person who wants to invest in the German market is Johan Ihrfelt. He is most well known as the founder of the Swedish web portal Spray, which received a great deal of attention at the end of the 1990s. He’s now investing in environmental technology instead and is CEO of the wind power company o2, which he started together with his former Spray colleague Thomas von Otter.

“Sweden has great opportunities in the export of green electricity. We can produce considerably more electricity than we need and if we look south towards Europe then we can see that they have nothing like the same opportunities,” Ihrfelt claims.

Sweden have long, bright summers that are suited to producing copious amounts of solar power.

tions. Eighty percent of the companies classed as environmental engineering companies have fewer than ten employees. Swentec has a government mandate to develop an effective general structure to strengthen Swedish environmental engineering.

This is achieved by several means.

“Each year we export environmental technology with a total value of SEK 33 billion, so there’s plenty of room for expansion here,” says Gullbransson.

She explains that Sweden is good at refining existing technologies and invests large sums in research, but that we are not as good as commercialising the technologies and need to know exactly which countries would be appropriate partners.

“Sweden has progressed fairly well in environmental engineering, but we need to find suitable partners and ensure that we are selling the right

He means that Sweden has the open landscapes needed for wind power to really pay off and that offshore wind turbines are still too expensive.

We also have long, bright summers that are suited to producing copious amounts of solar power.

At present, cleantech companies are hot and many are investing incredible sums of money. But according to Ihrfelt, there’s no risk of a bubble about to burst.

“In fact, I think that the credit crunch favours the cleantech trend. Prior to the onset of the global crisis, some cleantech companies were being valued very high. The credit crunch put a stop to it,” he says.

For Johan Ihrfelt, it’s not the prospects of good profits that drive him to invest in cleantech.

“I think many entrepreneurs, just like me, are driven by the will to change and influence society.

If this can be achieved through a company, then that’s just great. The company becomes a tool to realise the social change,” he says. n

strategic areas Swentec works in five strategic areas of environmental technology: • Political governance Sweden needs stable regulations that transcend mandate periods, encouraging market incentives and clear divisions of responsibility in the public sector.

12 | GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN

• Expertise in sustainable development Sweden is at an advantage with its well developed expertise in the field of sustainable development. This needs to be maintained and refined.

• Coordination Sweden needs to coordinate by optimising and concentrating efforts to find winning concepts.

• Commercialisation Sweden has great potential to generate enterprise from investments in research and development in both the academic and the business worlds. Actual and potential demand are the guiding lights.

• Business models Sweden needs adaptive business models to manage the possibilities offered by different markets.

Source: www.swentec.se

Advertisement

S

oon the Swedish entrepreneurs, constructors and suppliers from Bergslagen will be able to put cutting-edge green technology for sustainable steel production on the global market

Background Steel production consumes a lot of energy and creates large amounts of waste. Future societies that are based on sustainable development will also be dependent on steel, but there will be tough demands for reduced power consumption, that excess energy is put to use and that waste is reduced and put back into the eco-cycle. In our region of Sweden, Bergslagen, there are many companies that are well placed to develop, produce and sell products for long-term, sustainable development in the steel industry. Bergslagen’s many steel manufacturers comprise a large and demanding domestic market that provides the right conditions for developing and achieving world class products.

The global need for equipment, systems or “know how” in this area is large and growing rapidly.

Gradual build-up The first stage of the Clean Production Centre was finished in January 2009 and laid a foundation for the building of a cluster. Thirty companies are now part of this cluster and their number is increasing. The cluster’s activities have been organised into business platforms. Two platforms have been established and another two are being planned or are at the start-up stage. Thus far within the platforms 19 development projects have been identified. Three of them are on the way to becoming commercial, while the others are at different stages of evaluation/development. The cluster’s working methods and cooperative forms are under construction. In total, around 50 people are involved in the cluster project.

Clean Production Centre Clean Production Centre provides project management, external analysis, network building and functions as a “way in” to these companies’ constructions and products.

The local companies in Bergslagen know how to build robust constructions for tough conditions. Clean Production Centre looks for cutting-edge companies around the world and jointly tests their constructions at our demanding steel producers.

In the autumn of 2009, an international website will be built to begin the marketing of this cluster’s new, green technology for a global market.

Clean Production Centre has its head office in the Företagarhuset building in Hofors. The unit, which was originally run by Hofors Municipality, is now run as part of Triple Steelix. This is a regional development project that involves eight municipalities, three counties, eight major steel companies and around 200 smaller companies in Bergslagen. The project holder is Jernkontoret – the Swedish Steel Producers’ Association.

The aim is to boost the steel cluster in Bergslagen. In addition to Triple Steelix, activities are financed by the EU’s regional development fund, Region Gävleborg and Hofors, Sandviken and Ockelbo municipalities. However, its greatest resource is the companies’ efforts and achievements.

Contact: Patrick Olsson, Project manager, office +46 290 29417 , mobile +46 70 3141355, e-mail patrick@cleanproduction.se Visit us at the WWW (Soon in English) www.cleanproduction.se

GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN | 13

cleantech globally hot

Cleantech globally hot Right around the world, investment is being made in cleantech. It is a matter of economic investment as an economic stimulus and to reduce impact on the environment. Here are a few of all of those investments.

BY emma lindqvist

illustr ation syre

USA – Five million green jobs, US$ 150 billion

over ten years for renewable energy and more fuel-efficient cars, reduced dependency on oil, one million plug-in hybrid cars by 2015, 10 per cent renewable electricity by 2012, 25 per cent by 2025.

A national system for carbon trading to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80 per cent by 2050.

That is what Barack Obama is promising the world in his economic stimulus package.

In 2007, two of the five biggest deals on the risk capital market in the USA were in the cleantech sector, which grew by SEK 2.2 billion distributed over 201 deals.

UK – This spring, the G20 meeting held in

London resulted in a decision that 15 per cent of State grants should be earmarked for cleantech.

That means a total of almost US$ 400 billion. For Europe, this means US$ 54.2 billion, or 17 per cent of the total sum.

14 | GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN

Sweden – The government has commissioned

the Invest in Sweden Agency (ISA) to concentrate on promoting investment in the field of environmental technology. The investment covers SEK 10 million between 2008 and 2010 inclusive.

The aim of the task is to promote investment by foreign companies in the environmental technology field in Sweden, thereby contributing to economic development, increased technological development and more jobs in Sweden.

Denmark – The Danish daily newspaper

Berlingske Tidende writes that Denmark’s finance minister has announced the establishment of a new organisation to help stimulate exports by Danish cleantech companies. The organisation is to be called the Cleantech Alliance and is part of an overall strategy for creating economic growth and new job opportunities in a sector in which Denmark is regarded as having significant competitive strength on the international market.

Israel – Despite the economic crisis, in 2008

cleantech set new records as regards investment all over the world, according to analysis company, the Cleantech Group. The value of investment rose by 38 per cent.

Growth in Israel and Germany was most impressive. The risk capital investments more than trebled in each of those countries’ cleantech industries, to US$ 247 million and US$ 383 million, respectively.

South Africa – The Board of the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) has approved a sum of around US$ 12.5 million, for capital investment in the development of the Evolution One Fund. It is the first specialised private capital fund targeting the acceleration and use of clean energy and sustainable technology throughout southern Africa, to mitigate the effects of climate change on the continent.

China – A McKinsey & Co study, discussed in

BusinessWeek, shows that, by 2025, it is estimated that more than 350 million people – more than the entire population of the USA – will move from the countryside into the cities in China. That means that five million buildings are going to have to be built, including 50,000 skyscrapers. And the new offices and homes are rapidly going to be filled with energy-hungry computers, TV, air conditioning and similar items. The demand for electricity is going to increase strongly, and today that comes primarily from coal power stations.

A government mandate has determined that, by the end of next year, each unit of economic production ought to use 20 per cent less energy and 30 per cent less water than in 2005. Parts of Beijing’s economic stimulus package of US$ 587 billion are earmarked for cleantech.

GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN | 15

gör an carstedt

Action at the eleventh hour Climate change is a global problem that demands immediate action. Göran Carstedt, a Swedish businessman with a great passion for the environment, is one of those who doesn’t believe ‘someone else’ should solve the problem.

With his involvement in the Clinton Climate Initiative he has contributed to targeted changes currently underway in many places throughout the world.

“We need demanding objectives that force us to look for solutions. It’s only then that we might find them,” says Carstedt.

BY mi edvinsson

PHOTOs john chung mccurdy, istockphoto, scanpix

G

öran Carstedt is an economist with overseas managerial experience from several Swedish companies. IKEA in North America and Volvo in France are workplaces where he spend many years refining his leadership skills. Now it is primarily the climate and the sustainability challenge that is closest to his heart, with special emphasis on the leadership dimension. To develop in a sustainable direction we need leadership showing the way. Such leadership can be exercised by all of us, as political and business leaders, but also as parents, consumers and citizens.

As far back as he can remember, he’s had an interest in the environment. One outlet for this is

16 | GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN

that he has long been involved in The Natural Step, a foundation that educates and inspires decision makers towards a more sustainable world. Via the Clinton Climate Initiative, in recent years Carstedt has worked with climate issues more than fulltime.

He’s reached the age of 60, but has no plans to slow down. Travelling the world, he invites people to his club, FSRS. FSRS stands for “Finally Sixty and Ready to Start”. Because – what if all we have learnt in our lives up to 60 was to prepare ourselves for doing something really meaningful? For Göran Carstedt, finding a sustainable way of living is his meaningful agenda.

“We need a new way of thinking which means to live in harmony with nature, not try to conquer

»

Göran Carstedt lives more intimately with climate issues than most of us. As far back as he can remember, he’s had an interest in the environment.

GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN | 17

gör an carstedt

Clinton Climate Initiatine helps cities initiate projects to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. As an example, we can take a project recently launched in Los Angeles whereby 140,000 street lights are to be replaced with high-effect LED lights, which will reduce the city’s carbon dioxide emissions by 70 percent.

nature. We have to leave the linear take, make, waste industrial approach and start acting more like nature itself, in a truly circular process,” he says.

And it is very urgent. A series of recently published new scientific findings show an alarming picture. Climate change is both more rapid – and its consequences more serious – than anticipated just a few years ago. There is no time to lose. It is time to stop debating and start dealing with it.

When the Clinton Foundation, the organisation founded by former US President Bill Clinton, was preparing to start the Clinton Climate Initiative (CCI) three years ago, Carstedt was invited to join them. With his passion for the environment and business world experience he was considered to be made of the right stuff. Göran Carstedt and his colleagues at CCI have worked day and night to develop a model for finding new solutions to urgent climate problems. Fieldwork is already underway.

Together with governments, companies and voluntary organisations throughout the world CCI focuses on three programme areas to counter global warming: technological developments for large-scale clean energy production, forest conservation for natural carbon dioxide absorption and projects that can reduce greenhouse gas emissions in cities. The focus on cities is a strategically smart move. While cities cover only 2 percent of the earth’s surface, they represent about 75 percent

18 | GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN

of world energy consumption and two-thirds of greenhouse gas emissions.

C40 is a gathering of 40 of the world’s largest cities that have agreed to combat climate change.

CCI helps these cities initiate projects to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. As an example, we can take a project recently launched in Los Angeles whereby 140,000 street lights are to be replaced with high-effect LED lights, which will reduce the city’s carbon dioxide emissions by 70 percent. The traffic lights have also been replaced with the new technology and now consume only a tenth of the energy they used to. This has reduced the city’s electricity costs by 75 percent. Other initiatives that can offer major positive climate effects are retrofitting of buildings to increase energy efficiency, converting waste and methane gas produced at open land fills into energy and to transform transportation.

“We need practical, measureable and scalable projects and the power of powerful examples. We need to demonstrate workable solutions that other cities can quickly adopt. There’s no time for each of us to reinvent the wheel again,” says Carstedt.

The people who have built up CCI are all driven by a strong desire to find a business model that is sustainable. They represent many different nationalities and have mostly been selected from the business world. So what does business have to do with climate issues?

“We must drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In order to do this, we need innovation and courage. People innovate. Not organisations.

Creative, innovative people are what we need, and many such people can be found in the business world. We need to find applicable business models to implement the necessary changes. Subventions and legislation may be needed at first, but in the long term, these things have to support themselves economically,” says Carstedt.

New technology is most often expensive. The market is small and manufacturing costs are high.

In order to speed development and stimulate purchases of green products, CCI works to coordinate purchases so as to increase manufacturing volumes and bring down prices to reasonable levels. This is the logic of the market, but with a little help to quickly get the future of the world back on a more sustainable track.

Similarly, we must stimulate development in all other parts of the world. Carstedt’s home country, Sweden, has a strong tradition of green thinking.

It’s a country that reports credible results in terms of the reduction in carbon emissions and there are ample innovations in environmental engineering.

However, this does not necessarily mean that Sweden will automatically assume a leading position in environmental and climate issues in the future.

“Although we’ve made a great deal of progress in Sweden, we cannot rest on our laurels. We too must put aggressive climate goals in place domestically to add momentum to new developments and cleantech solutions. When you are forced to look for solutions, new development generally picks up speed,” says Carstedt.

acts as though they are isolated islands. But we are all part of the global whole, and we must find new forms of collaboration to succeed.”

Göran Carstedt lives more intimately with climate issues than most of us. He is confronted by them every day and sometimes gets so anxious that he has difficulty sleeping. Are things going fast enough? Will we manage to slow climate change before it’s too late? Many individual projects and initiatives are started around the world, but inertia and vested interests are strong forces holding back.

The world simply has no experience of and no effective organisation for solving global problems.

“

According to Carstedt, some form of

stimulus and pressure is required if you are to get people into action, and he predicts increased use of such methods in the near future. More demanding objectives, more measurements and follow-ups of carbon emissions at all levels. How much emission is permitted in each region? Each town? Each company? This will put pressure on new solutions and it will help steer in the right direction.

Large countries invest billions in green technology. Retail companies label goods with their carbon footprints and offer consumers the option to choose. We are seeing many positive developments, but the pace leaves a lot to be desired.

“Things are moving so slowly! Society is not organised for radical changes. Different parties are sitting in different places and fail to get together to produce good solutions collectively. Everyone

e too must put aggressive climate W goals in place domestically to add momentum to new developments and cleantech solutions.

“Sometimes I wonder if we really have the drive and energy that it takes. It feels as though we’re a little too comfortable, particularly here in Sweden and in the western world. My parents’ generation were motivated to rise from poverty, to make a better life. Today we are more trying to defend what we already have. What drives us to deal with climate issues that seem distant in both time and space? To give of their best, people need a cause to believe in that will bring forth their passion, a mighty project that will give our work meaning. That is the leadership challenge we are all facing.”

Come dawn, when the doubts have been cleared from his mind, he’s more hopeful. Göran Carstedt tirelessly continues his work. He finds comfort in considering how the industrial revolution took place just 150 years ago. There was no plan, there was no head office, no centralised decisions – only the product of millions of small beginnings, an outpouring of human creativity that transformed our society. Hopefully, we can make that happen again.

“We all have to become a part of such small beginnings, because it is not ethical to continue delaying actions that we already know are necessary. We can not claim that we did not know”, says Göran Carstedt. n

GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN | 19

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In combination with small or large district heating systems Up to 60% of the total installation cost subsidized by the government

•

Large hotels, airports, industries, district heating plants Only locations with high direct solar radiation, and availability of experienced installers Possibly in combination with solar cooling or solar desalination

Absolicon Solar Concentrator AB • Matrosgatan 5 • SE-871 33 Härnösand • Sweden Phone: +46-611-55 70 00 • Fax: +46-611-557210 • VAT: SE556729-0183-01 E-mail: info@absolicon.com • Web: www.absolicon.com

20 | GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN

Unique technology in the north of Sweden for a cool hospital Västernorrland in the north of Sweden is aiming for energy efficiency by employing a unique method - Snow Cooling, at the county hospital in Sundsvall. The snow cooling plant here is the first of its kind in the world and has already reduced electricity consumption by 90 percent.

In the winter, about 70,000 cubic metres of snow is cleared from streets and car parks, stored in a reservoir the size of a football pitch and covered with a 20 cm layer of wood chips. In the summer, the melted snow is then used to cool hospital facilities.

However, snow cooling is only one part of the County Council’s extensive environmental and energy saving activities. As a result of these successful projects, the region’s carbon dioxide emissions have decreased by more than 50 percent between 1995 and 2009. In 1995 as much as 5,200 MWh of electricity and oil were used for heating buildings and hot water. Today, fossil fuels have been completely replaced by district heating and biofuels. Västernorrland is one of 12 partners in the Interreg-project More4NRG.

C

oun ty c n u o

cil

tern Väs

orrl

and

For further information please contact: Mr Jan Lindberg, Energy controller County Council of Västernorrland Telephone: +46 611 802 90 E-mail: jan.lindberg1@lvn.se

County Council of Västernorrland is responsible for provision of healthcare, dental care and other specific public services in the region.

www.lvn.se

Biorefinery of the Future is a cluster initiative developing new products and markets based on wood. Companies, universities and public sector cooperate to create biofuels, green chemistry, bioenergy and green materials.

Care to join?

www.bioraffinaderi.se

GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN | 21

andreas carlgren

Minister for the Environment:

Sweden – take the lead in cleantech!

22 | GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN

Andreas Carlgren, Sweden’s Minister for the Environment, believes Sweden is one of the countries in Europe with most experience in successful, long-term work on climate change, and he wants to take the lead within cleantech.

“Swedish eco-technology leads the world in many respects and has become one of our trademarks abroad,” he says.

BY erik säfvenberg

S

PHOTO victor brott

ince the end of the 1980s, Andreas Carlgren has been working on climate and environmental issues, including climate development programmes for industry, and has been actively involved in the debate on environmental issues for a long time. So he was also a natural choice when the post of Minister for the Environment was to be filled after Sweden’s parliamentary elections in 2006, after which his party formed one part of the victorious coalition. He is an advocate of cleantech and points out that the latest available summary shows that growth in eco-technology exports has been higher than the overall increase in Swedish exports.

“The eco-technology market is estimated by the UNEP to be worth around US$ 1400 billion. As regards energy supply, the IEA (International Energy Agency) estimates that the global investment required is US$ 1,000 billion per year up to the year 2030. So there is no doubt about it – unprecedented amounts of money are going to be invested in ecoand energy technology,” says the minister.

In addition, he is of the opinion that the need for new products, services and systematic solutions which will contribute to resolving these global challenges will be an exceptional opportunity for strengthened competitiveness, well-being and new jobs in the future also.

“From the Swedish perspective, it is important for us to succeed in getting more companies to grow on an interna-

tional plane to a greater extent than is the case today. The strong growth that Sweden’s eco-technology industry has already seen during recent years indicates the potential of the green economy. Small and medium-sized businesses have a central role to play in finding new, innovative solutions,” he believes.

Andreas Carlgren points out that the percentage change as regards turnover, exports and the number of employees from 2003 to 2007 shows a continuing positive trend in Sweden. Above all, the area of waste management and recycling is making great progress, both as regards turnover and exports. Within the bioenergy field too, statistics show a real increase in exports.

For Carlgren, the climate issue is important but the use of existing or new technology is also crucial to allow emissions to be reduced and to convert to an eco-efficient economy.

“Strengthened competitiveness and growth must be achieved at the same time as a sustainable energy supply, efficient use of resources and fulfilment of our climate and environment targets,” he states firmly.

Sweden’s Minister for the Environment is of the opinion that Swedish eco-technology is, in many ways, worldleading and has become one of Sweden’s trademarks internationally.

“We are one of the countries in Europe with most experience in successful, long-term climate change work which has

been successful as regards combining the transformation of the energy system and reductions in greenhouse gas emissions with economic growth. We also have a great deal of experience in using economic controls to stimulate the transformation of industry, making it more efficient.

Coordination between different policy areas is also well developed from an international perspective.”

In his opinion also many Swedish solutions are already available on the international market, and there is huge untapped potential for further innovation and for distributing new technology which could involve further cost savings and environmental benefits.

“One good example would be efficient energy systems which involve making use of waste heat, increasing the use of the potentials for combined heat and power, and other efficient solutions,” says the minister.

For the Minister for the Environment, the export of know-how is just as important as the technology… He believes that Sweden’s know-how, and its ability to see system solutions, can create new export markets.

“In more mature markets it is more a question of eco-technology solutions, although still combined with services for installation, operations and maintenance,” believes Carlgren. n

GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN | 23

net workS

Sweden has a large number of different trade organisations, regional networks and state organisations that support Swedish companies wanting to invest in exporting environmental engineering solutions. They offer expertise, contacts and financing. According to estimates from the Swedish Trade Council there are at least one hundred networks that Swedish companies can turn to for help.

These range from trade organisations to regional networks and state initiatives.

Here we list a few of them with a primary focus on export.

BY gunnar andersson

PHOTO istockphoto

Networks support Swedish environmental exports

24 | GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN

Western Sweden:

Northern Sweden:

Sustainable Business Mälardalen

Ecoex

Centek

A public initiative to increase green exports from western Sweden. The aim is increased growth of the participating companies and the generation of new employment opportunities in the region. Companies are offered guidance, help with contacts and networking and business contacts in a number of markets.

Each sub-region has export developers located near the participating companies. www.ecoex.se

Works with business development and supporting smaller companies in their internationalisation efforts. www.centek.se

The project CLEAN Export Mälardalen offers small scale system solutions in soil and water purification, climate smart constructions, recycling design and renewable energy. www.cleanexport.se

Cleantech Inwest

Cleantech Region

Works with, among other things, promoting the region’s environmental engineering companies in international markets.

Currently making an inventory of all environmental engineering companies in the area in order to assess their needs. www.cleantechregion.com

Cleantech Inwest is tasked with marketing regional cleantech expertise to overseas investors. The project is part of a national collaborative project in cooperation with the city regions, Region Norrland and the Invest in Sweden Agency (ISA). www.businessregion.se

Stiftelsen teknikdalen (The Technology Valley Foundation)

Southern Sweden:

Central Sweden:

Sustainable Business Hub

Stockholms miljöteknikcenter (Stockholm Environmental Engineering Centre)

A network that helps companies in the environment and energy sectors develop their business in both Sweden and the export market. Offers assistance in finding financing, partners, market analysis and more. Also tries to encourage ‘normal’ companies to invest in cleantech development. Runs, among other things, Sustainable Hospitals and ByggaBoDialogen. www.sbhub.se Sweden Cleantech Incubators

Incubator for environmental engineering based in Skåne and tasked with speeding the road to success for new environmental engineering companies by finding, promoting and supporting recently established companies. Works mostly with the commercialisation of new innovations.

The incubator is ‘virtual’. www.scti.se

Offers new entrepreneurs and innovators help with business development and project realisation. Also has an incubator programme. www.teknikdalen.se

A business development center that gathers cleantech companies, institutes, municipalities and universities/colleges in the Stockholm/Mälardalen region. www.smtc.se Sting

An incubator that works with the commercialisation of new innovations.

Offers guidance, help with networking, sales development and financing advice. www.stockholminnovation.com Cleantech Östergötland

Cleantech Östergötland, centered around the Twin Cities of Sweden – Linköping and Norrköping, is a business oriented arena established by actors within the sector of environmental technology. The main objective is to support business opportunities by promoting products and competences of the region. The initiative is a triple-helix collaboration, between the Cleantech Industry, Linköping University and the public sector. www.cleantechostergotland.se

Others: Swedish Energy Agency

Invests in cleantech companies that meet certain criteria. Launched the Cleantech of Sweden website last autumn. The idea of the site is to make it easier for Swedish companies and potential customers to find each other. When the website was presented in October about twenty companies had been registered. www.cleantechofsweden.se Swentec

Swentec, the Swedish Environmental Technology Council, has a government mandate to develop an effective structure to increase growth in Swedish environmental engineering. Mediates knowledge, increases coordination, initiates new business models and promotes good examples. Also offers a financing guide on its website. www.swentec.se Swedish Trade Council

The Swedish Trade Council’s mission is to make it easier for Swedish companies to grow internationally. It offers help with market analysis, finding agents in other countries and acquiring overseas competitors. The Council can also offer some help with financing. The Council has regional export advisors in each county for companies to contact. Only works with companies that already have a functional product. www.swedishtrade.se/miljoteknik Internationaliseringsguiden (The Internationalisation Guide)

Offers financing assistance to smaller companies that want to enter the export market. Here companies can also get information on where to go for advice, expert help and more. www.internationaliseringsguiden.se GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN | 25

26 | GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN

case : clim atewell

Traps salt and stores solar energy With the aid of a trap that collects salt crystals solar energy can be stored and used to heat or cool. The Swedish company Climatewell has developed a groundbreaking method for solving a problem researchers have puzzled over for one hundred years!

BY per trostemo

PHOTOs climatewell

“B

ut you can’t write that. You’ve completely misunderstood it!

Chemist and researcher Ray Olsson was a little surprised at his wife Mona when he proofread her essay. Mona was studying chemistry at Uppsala University and had decided to use her husband’s research as the subject of her essay. Ray had, for one thing, studied the possibility of storing solar energy in the wake of the 1970s oil crisis.

And now, Mona’s essay had got Ray thinking. Maybe there was something in what she had ‘misunderstood’? In any case, a new door was opened in Ray’s mind, and the following morning he rushed to the lab to test the new ideas his wife had instigated.

The ‘misunderstanding’ resulted in a revolutionary method for storing solar energy. A problem that researchers the world over have tried to solve for one hundred years. Ray Olsson refined the idea together with chemist Staffan Johnsson and tech-

nician Göran Bolin. The company Climatewell AB produced the method behind the TCA, or Thermo Chemical Accumulator.

“The problem with solar heat is of course that the sun often shines at the wrong time in relation to when the energy is most needed. With our method the energy from solar collectors can be stored and either used as heating or transformed into cooling,” says Göran Bolin, CTO at Climatewell.

The key to the invention is a unique salt

trap. The solar heat is transformed into chemical energy in lithium chloride, a substance with the same properties as road salt. In a vacuum, the salt is allowed to crystallise and is then trapped in the salt trap. The method provides high density energy storage, and what’s more the system can ‘stop’ when fully charged. With the aid of valves and regulation techniques hot and cold water can be taken from the system in different ways.

»

GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN | 27

Climatewell has developed a method for storing solar energy: the TCA, or Thermo Chemical Accumulator.

Thekey to the invention is a unique salt trap. The solar heat is transformed into chemical energy in lithium chloride. In a vacuum, the salt is allowed to crystallise and is then trapped in the salt trap.

“

e want to contribute to W global, sustainable and renewable energy production.

Of particular interest is the use of the method in air conditioning. The home air conditioning market has rocketed and in warmer southern countries cooling now represents a large share of household energy consumption. In the USA and Japan an estimated 80 percent of all office buildings are fitted with climate systems and the equivalent figure for the EU is rapidly increasing. All in all, about ten percent of the world’s electricity production is used for air conditioning systems, for cooling in hot climates, for dehumidifying the air and, not unexpectedly, for cooling computer equipment.

Climatewell has established a factory

in Spain to manufacture its solar-powered V9 air conditioning machine. At present, Spain is the

Swedish company’s largest market and V9 systems have been installed in a large number of houses, hotels, schools, retirement homes and public baths.

“However, we’ve also received major orders from Italy and Australia,” says the company’s CEO Per Olofsson, who has high hopes for the future.

A new system, the V10, is under development and one of many reasons for the optimistic outlook is the political decisions on energy efficiency made in both the USA and the EU. “We want to contribute to global, sustainable and renewable energy production. And we encompass the entire chain, from molecule to machine and company!” n

CLIMATEWELL IN BRIEF •C limatewell AB has developed a method for storing solar energy: the TCA, or Thermo Chemical Accumulator.

• T he key to the groundbreaking invention is a unique salt trap and system in which solar heat is transformed into chemical energy in a vacuum.

28 | GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN

•R esearcher Ray Olsson developed the idea together with chemist Staffan Johnsson and in 2002 they tied for third prize in the Swedish Environmental Innovations awards. Climatewell was formed when Solsam Sunergy acquired Ray Olsson’s company Suncool in 2001.

•C limatewell has received many national and international distinctions, such as from The Guardian (“Climatewell most likely to change the world”), Actualidad Economica, World Economic Forum (as a “technology pioneer”) and the prestigious Swedish “Stora Teknikpriset”.

CASE : MANTEX

A rabbit in a hat The small Swedish firm Mantex has been highly praised for its discovery.

The company has developed measuring equipment that can quickly and accurately measure the amount of moisture and pollutants in organic material. With it, the processing industry can greatly improve its energy efficiency, which greatly reduces environmental impact.

BY per trostemo

A

PHOTOs Mantex

magician’s hat with a rabbit inside. That’s the Mantex company logo. And we can probably agree that this Swedish environmental engineering company has truly conjured a rabbit from the hat.

The company’s main invention and product solves a number of environmental problems while also saving money. The Mantex measuring method for detecting moisture and pollutants in organic material is assessed to have endless application areas. In principle, all industries that involve the refining of biological material – wood, plants, quite simply everything that grows on earth – can benefit from the method. The possible economic and environmental advantages are considerable.

The trick with the Mantex method is to use x-rays of different energy levels. By measuring how much of the radiation passes through the material and with the aid of an ingenious calibration technique the moisture content can be determined.

Quickly and reliably. Gravel, metals and other foreign objects are also detected.

“Something that used to take a full day, or else wasn’t even possible, is done in a minute with our device,” says technician Anders Ullberg, one of the company’s innovators.

Just like for so many other brilliant inventions, luck played an important role.

“Yes, the story begins a long time ago. At the beginning of the 1990s I was working with Ragnar

Kullenberg, a medical device researcher. We developed a radiological method for measuring, among other things, the brittleness of bones and the amount of heavy metals found in the body. We learnt a great deal and became good friends. We still work together and are two of the founders of Mantex.”

“Since I have an industrial background, I realised, though much later, that there were other application areas for our technique.”

GreyOrange is a moisture content analyzer for solid wood and wood chips.

GreyOrange uses the Mantex method for a fast and accurate result.

Ullberg got in touch with researchers at

the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences who knew that a major problem in pulp and bioenergy production involved adapting the processes to variations in the moisture and pollutant content of wood, wood chips and other biological raw materials. Ideas were presented to Holmen Paper, a major Swedish paper mill, which immediately ordered a prototype. The rest is history!

The Mantex measurement method has received a number of awards and has attracted much attention worldwide. The business develops on a daily

»

GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN | 29

CASE : MANTEX

basis: a new desktop meter is soon to be introduced, followed a little later by an ‘online’ meter.

These enable further optimisation of environmental benefits and cost-savings in the processing industry.

Mantex is still a small company (about 10 employees), but has allied itself with larger groups and research teams for help with design, production, validation and so on.

The company’s CEO, Erik Odén, is proud of his compact team.

“We have scientific, technical and commercial expertise under the same roof. Small companies often have only one or the other. But we can handle

the entire chain from research to finished product to market introduction.”

Aside from the commercial success, Erik and his team can be pleased with the major environmental benefits that the Mantex method entails.

“Politically, it is of course a central issue to make the most of anything we harvest from the planet. It’s an issue that concerns us all. We’re helping optimise processes so that, for example, more energy and more paper can be extracted from the raw materials that are used. But our methods can be used in any field with organic material flows.

I think this is of great value to our environment,” says Erik Odén. n

The Mantex technology relates to a method and device for measuring the moisture content in a biological material. The technology is particularly useful for measuring the moisture content in wood, such as wood chips or samples of solid wood. It can as well be applied on other types of biological material.

MANTEX • Mantex AB has developed a measuring instrument – mantex desktop – for moisture and pollutants in biomass used in the processing industry. With these instruments a larger part of the energy contained in biofuels can be used in combined power and heating plants and paper can be manufactured with less energy consumption.

30 | GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN

• The cleantech company Mantex AB won the Innovation & Technology Award 2009 with SEK 150,000 in prize money. The company was considered to have the greatest international potential of the 25 corporate exhibitors. The business incubator STING (Stockholm Innovation & Growth) organised the fair together with KTH (Royal Institute of Technology).

•M antex was also honoured at last year’s Stockholm Cleantech Venture Day, where the company was awarded the Cleantech of the Year Award 2008. The event was jointly organised by the Swedish Energy Agency and STING (Stockholm Innovation & Growth).

If you are looking for the following benefits: Reduced fuel consumption Reduced carbon dioxide emissions Reduced damage to standing trees Reduced damage to the forest floor Then look no further than to the first hybrid- electric driven forwarder in the world.

El-forest – The enviromental forwarder

El-forest AB El Phone:+46 60 12 38 70 Cell: +46 70 304 48 05 info@el-forest.se, www.el-forest.se

GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN | 31

swedish cleantech research

Swedish research is world-leading in a number of areas in environmental engineering/cleantech. And now the Swedish government is investing even more resources in environmental engineering, a way to provide financial leverage.

BY per trostemo

PHOTO istockphoto

Swedish research world-leading

S

wedish environmental engineering research is worldleading in a number of fields.

The areas in which Sweden is particularly successful are waste, water and sewage purification, renewable energy, air purification and energy optimisation. Sweden is also well ahead of the pack in holistic approaches and producing complete system solutions, such as sustainable ecocycles for water and waste, material recycling, housing and construction, and transportation.

Both the national and international markets for environmental engineering are growing rapidly and climate and energy issues are gaining in importance.

Consequently, the Swedish government is investing billions of Swedish kronor in environmental engineering, turning environmental challenges into financial leverage. Environmental issues, which are otherwise associated with problems, are to be considered a growth factor instead!

Several ‘packages’ have been put

together to support climate and energy solutions, research and innovation, research councils, new vehicle technologies, IT and environmental engineering, and much more.

32 | GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN

Today there is already a large number of state-owned and other players providing different types of support to research and enterprise active in the environmental engineering sector. In Sweden, research is conducted in environmental engineering/ cleantech on a number of levels and in the most wide-ranging sections of society and trade and industry. As such, there is no point in highlighting any one research institute, college or university as more prominent than any other.

“All our academic institutions

are at the forefront in environmental engineering. Sweden is strong in basic research, but we need to complement this strength with more applied research,” says Östen Ekengren at IVL (Swedish Environmental Research Institute, an independent research institute).

“As I see it, there’s maybe a little too much focus on research. Everyone wants to publish new, revolutionary discoveries and best sellers. Sometimes the companies and innovators out there get forgotten.

They need help to find customers. It’s a neglected opportunity for Swedish exports.

What’s more, we need more capital to construct demo plants in new markets.” Östen Ekengren’s ideas are backed up by the Swedish Agency for Growth Policy

Analysis, which also underlines the need for more support in the commercialisation phase of innovations.

The government has also taken note of the need for support throughout the chain. Swentec, the Swedish Environmental Technology Council, has a government mandate to devise a strategy and action plan for Swedish environmental engineering to increase corporate growth and employment opportunities in Sweden, which will ultimately create the necessary foundation for increased exports. A number of proposals are on the table to make the most of the business and export opportunities available to small and medium size companies. For example, business models, networking activities with customers and private financiers – especially business angels or venture capitalists – along with corporate coaching and matching buyers with sellers.

In other words, we can predict

a Swedish trend towards more needsoriented research and support for pioneer markets in cooperation with trade and industry and society. And finding ways to support companies so that they make the journey from product development to stable sales – crossing the so-called ‘death valley’… n

GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN | 33

swedish cleantech research : ex a mples

Research + business = bliss!

Historically, the relation between research and business hasn’t always been so clear-cut and natural. They have often lived in ‘different worlds’, with communication between the two lacking somewhat.

In the field of environmental engineering, very strong relations are being formed between the research and business communities. This entire highly innovative field of research opens the way for major business opportunities. As such it is very important that researchers/research institutes become a part of trade and industry, such as by forming companies and spin-offs. The Swedish state is also very keen to stimulate the symbiosis between research and business. One problem in this context is that environmental engineering companies are spread throughout the various areas of trade and industry and comprise a very heterogeneous group encompassing everything from knowledge and research intensive service companies to more conventional industrial companies.

A number of state-owned, partly state-owned and independent research councils/research financiers provide support to projects that unite research and trade and industry. Mistra, Formas, Vinnova, IVL and Innovationsbron are a few such Swedish organisations. Here are a few examples of exciting corporate projects with strong research ties:

34 | GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN

Chemists start company The company OrganoClick AB was founded by research chemists from Stockholm University and the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in Uppsala amongst others.

The company’s operations are based on a method for making paper waterrepellent and to protect wood from damage caused by damp. Perhaps the most promising application for the method is reducing the amount of raw materials required for a large part of the papermaking process.

“We can optimise paper use at most paper mills. Naturally, the ability to reduce the amount of raw materials needed is of great interest to everyone in the industry. We hope to have the first finished product on the market in 2009,” says the company’s CEO Mårten Hellberg.

The company has allied with customers that will help with financing and

ensure that the company moves in a direction that is consistent with future market trends.

OrganoClick has received several accolades, including a prestigious green innovation award from the Swedish Environmental Technology Council (Swentec), Nutek and the Swedish Energy Agency. n

Large amounts of Xylan – a natural carbohydrate – are found in agricultural by-products.

Xylan is removed from the by-products through an extraction process.

Powdered Xylan is mixed with additives.

A Xylophane barrier is used as a layer in laminated packaging.

Plastic from corn A new green plastic material has been developed at Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg. Researcher Maria Gröndahl discovered while working on her doctoral thesis that films based on the carbohydrate xylan make an excellent barrier against oxygen. Xylan is found in waste products from forestry and agriculture, such as in cornhusks.

The new plastic can replace aluminium and oil-based plastics in, for example, food packaging. And you can even eat it!

Now Maria has not only her doctorate but also a valuable patent! Together with another researcher and a professor she has established the company Xylophane AB. The product is being developed in collaboration with customers

in the packaging industry. A factory has been built with support from other investors, including KTH Chalmers Capital and Innovationsbron. n

Resource-efficient recycling Nitrate (nitrogen) emissions into water cause eutrophication (an excessive buildup of nutrients). Modern stainless steel manufacturing commonly uses a mixture of nitric acid and hydrofluoric acid for surface treatment. The existing technique is not able to separate the nitrates sufficiently. In order to reduce nitrate emissions while also recovering the nitric acid, a new technique has been developed in a collaboration between AvestaPolarit and

IVL (Swedish Environmental Research Institute). After several years of development from laboratory to pilot scale, the first full-scale plant has been installed at AvestaPolarit in Nyby. More than 80 percent of the treated nitrates are recovered and the reduced chemical use makes for cost-efficient operation.

The plant has been partially financed by the EU in a LIFE project for plants that demonstrate new environmental

technology in Europe. IVL is currently conducting a more extensive environmental evaluation of the entire process. The first preliminary results indicate that on the whole the technique is very favourable for the environment.

Both the environment and economics come out winners! n

GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN | 35

in short

Hot swedish cleantech Sweden is a breeding ground for new and interesting cleantech projects.

We’ve selected a few examples of the hottest projects currently underway.

Parans Daylights Parans Daylights use daylight to light premises. Light collectors comprised of small, tightly packed magnifying glasses are mounted on the roof. The daylight is then channelled via a thin fibre optic cable to the light fittings inside the building. The energy savings are considered a positive side effect since the primary effect is that natural light increases productivity.

Chemrec Chemrec works with the production of renewable fuels made from black liquor, a waste product from the pulp industry.

Since there are 23 chemical pulp plants in Sweden alone that are prepared to use the technology, it’s easy to see the market potential. The company itself says a quarter of all petrol and diesel in Sweden could be replaced with energy from black liquor.

Chromo­genics Chromogenics has developed a window film with a transparency that changes when an electrical voltage is applied between two thin plastic layers. Energy is used not only to heat buildings, but also to cool them. With this window film, energy consumption can be cut by fifty percent.

36 | GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN

Scandinavian Enviro Systems Scandinavian Enviro Systems owns the patent to a new technique that makes it possible to recycle tyres such that the original materials, such as oil, coal, steel and gas, are reclaimed. They are now offering turnkey recycling plants.

The company aspires to be the largest green tyre recycling company in the world.

E-site®

The Flexible and “Green” Base Station Solution for the Global Telecom Industry.

Wind generator

2

Power system description Prime source Sun

Wind

1

3G/GSM antennas

2

Solar S olar W Wi Win Wind nd d Backup ack ac kup ku up energy energy energy

3

Battery bank B

4

DIRIFLEX®

Antenna

Mast

User

Solar panels

1

Hight: 30–60 meter

DIRIFLEX® The system's ”brain” • Highly developed software and hardware that adjusts and ”learns” the conditions on the ground to increase efficiency and optimize the use of renewable energy.

• Ensures safe and functional operation.

4 3 Battery bank

Effpower Effpower’s batteries contain only half as much lead as other lead batteries and offer better charging characteristics and lifetimes. This means the same performance as the batteries found in modern hybrid vehicles, so-called nickel-metal-hydride batteries, but for a third of the price.

2.65 meter

Module

3.1 meter

2.45 meter

Malmö In Malmö, Sweden’s third largest city and a neighbour of the Danish capital Copenhagen, a rundown industrial estate is being transformed into a modern eco-friendly district. Detached houses, terraced houses and 600 apartments, together with offices, stores and other service facilities, will shape the area. The goal is for the district to be an internationally leading example of eco-friendly town planning for densely populated areas.

Svensk grafikbyrån

Flexenclosure The company Flexenclosure has developed a base station for mobile telephony that is chiefly powered using renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind power. In many parts of the world, especially in developing countries, base stations are powered by diesel generators. Flexenclosure’s solution is called E-site and won the Mobile Innovation Global Award at the major telecom trade fair in Barcelona in 2008.

GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN | 37

»

in short

Supply and demand in one The Engys company’s concept is based on making things simpler for electricity and power dependent customers, from the perspective of both supply and demand. It is a new way of doing things as regards energy and energy services.

On the deregulated Swedish energy market, all companies and municipalities are free to choose whether they buy or produce power themselves. Engys’ concept covers the entire value chain of the energy market, from private production of green, environmentally-certified electricity/power to the large-scale development of efficient, climate smart property/industrial facilities – frequently with extensive savings guarantees. At the same time, the conditions are there for compliance with existing climate and environmental requirements.

The Engy Group’s vision is to be a leader in renewable energy and energy efficiency. Activities are carried out in three business areas: Engy Power, Engy Services and Engy Airtech.

“The combination of the supply and demand concepts makes it possible for customers to be able to take responsibility for their entire energy bill, both by making consumption more effective and ensuring the provision of power. Beginning by reviewing consumption and introducing efficiency measures, and then ensuring the provision of power, is what makes Engy’s concept unique,” says Pontus Axelsson, MD of Engy AB.

Super-efficient heat exchanger

Energy savings for electric motors

Lindinvent AB has produced a super-efficient heat exchanger which reduces power consumption considerably through the use of a number of sensors. The heat exchanger has an integrated motor that adapts the height of the air gaps according to the desired air flow and the pressure available in the duct. The exchanger has integrated sensors for room temperature, presence, duct temperature, duct pressure, air flow and column height. Based on the values supplied by the sensors and the set values, the air flow is regulated, as are heating and cooling sequences.

NFO Drives has developed a control method for electric motors that provides energy savings of up to 25 per cent. The company’s main product is a converter for induction motors that provides a pure sine curve.

When using the NFO Sinus frequency converter, the electric motor is entirely free of interference, as the converter always provides a pure sinus current to the motor. Great energy savings can be made wherever there are electric motors: hospitals, homes, commercial property, offices, hotels, schools and factories, etc.

38 | GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN

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Cooperation and

environmental technology

are important to development in the county of Jämtland The regional structural fund for Central Norrland, “Power for developing a sustainable Mid Sweden”, has reinforced the close cooperation between the counties of Jämtland and Västernorrland as regards development issues. Additionally, the programme offers financing for important initiatives from trade and industry and from research and development. A majority of the financing that is on offer goes to the development of new environmental technology – i.e. the CleanTech area. My experience of working in a partnership that prioritises how structural funds should be used is that there is a shared view that these issues are important.

Cooperation in the structural fund programme covers all the varying conditions found between “coast and mountains”. At the same time, the counties’ common actions provide greater power and better circumstances for our companies to succeed on an export market. I believe that the green technology products and solutions that we develop in our region will not only help our transformation to minimising the use of fossil resources in our society – they will also be in increasing demand on an international market!

Mid Sweden University is a shared asset for Jämtland and Västernorrland, one that must – and does – play a central role in the development of both counties, not least in developing new environmental technologies that are based on the counties’ experiences and conditions. For Jämtland, research areas such as Forestry and Winter Sports are important.

Clean air, clean water and an attractive and healthy environment are all characteristic of Jämtland. The county has a small population and few major industries. For me therefore, cooperation with others and the development of

new, green technology (CleanTech) are two key factors in ensuring good development and good growth in the county, whilst maintaining and developing the county’s founding values.

I believe that our starting position is good, despite the current economic climate. Developments in the field of energy are promising, with major investments in wind power and targeted efforts to utilise the counties assets in the field of biofuels. These investments are heartening, as they are being carried out in all parts of the county – naturally in Östersund, but also in rural areas and in towns far from the county’s only city.

We must now make the most of the expertise that is being built up in renewable energy and other solutions that use environmental technology, in order to progress and to create the right conditions for entrepreneurship and new job opportunities.

It is my decided opinion that we need extensive cooperation and common goals involving several different parties if we are to succeed. This has also been expressed through the new regional growth programme for Jämtland.

17 April 2009 Britt Bohlin County Governor, Jämtland GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN | 39

cleantech region

Sten Söderberg, the man behind the GreenTech Building in Stockholm and the Green CEO Network, says that the world is rapidly approaching an abyss.

“Our only chance to avoid falling is to quickly build a green bridge to the future, and unfortunately time is running short. Coordination is needed, and quickly!”

BY lasse sjöberg

PHOTO Rosie Alm

illustr ation anders sunesson

Building bridges t

S

öderberg seeks increased insight into the impending crisis and broad and concentrated efforts from politicians, civil servants, public authorities, companies, networks and citizens. The solution is to identify viable partial solutions for sustainable development created by different players and to then together build the foundation required to erect a green bridge to the future.

He points out the fact that the world has a considerable energy surplus. The problem is simply that more than 80 percent of the world’s energy comes from fossil fuels. And that those who claim to want to help out with the transition are also involved in laying pipelines under the Baltic Sea from Russia, stoking the use of fossil fuels.

“We have a problem with emissions and we know what we need to do to save the world, but unfortunately words seldom translate into actions. Only together can we do what is needed.”

At the 2010 World’s Fair in Shanghai, Söderberg wants to erect a pavilion in which Sweden can present current and future interesting environmental engineering solutions – and show the possibilities they offer. In order to realise this dream, Söderberg has applied to the Swedish state for funding. Söderberg also

40 | GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN

that now is the time to quit talking and start acting. Sweden is among the world’s three foremost nations in environmental engineering, but at sales we are terrible.”

wants – in collaboration with Microsoft and others – to establish a virtual pavilion from which the entire world can gather knowledge and learn more about CleanTech.

Söderberg feels like a bricklayer tasked with building, brick by brick, the increased understanding of what is needed.

He is happy to receive the support that the Mid Sweden Chamber of Commerce can offer through the CleanTech Region initiative in Västernorrland and Jämtland.

“CleanTech Region is a very praiseworthy initiative. It shows the realisation

Sten Söderberg would like to see new approaches and is a big believer in the virtual pavilion described above. As a global and constantly available source of educational material and as a living complement to the pea-green GreenTech Building scheduled to open in May. Two months later during its presidency of the EU, Sweden will welcome the European ministers of the environment and an international delegation of politicians and civil servants.

“The GreenTech Building ought to be a study visit destination for all international delegations and with a virtual pavilion they can more easily spread the message nationally, regionally and locally.

The concept also means that anyone with access to a computer can pose questions and receive answers. Wouldn’t it be great if, for example, someone from Africa could ask a question about green IT and receive an answer from Microsoft’s technical director?” n

Footnote: The 2015 World’s Fair will be held in Milan. The next time, in 2020, Sten Söderberg – and many others – hope it will be Sweden’s turn to host the event.

ridges to the future

GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN | 41

cleantech demonstr ation arena

A way to spread knowledge 42 | GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN

The Clean Tech Demonstration Arena project gives environmental engineering companies previously unseen opportunities for exposure. A new pilot plant for solar energy in Härnösand acts as a source of inspiration.

BY olof axelsson

PHOTO Bo Fernström

T

he aim of Clean Tech Demonstration Arena is to develop new methods to exhibit and spread knowledge about environmental engineering.

“There are many interesting companies and plants in the region, and at least twenty of them are already open to visitors. Now we’re making a concerted effort to publicise and market them,” says Joakim Byström, chair of the Foundation for Research on Concentrated Solar Energy in Härnösand, which owns the project.

The work to draw up joint tools started in the run-up to the summer.

“It involves, among other things, creating a joint website and producing printed materials and signs,” says Håkan Persson, CEO of the P & P advertising agency.

There are many interesting companies and plants in the region. A new pilot plant for solar energy in Härnösand acts as a source of inspiration. Joakim Byström, chair of the Foundation for Research on Concentrated Solar Energy in Härnösand, owns the project.

The heart of the initiative is a new demo plant for solar electricity, solar heating and solar cooling in Härnösand.

The techniques and methods used to get the plant into the public eye are to act as a source of inspiration for the project participants – which to start with encompasses about 15 companies in the region.

Mounted on the town’s old hospital is a 50 square metre solar collector.

“The support was erected in the spring and during the summer we’ll install the solar collectors,” says Stefan Jonsson, technical project manager.

It will be the world’s first installation to use concentrated technology and

solar cells to generate electricity, heating and cooling. The 25 kW of heat it will produce will be used to cool workspaces in the hospital.

The plan is to produce an interactive presentation screen that enables visitors to view facts about the installation, the current energy production rate and webcam images.

“The information system is to provide ideas for the design of a commercial information system, whether in Sweden or abroad. The other demo plants in the county can adopt the parts that suit their operations,” says Joakim Byström.

Byström hopes that in the longer term international companies will choose to locate cleantech demo plants in Västernorrland due to the knowledge and experience on offer here.

“Increased accessibility to the plants can also boost tourism,” Byström hopes. n

Examples of demo plants • Rectus – living filter • Flexiwaggon – railway carriage for lorries • Snowpower – snow for cooling in the summer • STT Emtec – diesel technology • Skidstahus – wooden house construction • Mid Sweden University – biomass gasifier

GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN | 43

Advertisement

I believe in

Success through CleanTech!

Issues related to the world’s energy supply will remain current long after the present economic crisis is over. The accelerating speed of consumption of fossil resources is resulting in increased scarcity and thus higher prices. This means that the technology for extracting renewable energy will gradually increase in competitiveness, as will technology that boosts energy efficiency and reduces the need for power.

The use of fossil fuels results in carbon dioxide emissions, which affect the climate. International politicians are now taking this threat more seriously and are gradually introducing new control methods for reducing emissions.

This is also resulting in increased competitiveness for technology that is energy efficient and produces a minimum of carbon dioxide – and it’s no wild guess to say that this trend will remain.

These issues have great relevance to our area of Sweden.

The county of Västernorrland is has the highest energy consumption per capita in Sweden, giving us more reason than most to apply the most recent innovations in efficient energy use and extraction. In a number of areas, companies, municipalities and households in our region have installed products and solutions that are at the international cutting edge, and which have aroused the interest of those around us.

As a country with a long tradition of industry, we also live with the remains of older, less environmentally-friendly technology. Extensive resources have been invested in the environmental remediation of old, polluted industrial land, restoring waterways, etc. There are examples of the application of advanced technology in this area too.

Knowledge of these applications is widespread among the region’s local businesses. Many of these are now relatively small and, until recently, they were on local markets. The “Success through CleanTech” initiative, which is run by the Mid Sweden Chamber of Commerce, with support 44 | GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN

from the county administrative boards in Västernorrland and Jämtland, the municipalities and others, aims to highlight the region’s collected expertise in environmental technology.

There is now a sharp increase in demand for our expertise in these areas from around the world. Our stringent application of environmental and climate policies has led to solutions that are now needed in many places, not least within the EU. At times like this, when the economic downturn is biting, it is important to invest wisely and place resources in things that will work in the future. My guess, which is none too risky, is that environmental technology is the way forward. Companies within the “CleanTech Region” are now joining forces to spread their expertise. By developing this cooperation we can offer complete system solutions. Marketing partnerships mean that our expertise can be more efficiently disseminated and result in more business.

This work will result in a better environment, globally and locally, and in positive development for trade and industry in central Norrland.

I believe in Success through CleanTech!

Härnösand March 2009 Bo Källstrand County Governor, Västernorrland

is initiated by

Mid Sweden ChaMber of CoMMerCe Mid Sweden Chamber of Commerce creates business for our members www.midchamber.se

www.cleantechregion.com

GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN | 45

carl mossfeldt – regional opportunities

Who-doeswhat-how?

Carl Mossfeldt heads one of the world’s leading forums for climate issues, the Tällberg Foundation. When asked what opportunities the energy transition may entail for the Swedish counties of Västernorrland and Jämtland, he begins by referring to US President Barak Obama. text & PHOTOs Petra Järnbert

“I

n his inaugural speech, President Obama indicated that climate issues have started to gain a foothold in superpower politics.

The energy transition is a global transition with global repercussions, but climate issues still tend to fasten between UN resolutions and the right choice of light bulb,” says Mossfeldt.

He moves confidently between macro and micro perspectives. Sees opportunities rather than limitations and knows what he is talking about when he emphasises the importance of local actors seeing the bigger picture.

46 | GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN

“The opportunities offered by the bioenergy trend are very apparent in northern Sweden.

Västernorrland and Jämtland are counties with great natural resources but also challenges, especially as regards transportation. However, if you live this close to the North Pole, then you already know a thing or two about sparsely populated areas, darkness and cold. The challenge is to turn the basic conditions into advantages, to produce the best systems in the world for utilising heat resources. Or to become the world’s number one at telecommuting and virtual meetings. Västernorrland and Jämtland can do a great deal for the

»

carl mossfeldt Carl Mossfeldt works as a Tällberg Advisor specialised in strategic issues for companies and organisations. The Tällberg Forum, with which he is intimately associated, has evolved into an internationally recognised arena for open dialogues on global issues.

Under the broad question of ‘How on earth can we live together?’ leaders from different sectors of society throughout the world discuss the challenges faced by our societies.

GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN | 47

carl mossfeldt – regional opportunities

“

limate issues still tend to fasten C between UN resolutions and the right choice of light bulb.

The vision of the Tällberg Foundation is an equitable and secure world for humankind and nature.

Then main activity is the Annual Forum at Tällberg, Sweden, last days of June every year.

“

e need a worldwide springboard W for sustainability issues, to get a global policy framework in place. global climate by showing what is possible. You can then package this good example and export it as a decentralised knowledge society.”

As he sees it, the risk is the tendency to cut corners, since there are no corners to cut.

“Today, the driving forces are often found in the same places as the technical expertise, but the difficult part is not to solve the technical problems, but rather to get the technology in place, with all the necessary decision making, selling the idea to those concerned and refining any inherent expertise,” he explains.

The long-term stability of our ecosystem is the objective. And social development is the means, according to Mossfeldt.

48 | GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN

“Västernorrland and Jämtland – just like Sweden – can contribute to the challenge of sustainability perhaps not primarily with new technology, but rather with our traditions of solidarity, mutual understanding and desire for consensus. Historically, Sweden has been quite good at organising societies with a fair balance between different interests.”

The question that remains is ‘Who-doeswhat-how?’ This is Carl Mossfeldt’s wording – and a prerequisite for pushing climate issues forward.

“We need a worldwide springboard for sustainability issues, to get a global policy framework in place. Parallel to this, it is pertinent that we paint local pictures of how the challenge affects our daily lives. That we gather promising examples that can inspire, and not only in Jämtland and Västernorrland but also as far afield as Chile and Tanzania, for example.” n

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GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN | 49

CASE : sundsvall hospital

Stored snow cools hospital 50 | GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN

Operating technician Esko Niiranen estimates that there is almost 70,000 cubic metres of snow piled up to cool the Sundsvall Hospital.

In the 1990s, energy consumption, carbon emissions and costs rose sharply at Sundsvall Hospital. This resulted in innovative measures. Today, ice-cold snowmelt from a snow store is used to provide patients with comfortably cool air and saves Väster­ norrland County Council money while sparing the environment. text & PHOTOs Anders Lövgren

»

GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN | 51

CASE : sundsvall hospital

the snow cooler at Sundsvall Hospital • I n order to be able to phase out CFC-based cooling systems, a demo plant for snow cooling, the only one of its kind in the world, was inaugurated at Sundsvall Hospital in 2000. The installation has fulfilled all expectations as regards energy and the environment. Electricity consumption has been cut by more than 90 percent. Investment costs over the period total SEK 16 million.

• T he principle behind the plant is simple. A tank measuring 10,000 square metres (the same size as a football pitch) is filled with snow during the winter. In winters with little snowfall, snow cannons are used to make up the shortfall. At the end of the winter season the snow is covered with a layer of woodchips. During the summer the snowmelt, which has a temperature of about one degree Celsius, is piped to a heat exchanger that transfers the coolant to the hospital’s cooling system. Operating costs for 2008 were SEK 0.40 per kWh of cooling. It should soon be possible to cut this cost in half.

(Source: Västernorrland County Council)

A

bout one hundred metres behind the hospital in Sundsvall is a large tank, the bottom of which is asphalted. During the winter, the tank is filled with the snow cleared from nearby car parks, and come spring the snow is covered with twenty centimetres of woodchips.

“The woodchips provide a layer of insulation so that the snow melts very slowly,” operating technician Esko Niiranen explains.

The tank was enlarged last year to increase the capacity of the cooling system. The past winter saw a good deal of snowfall and Niiranen estimates that there is almost 70,000 cubic metres of snow piled up.

When the snow melts, the cold water runs via pipes at the bottom of the tank to a pumping station where it is filtered and then pumped to a heat exchanger inside the hospital. A maximum of 60 litres of water, at a temperature of one degree Celsius, is fed into the cooling system each second.

Once the water has done its job in the wards, treatment rooms, machines and equipment it has reached a temperature of eight degrees and is pumped back to the snow pile.

At the top edge of the tank are holes through which the tepid water is led back in to increase the snowmelt rate and to be cooled back down. What’s more, there’s no risk of the snow melting too fast.

Operating technician Esko Niiranen says that without the addition of the warmer water the snow would melt far too slowly.

52 | GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN

Several piste machines take care of compacting the snow.

The idea to cool the hospital in this way was first suggested ten years ago and is part of Västernorrland County Council’s strategy to phase out environmentally hazardous and CFC-based cooling agents and to reduce electricity consumption. Aside from the snow cooler used at Sundsvall Hospital, seawater, freshwater and bedrock cooling systems have been installed in different places.

“Both the environment and our budget come out winners. When the snow cooler replaced the air-conditioning machines at Sundsvall Hospital electricity consumption for cooling dropped by more than 90 percent,” say Jan Lindberg, an energy controller at the county council.

The enlargement of the tank to almost twice its original size, new approach roads that greatly optimise snow dumping and new snow cannons that have doubled snow-making capacity at temperatures below -10 degrees Celsius are measures that have optimised the project’s financial performance.

“Fully utilised, that is, with 70,000 cubic metres of snow, the electricity needed for cooling is reduced by 900 MWh per year. After the rebuild, the installation in Sundsvall is a rational and costeffective installation that can act as a role model for others,” says Lindberg.

Västernorrland County Council has an ambitious environment strategy and has decided that every new investment or measure shall entail a reduction in energy consumption of at least 50

Snow cannons are used to provide raw material in winters with little snowfall.

percent. This has resulted in initiatives not only in cooling, but also in lighting, ventilation, heating and the spread of knowledge.

“Between 1995 and 2008 our total electricity consumption was reduced by more than 30 percent. The same reduction has been seen in our energy needs for heating. All fossil fuels have been replaced with renewable energy and our carbon emissions have been reduced by more than 50 percent,” says the county council’s chief environmental officer Olle Bertilsson.

In order to reach its goals, several environmental training courses have been held for employees and governing politicians. Västernorrland County Council also received the Swedish Ecocycle Council’s environmental prize in 2007 and held a lecture at Energy Week in Brussels in 2007.

In 2009 the four northernmost county councils in Sweden will conduct an extensive information campaign aimed at all 28,000 employees with a focus on internal environmental and energy measures.

financing is often a requirement, and Snowpower is yet to start making money.

“Doing business with new technology takes a great deal of promotion. We really need a major reference, but haven’t yet managed to attract such a customer. The closest we came was IKEA in Russia, which has shown great interest in our research, but unfortunately they’ve now been too busy with their expansion,” says Skogsberg.

“

The privately-owned company Snowpower in Luleå has been established to commercialise the technology used in the installation at Sundsvall Hospital.

“We think there is a market, but we have several obstacles to overcome before we can start doing business,” says CEO Kjell Skogsberg.

Of these obstacles, raising the necessary venture capital is one of the hardest, he says. Joint

e think there is a market, but we W have several obstacles to overcome before we can start doing business.

Another problem faced by Snowpower is the fact that many potential customers have no clear idea of how much it costs to cool a building.

Ignorance of the facts naturally makes it difficult to discuss the savings that can be made.

Snowpower was formed to plan and sell snow cooling installations and has its origin in a special network for snow coolers that includes Mid Sweden University, Luleå University of Technology, Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) and a group of private companies.

The company also develops district cooling systems based on snow and is working on a new project for four larger customers involving a new supply network in Luleå. n GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN | 53

CASE : el-forest

An electric hybrid forestry machine under development in Örnsköldsvik, northern Sweden has gained the attention of proactive customers with green agendas. Part-owner Volvo is presenting the innovative machine at all the major Scandinavian forestry trade fairs.

BY Anders Lövgren

PHOTOs Michael Engman

Greener forestry with new forwarder

“T

his is a product with a great deal of new technology and it’s attracting much attention,” says Jukka Moisander, Director, Volvo Global Forestry Solutions.

If everything goes according to plan, the export market will be entered in 2010.

The electric hybrid technology used by El-forest is based on a smaller diesel engine that runs a generator, which via batteries provides electrical power to the electric motors mounted in each of the forwarder’s six wheels. This forwarder will reduce fuel consumption and damage to the forest floor.

The idea for the machine came from innovator Lennart Lundström, who lives in the small village of Drömme outside Örnsköldsvik in northern Sweden.

»

54 | GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN

A forwarder is used to transport timber from a clearing to the roadside. Sweden has an estimated 2,000 forwarders, while the rest of the world has some 7,000 machines. Compared to conventional forwarders, the El-forest has a number of innovative features.

GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN | 55

CASE : el-forest

“

his technology saves a great deal of T fuel in machines that are constantly accelerating and braking. El-forest offers many advantages.

How El-forest works: • T he drive is achieved using a series hybrid, with an electric motor mounted in each of the six wheels. The relatively light 60 kW diesel motor from Deutz, a company partly-owned by Volvo, charges the batteries.

• T he batteries are also charged when the machine drives downhill, as the electric motors then act as generators.

•A ll three wheel pairs are used to steer, which means the second and third pairs follow the tracks made by the first pair.

•G round pressure is lower than that of a conventional forwarder as it has been possible to use larger wheels.

• T elescopic wheel axles provide 80 cm of track width adjustment and a 40 percent increase in bunk space.

•V arious technical solutions enable the wheels to run at different speeds. This lessens forest floor impact.

• T he turning radius is six metres. A conventional forwarder needs twelve metres.

•W eight: 13.5 tonnes. Length: 8.9 m. Maximum permissible load: 14 tonnes.

• T he cab can swivel a full 360° and features dampers and levelling.

•E l-forest is owned by Thordab, Lennart Lundström and Volvo Technology Transfer. The company’s ambition is to begin serial production in 2010.

56 | GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN

“I grew up on a farm when horses were still used for forestry work. When heavy, clumsy machines made their entry into the forest and began tearing up the forest floor, I wasn’t keen on the development. Slowly but surely, the idea formed in my head for how you could transport timber in a less harsh yet still modern way,” says Lundström, a retired electrical engineer from the ABB Group.

After Lundström got in touch with the engineering firm Thordab in Örnsköldsvik, the development pace picked up and they have worked together since. In 2006 the company El-forest was founded, with industrialist Gunnar Bäck as CEO. An important step was when venture capitalist Volvo Technology Transfer acquired a 36 percent holding in the company. Per Wassén, Investment Director at Volvo Technology Transfer, is chair of the board.

“We are part-owners of 24 companies, but this is the first, and so far the only, holding we have in the forest machine sector. Forest machines are also a field in which Volvo has not had any significant activity since the 1970s, but we consider it an interesting strategic customer segment with great potential. We are very interested in the drive technology being developed here,” says Wassén.

“This technology saves a great deal of fuel in machines that are constantly accelerating and braking. El-forest offers many advantages,” says Jukka Moisander of Volvo Global Forestry Solutions, which is marketing the machine via trade fairs and other channels.

The Swedish state-owned forest company Sveaskog has bought the first machine to roll out of the workshop, and it is currently working flat out. The company believes the machine can increase productivity, and thereby profitability.

Other supporting arguments for the deal were a reduction in fuel consumption of up to 35 percent and an improved operator environment.

Other parties are interested in the forwarder.

The forest companies SCA, Stora Enso, Södra, Korsnäs and Holmen are also waiting in line for El-forest deliveries, some maybe already this year.

Of these companies, Holmen has also backed the project as a sponsor and has played an important role.

“Alongside the Swedish companies, we’ve also had contact with overseas customers, chiefly in Finland, Germany and the UK, that have also been following our work with interest. We plan to canvass overseas customers at the beginning of 2010,” says El-forest’s CEO Gunnar Bäck. n

L a A c d fi f a fi

– the fully automatic railway carriage

– Substantial environmental benefits – Extremely easy to load and unload – Cost-efficient and time saving

Long-term sustainable development and transport economy go hand in hand A transition to more railway-based transports is necessary in order to reduce the emissions of carbon dioxide, road maintenance and to increase the traffic safety. Flexiwaggon is a unique logistic solution for combining transports between road and railway and contributes to more environmentally friendly, financially viable and rational transports.

A new and unique solution facilitating the combination of goods-carrying transports on the railway and the roads in Sweden, Europe and the rest of the world.

GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN | 57

For more information, please contact Jan Eriksson, Flexiwaggon AB, +46 70 564 50 18

www.flexiwaggon.se

Sustainable cities link everything together Is cleantech a new business area and an up-and-coming industry, or is it a new IT bubble – just another one of all the green buzzwords that wash over us nowadays?

All new industries wrestle with identity problems and initially risk being used by carpetbaggers and companies that attempt to give old products new packaging.

However, there is one reason that above all dominates and motivates why cleantech is here to stay.

BY andreas gyllenhammar

illustr ations Sweco

58 | GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN

CASE : sustainable cit y

NEW CITY IN TIANJIN Tianjin Hangu is located in Dongtuo in China. China’s biggest property developer, the Tianjin Real Estate Development Group, has tasked Sweco with planning a new city for 100,000150,000 inhabitants. They have strin-

T

he following question is perhaps most relevant: why is cleantech so significant now, and on such a broad front? The answer is absolutely consistent with the knowledge acquisition and environmental development that has been carried out over the last few years.

We know that we are using up the Earth’s resources and we are also starting to realise the seriousness of its consequences. There is an insatiable need for solutions, tools and technology for sustainable development – and the collective name for this is cleantech. There is a multitude of products and solutions that, in combination, can move social development in the right direction.

Technology and product development move fast, and the tough demands placed on sustainable social development by many different parties all contribute to increasing awareness of the industry.

The issue is whether the cleantech

industry’s products in themselves are enough to result in a sustainable society.

From a holistic perspective, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts and Sweden has traditionally been successful at interdisciplinary activities and providing system-based solutions.

One such example is that of sustainable cities. A key person and pioneer in this field is the head architect at the Sweco consultancy, Ulf Ranhagen, professor at the Royal Institute of

gent requirements for a green profile.

Because this is an entirely new city it is possible to integrate eco-cycle thinking at an early stage, with a focus on waste management and public transport/ infrastructure. The 1200-hectare city will

Technology and member of the Swedish delegation for sustainable cities. Ranhagen emphasises the importance of linking subsystems when working on sustainable urban development. Ahead of a UN conference, the World Summit on Sustainable Development, which was held in Johannesburg in 2002, Ranhagen took part in developing the comprehensive sustainable city concept. This was carried out on the commission of the Swedish government, the Ministry of the Environment, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the Swedish Trade Council.

The concept has then developed

along one path that involves developing nations (Sida’s Sustainable City Approach) and one path that is a platform for Swedish companies that specialise in environmental technology and urban development (SymbioCity).

The theory is as simple as it is clever; instead of having a flow of material and energy that is not renewable, the system is closed. The production – consumption – waste chain is replaced by a production – consumption – treatment – reuse loop.

One mainstay is the eco-cycle model, where three major elements of the flows in a city are linked together. Water, waste and renewable energy become an ecocycle where everything interacts, enabling benefits based on coordination.

These eco-cycles do not appear spontaneously, but are founded on the use of cleantech in many different forms. Other mainstays are integrated construction

be built in one of China’s boom regions and will have a mixture of shops, housing, offices and schools. The plans also include a research centre for environmental technology.

WHERE HAS IT BEEN USED? The sustainable city concept has been applied in a number of places. The Swedish team has performed sustainable city reviews in Canada and Ireland. Planning of new cities and towns has been carried out in China (Luodian Town in Shanghai, Tangshan in Caufedian and two places in Inner Mongolia). A Swedish government agency, Sida (Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency), has produced a manual for the application of the sustainable city concept. So far the manual has been used in Skopje (Macedonia – FYROM) and in Vizag (India).

Facts The sustainable city concept is perceived as being a bridge between theory and implementation, as regards building sustainable cities.

Activities can be divided into three main types: * Reviews. Existing plans for cities are reviewed and analysed in order to provide advice on how construction of a sustainable city can be achieved. * City transformation.

Proposals for the development of existing urban environments. * Planning of new cities and towns. Building new urban environments from their foundations.

» GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN | 59

CASE : sustainable cit y

Preliminary principles for integrated approach on energy, waste and water RENEWABLE ENERGY LOOP

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WATER LOOP

SymbioCity – Sustainability

by Sweden The sustainable city concept is now in such great demand and has aroused such great international interest that the Swedish Trade Council decided to step up its launch in 2007. This resulted in SymbioCity, which is now includes Swedish CleanTech. SymbioCity further clarifies the benefits of integrating various systems in urban areas and how this contributes to sustainable social development.

Internationally, Sweden has a long history of thinking and acting in line with SymbioCity’s values – and now the results of this are starting to be noticed far outside the country’s borders.

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and traffic planning and an interaction between buildings and green spaces, in order to create social and recreational value. Along with the theory behind the concept, cleantech comprises the building blocks needed to create solutions for a sustainable city. These could be anything from ‘plus houses’ (buildings that supply more energy than they consume) to new ways of recycling nutrients from sewage and greywater in agriculture.

The sustainable city concept

integrates aspects of sustainability in all the parts and phases of city planning and construction, e.g. strategic planning and the design of areas and local planning for blocks and buildings. It also involves the planning of technical infrastructure, roads and landscape planning, as well as

completing technical construction and operations and maintenance. Sustainable development encompasses more aspects than simply the environment; social and financial sustainability are also taken into account in a sustainable city.

The concept is scalable and can be used for blocks, areas, suburbs or cities. It is also possible to act based on the widely differing conditions that exist in urban construction processes and both existing environments and entire newbuild areas can be managed. The advantage is that many parties can take part and use the sustainable city concept – no project is too big or too small for it to be utilised. n

Strömsund has room for your wind power plans Here is the place where you can build for wind power. Strömsund has the infrastructure.

Transport, premises, specialised labour and – most of all – proximity to wind power suppliers.

Small-scale engineering is strong in Strömsund – Engcon, Mählers, Gelab, Stålteknik and SCF Betong are a few of the companies that are world-leaders in their fields. In other words, there is enormous expertise in steel and concrete.

Strömsund is located in northwest Jämtland, on the E45, which is the main inland road from the south of Sweden to the north. The inland railway also passes through Strömsund. There are three ports within 300 km and the closest domestic airport is around 60 minutes from Strömsund – so the infrastructure is good.

The municipality is home to Sweden’s biggest wind park and there is great interest in development. One of Sweden’s best courses for wind power technicians is located here.

Strömsund is already a hub for wind power – and there’s room for your plans too.

Contact Calle Suwe and he’ll tell you more about Strömsund, investments in wind power and potential support for regional investments.

Calle Suwe Investment Promotion Manager calle.suwe@midscand.com www.midscand.com

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CASE : ecocycle design

“Everyone can be part of this fascinating evolution” EcoCycle Design is as much about philosophy as it is practicality.

Over the years, the founder of the concept, architect Anders Nyquist, has ceased compromising with his ideal. He approaches all projects – both buildings and social planning – from an ecocycling perspective. text & PHOTOs Petra Järnbert

M

any encyclopaedias define natural as the opposite to what people have produced. Anders Nyquist thinks it ought to be the other way around. Nature offers endless sources of inspiration.

“EcoCycle Design is about imitating nature, a tool to use when building sustainable societies. An anthill, for example, is the perfect town. It is based on a social vision. Made from local renewable resources, with perfect ventilation and humidity, organic food and good infrastructure. And what’s more it’s a town with no waste.”

For Anders Nyquist, it is fundamentally a question of ordinary common sense. Five keywords characterise his life, personally as well as professionally: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Renewables, Rethink.

As a new architecture graduate in the sixties, Anders Nyquist soon perceived that his ecocycling concept was not selling itself. One project after another came to nothing. For a long time, Anders Nyquist’s career meandered on, uphill against a headwind. Finally he got tired of it all.

“I thought, well I will just have to do this on my own.”

No sooner said than done. He heard about a house site in the idyllic area of Pråmviken outside Njurunda and set off to negotiate a price.

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“But it was not just a house site. It turned into fifteen hectares, it was to be a whole village,” he says. Forty years have now gone by since that day.

Anders Nyquist stands outside his boathouse, with his gaze moving to the village of Rumpan. A utopia realised. An ecovillage based uncompromisingly on an ecological, economic, technical and social vision.

“It was not difficult to identify the social hub of the village – we built the harbour with around ten boathouses and a shared sauna.” He sweeps his hand over the village of Rumpan.

“It was all forest here, everywhere, just forest – we use the best land for grazing and cultivation.

We grow crops in sand and grass clippings. We have built roads on the worst land and around thirty homes all have generous plots with only two neighbours each.”

A stone’s throw from the harbour is An-

ders Nyquist and his wife Ingrid’s own home and office in two separate buildings. Grapes ripen on the glazed veranda of the office and Ingrid has just brought in some nettles from the kitchen garden to make into a soup for lunch.

“The running costs for the office are around SEK 1,700 a month – that is less than it costs to rent a room in student accommodation.”

Anders Nyquist stands outside his boathouse, with his gaze moving to the village of Rumpan. A utopia realised.

An ecovillage based uncompromisingly on an ecological, economic, technical and social vision.

»

Leading principles for Eco Cycle Design • • • • •

Reduce Reuse Recycle Renewables Rethinking

GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN | 63

CASE : ecocycle design

Anders Nyquist emphasises that it is not a question of returning to an old way of life, but rather he wants to unite the best technical solutions of today with traditional knowledge in which social and cultural sustainability are important cornerstones for future construction.

For the architect’s firm, Anders Nyquists Arkitektkontor AB, the village of Rumpan became the springboard to the future. Today he juggles ecocycling projects in Sweden with ones in Tanzania, Japan and Colombia.

“Solar energy is a prerequisite for all life on earth, an inexhaustible source of energy. The one-off natural resources provided by the earth I consider the capital, while solar energy is the interest. In order to stay in balance with nature, it’s a good idea to live on the interest rather than the capital,” he says.

He emphasises that it is not a question of returning to an old way of life, but rather he wants to unite the best technical solutions of today with traditional knowledge in which social and cultural sustainability are important cornerstones for future construction. In order to develop more sustainable solutions, he proactively chooses to be a part of the solution rather than the problem, and with forty years of experience in ecocycle thinking and green architecture, he knows that the good example is what counts.

“When people can see, touch, smell and feel, they understand the true essence of what I’ve been

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talking about for forty years. Now I’ve stopped talking about green architecture from an idealist’s environmental perspective. Instead I talk about how best to invest one’s money in order to reduce annual costs and lifecycle costs.”

Anders Nyquist considers it everyone’s responsibility to influence the future for the better. Everyone can be a part of this fascinating evolution. It falls to each of us to find a better solution, whether we are repainting a room or building a town. n

Examples of implemented ecocycle design projects • • • • • • • •

Rumpans Village, Njurunda Own studio, Rumpans Village, Njurunda Laggarberg School, Timrå GreenZone, Umeå Tomtebo apartment block, Nydala, Umeå Villa Ödman, Kvissleby Villa Kim Mård, Njurunda Office building for DaiwaHouse, Sendai, Japan

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CASE : ecocycle design – ex a mples

Old thinking in new homes Nydalahuset in Umeå is a good example of a new, eco-friendly house.

But in fact, the concept is really old. And this is what’s new about the eco-friendly house in Umeå.

BY petra järnbert

PHOTO lasse sjöberg, gunnar andersson

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I

n several parts of Sweden, houses based on completely new principles are either planned or already under construction.

Houses kept within the bounds of nature, that do not tap finite energy resources or demand extensive social structures in the shape of waste and sewage systems.

Nydalahuset in Umeå, northern Sweden is built in accordance with an energy-efficient concept, most of which is designed by architect Anders Nyqvist. It comprises an eco vision combined with a social vision. The house is built from renewable, recyclable materials and is heated by biofuel. All excess heat is utilised, waste and sewage are separated and reused. And it is designed to create natural interfaces between the residents while also offering seclusion and company.

But this is really nothing new. People have always built houses from natural, local materials.

They have warmed them with local fuel, often wood. Traditional latrines returned valuable nutrients to the ecosystem, necessary for the soil to support humans. Houses were originally built in villages where the people got to know each other and benefitted from the community. This is exactly how Nydalahuset is intended to work.

House building with a holistic approach in which the houses are only one of the structures

forming a housing area. Also needed are sewage pipes, water purification plants, waste management facilities and much more, all found in functioning communities. Smart solutions to such matters can save large amounts of money and reduce environmental impact. It involves incorporating agriculture and forestry in society in a clearer fashion than at present and ensuring that waste and sewage are considered resources rather than problems.

Nydalahuset in Umeå, northern Sweden is built in accordance with an energy-efficient concept, most of which is designed by architect Anders Nyqvist.

The house in Nydala is built completely from wood and is heated with wood pellets. Waste and sewage are processed inside the building, then separated and used for irrigation and fertilisation.

Nydalahuset in Umeå is not only paving the way for future eco-friendly buildings, it also represents social visions that create interfaces between residents.

Really there are two houses, united by a single roof, and a perennially green yard with a pond and living trees.

The Nydala project in Umeå is the work of construction company Nyab in Umeå and local timber firm Martinssons. The building has 32 apartments and construction began in August 2006. The apartments were sold as soon as the project was presented. n

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CASE : ecocycle design – ex a mples

As one of Sweden’s first eco-municipalities, Timrå was early on the scene making environmental investments. Laggarberg School is a brilliant example of environmental and ecocycling technology.

BY petra järnbert

PHOTO Anders Nyquist

“ Can’t you do any better?”

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R

ight at the planning stage, Anders Nyquist was faced with similar demands to those with which politicians and civil servants were engaged. As one of Sweden’s first eco-municipalities, Timrå was early on the scene making environmental investments. The municipality’s environmental preparations meant that every new project had to be subject to an environmental perspective.

Consider then the following.

For many years, Anders Nyquist had been designing ecocycling houses.

For just as many years, his proposals had been rejected in favour of more conventional solutions.

“When I displayed my early sketches to the municipal executive board, I was met with: “Can’t you do any better?”

I had never been involved in anything like it. Then I decided to get really stuck in! The ecological adaptation was taken to its limit and the energy supply was implemented uncompromisingly,” Anders Nyquist tells us.

Yet another valuable precon-

he remembers the project as a long series of “wow” moments.

“Take all this to do with ventilation – many people questioned the nonmechanical natural draught ventilation, which led to our putting up meters which were able to tell that, of course, it worked.

Along the way, Anders Nyquist had to convince joiners and painters first about one thing, then another – his conviction carried the project forward from beginning to end,” says Kenneth Westberg.

“Laggarberg School was the first project in which I trained the construction workforce,” Anders Nyquist confirms.

He explained why, in all of his projects, he always uses screws rather than nails – to extend the sustainability. He explained his choice of materials based on

“

dition for the project becoming such a success was the school staff who were initiates already.

“The teachers already had an environmental profile in their lessons, they set strict requirements for my work. “That is just the kind of school we want”, they exclaimed when I showed them my first drawings, “square classrooms produce square pupils!” Hence the school’s irregular shapes,” says Anders Nyquist.

The municipal executive board’s chairman at the time was Kenneth Westberg –

ends up at the local golf course. In turn, they use it as fertiliser for the greens and fairways. Fecal material is composted and reused as a soil improver. Grey water from showers and washbasins is sent to the municipal water treatment works.

Anders Nyquist is particularly pleased today that the project is supporting the educational aims.

“The children eat adjacent to their own classrooms, two pupils from each class fetch the food from the kitchen and are responsible for laying the tables and for cleaning up. Any biological waste is composted. The children sort items at source and grow berry bushes and fruit trees in their edible garden.”

Recently, Laggarberg School received a message from the American actor, Will Smith. At his son’s school, New Village

aggarberg School was the first project in L which I trained the construction workforce.

the same principles of sustainability as his choice of painting with iron sulphate and water – it will last for a hundred years.

The flushing urine separation toilets were another untested option – Laggarberg School was the first place in the country to install these.

“It was fun to work with a client who wants to make something so consistent, an engineer had to look after the toilets.

He handled that task in a fantastic way – no smell, no flies,” says Nyquist.

Laggarberg School is connected up to the municipal water system, but the urine is conveyed to a separate tank which is emptied by the municipality and then

Leadership Academy, he has been contributing to introducing a similar method of education.

Laggarberg School was one of the projects representing Sweden in the “Green Building Challenge 1998” in Vancouver. The project aroused a great deal of attention.

“I have made use of the experience gained from Laggarberg School in other projects such as GreenZone in Umeå, various projects in Japan, the proposal for a preschool at Sollerön, the proposal for a new school in Järvsö, apartments in Umeå and countless detached houses in various parts of Sweden,” Anders Nyquist says. n

BEFORE:

AFTER:

In the mid-1990s, architect Anders Nyquist was commissioned to adapt Laggarberg School in Timrå for ecocycling. The school building, dating from the 1930s, was threatened with demolition – the commission was two-fold – to renovate the existing building and to build a new part of the school using the best available clean technology – would that be possible?

Laggarberg School now accommodates 150 children in the age-groups 6 to 12. A brilliant example of environmental and ecocycling technology. The school has inspired several school projects and is used today as an example at universities and colleges.

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CASE : ecocycle design – ex a mples

“ Living environment for winners” The unique thing about GreenZone is not the individual parts but the sum of the whole. A concept solution to minimise the ecological footprint.

BY petra järnbert

PHOTO gunnar andersson

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W

hen Anders Nyquist designed GreenZone, he had long ceased compromising on his ideals. The configuration of the GreenZone, right down to the smallest detail, came much closer to the vision than it appeared on paper.

It was a vision that was far more radical than any project that Anders Nyquist had been involved in previously, with its roots going right to the heart of the issues: global, national and local environmental problems.

Even the facility’s appearance is refreshing. Naturally coloured timber buildings under green roofs planted with sedum, and with ground cover of reinforced grass instead of asphalt.

“The green plants on the roofs can be replaced after a while, with a variant of the same species which is better suited to the climate in northern Sweden,” says Per Carstedt, the owner and person who took the initiative to create GreenZone.

“And the ecocycle soon showed that the water that was being circulated had a high iron content which gave a rusty colour to the water in toilets and bidets. The fact that we nevertheless connected up to the municipal water supply was not for hygiene reasons but for purely aesthetic ones,” he says.

Otherwise, he uses nothing but superlatives.

“The concept works absolutely excellently. For a period, GreenZone was the biggest tourist destination in Umeå. Our energy consumption is less than half of what it would have been if we had used

a traditional method of heating,” Per Carstedt tells us.

Then he explains why.

“There’s nothing unusual about it.

The buildings are well insulated so there is little initial heat loss. We use ground source heating and solar panels that generate heat from early spring to late autumn. In addition, the surplus heat from the deep fat fryer and the frying tables is recycled to the entire area.”

Anders Nyquist agrees.

“The entire district is supplied with waste heat from the various businesses.

We soon discovered that none of the petrol station’s fridge and freezer compressors had a coordinated system so we built a special heat exchanger to make use of the heat from these as well as the volume of heat from the kitchen. This heat is being reused today in the car facility.”

Experience from GreenZone It is possible to build sound houses with no environmental problems, with a low environmental burden.

It is possible to build buildings and infrastructure that are adapted for ecocycling.

It is possible to design energy-smart solutions.

It is possible to build better with lower annual costs and lower lifetime costs.

It is possible to build living environments where everyone is a winner – the individual, the property owner, the municipality, the community and the environment.

GreenZone is “state of the art”.

“As far as I know no one anywhere else in the world has made such holistic use of all of the flows within a building,” says Anders Nyquist.

As owner and purchaser, Per Carstedt is very satisfied on that point.

“These days we use more energy than we have a supply of – this is one way to reduce the energy that is put into the cycle. We hope we can act as a role model,” he says. n

BEFORE:

AFTER:

The year was 1997. During an eco-day on the topic of sustainability in Örnsköldsvik, two of the principal speakers happened to sit beside one another during lunch. One of those people was architect Anders Nyquist, the other Per Carstedt who had just taken over the Ford dealership in Umeå. He wanted to commission an architect to design a new car showroom.

The motoring facility radically adapted for EcoCycling is called the GreenZone – a concept solution containing the aforementioned Ford dealership including workshops and offices, a McDonalds restaurant and a complete Statoil service station. The whole facility is supplied with waste heat from the various businesses.

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CASE : ecocycle design – ex a mples

Villa Ödman is a house that has a minimal impact on the environment.

“ This house is cheaper to run – that’s definite!”

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Villa Ödman is a house that has a minimal impact on the environment.

The whole objective of the project was to create a house with low energy consumption, low annual costs, simple maintenance, low useful-life cost, no connection to the municipal sewerage system or district heating system.

BY petra järnbert

PHOTO Anders Nyquist

A

s to the question about what differentiates an ecocycling home from a more traditional home, Björn Ödman at first does not answer.

He remains silent.

But after a little while, he says this: “When I think about living in this house, I think about completely different things. About how the house is right beside the lake, on a mature plot and about how the new house is twice the size of the old one.”

But there must be something different about living in a house that is not connected to the municipal sewerage system, a house with an annual energy consumption that has been cut in half, mustn’t there?

“This house is cheaper to run– that’s definite!

And, of course, I have to empty the compost tub occasionally, and refill the cleaning material, but that is no trouble at all.”

Björn Ödman adds, fascinated:

“One thing that I have thought about is that however many of us have been taking a shower, there is never any mist on the mirrors in the bathroom. The air is extracted through the floor drains and the energy is made use of. Our aim is to use less than 10,000 kWh a year.”

Villa Ödman is a house that has a minimal impact on the environment.

“The whole objective of the project was to create a house with low energy consumption, low annual costs, simple maintenance, low useful-life cost, no connection to the municipal sewerage system or district heating system - in other words EcoCycleDesign,” says architect Anders Nyquist who designed Villa Ödman.

In this case, the secret behind the low energy costs is the combination of a well-insulated house, air entry via the ground, a wood-burning stove for the coldest days and an accumulator tank to store the re-cycled energy. In other words, it is the use of locally-sourced fuel and the re-cycling of energy which lead to the relatively low energy costs.

Villa Ödman has been built on a Koljern foamglass foundation, which has a Split-Box installation to manage ventilation, sewerage, biological waste recycling from the kitchen, as well as the heating and producing of water that is tap hot.

Residual products: purified water and a complete fertiliser which can be re-applied to agricultural land. n

BEFORE:

AFTER:

The Ödman family had a beautiful site in Kvissleby outside Sundsvall. There was already an older house on the site, and they wanted to renovate it.

“Demolish the old house and build a house adapted for ecocycling,” suggested architect Anders Nyquist.

When Villa Ödman was awarded the Ecocycling Council’s environment award, we read in the citation about the Villa Ödman being an inspirational example of how it is possible to work on energy use, materials use, hazardous substances, air quality and sound quality in an environmentally-aware way.

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CASE : ecocycle design – ex a mples

“ Family ties – not a necessary link between generations” Architect Anders Nyquist has done it before. At Nydala in Umeå – 32 apartments.

Soon Kvissleby too will be getting its own multi-occupancy apartment building adapted for ecocycling, under the Anark AB signature.

BY petra järnbert

A

nders Nyquist’s signature products are houses that conform to nature’s own conditions, that do not tap finite energy resources or demand extensive social structures in the shape of waste and sewerage systems.

Add to that his social vision of what it means to live somewhere, a vision that becomes particularly clear when dealing with multi-occupancy apartment buildings.

“Just the feeling that you are not alone means that you feel more secure. Families with children often miss the closeness to an older generation. In turn, older people are often far away from their grandchildren. Fit elderly people can provide support to families with children in a three-generation residence and families with children can help the elderly with fairly easy tasks. A three-generation form of living can be created in which the link between the generations does not necessarily have to mean family ties,” says Anders Nyquist.

In his social vision for the apartment

block at Kvissleby, he expands further his social vision of also encompassing working life.

“The number of small limited companies is growing in Sweden. In someone’s own apart-

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ment block, the ability to rent space for that person’s company would reduce the need to travel.

Working hours would become more flexible. The closeness of home and workplace would make it possible for people to combine work with their place of residence and care for their children.”

The building at Kvissleby is still on the drawing board, along with the entire bank of experience that Nyquist’s forty-year professional life brings with it.

Along with his criticism of today’s house-

building practices.

“At best, a home is often a technically functioning storage place for people during the night. You walk in through the entrance, or even drive into the parking garage in the basement, take the lift up to your private dwelling, go into your home and close the door on the outside world,” Anders Nyquist thinks.

The sketches on the drawing board tell the tale of another type of living.

It is a holistic idea for an apartment block, adapted for the environment and ecocycling, including living, working and leisure areas for three generations under one roof. n

The Koljern house foundation The Koljern house foundation consists of foamglass, an ecologically sustainable insulation material which is made exclusively of glass and coal.

Foamglass is waterproof, since it consists of closed cells of pure glass.

No moisture can penetrate into the foundation since foamglass is inherently stable.

Foamglass is also vapour-proof, since it is made up of hermetically sealed glass cells – in other words, it replaces damp-proof membranes since it cannot let moisture through and it protects against radon.

Since the foundation consists of pure glass, it is also non-combustible and can therefore neither spread fire nor emit noxious gases.

With the Koljern-technique it´s also possible to create the climatic barrier of a whole house, from a basement slab or warm suspended foundation to external walls and roofs.

The Koljern house foundation is an innovation from Åke Mård.

Read further at: www.koljern.se

Split Box Bath-, dish- and washwater Exhaust air Kitchen Toilet water Air

Warm water

SplitBox

Energy

Water

Geothermal air Dry fractionation Heating

SplitBox is an energy and sewerage system which has been designed to use modern ecocycling technology to cope with all of a property’s energy requirements combined with technology to provide ventilation, heat recovery, and water and sewerage management. The system has been developed to eliminate entirely any risk of contamination between water and sewerage in properties with private drains and, using safe technology, to reduce energy requirements and the burden on the environment. There are system solutions for holiday homes, detached houses and multi-occupancy buildings. The technical solution means that people are not dependent on connection to municipal mains sewerage and that the dry fraction produced by the process is high in nutrients and can be added as a soil improver when fertilising the land.

Read further at: www.splitvision.se

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CASE : living filter

Miniature rain forest cleans air Fill a large glass container with tropical plants and mount a fan at the very top.

As air passes the plants it is cleaned. The Royal Palace in Stockholm has also discovered the advantages of ‘living filter’ technology.

BY Olof Axelsson

PHOTOs Rectus Levande filter AB

O

riginally the idea comes from the American space agency NASA, which wanted to test ways of cleaning the air in a space station.

Swedish professor Lars Thorfelt developed and patented the technique at the beginning of the 1990s, and since 1998 it is sold by Rectus Levande Filter AB in Sundsvall.

The plants are potted in a glazed soil container with drainage and watering systems. As the air circulates any pollutants – both gaseous and particulate – fasten on the leaves of the plants.

The first installation was made in the flight terminal at Sundsvall-Härnösand Airport when it was erected in 1997.

Two times an hour the leaves are watered for about ten seconds, washing the particles into the soil where they are broken down. This also increases the humidity, which is especially important during the winter when the indoor air is quite dry.

Moreover, utilising the surplus energy in the building cools the air.

“It’s like standing by a stream on a brisk spring day. When we temporarily removed the filter from our office both my colleagues and our visitors complained about the poor air quality,” says CEO Christer Swedin.

The filter cleans and oxygenates the air, reducing the need for mechanical ventilation and energy to heat the ventilated air. The system can cut energy consumption by 70 percent.

»

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CASE : living filter

How the living filter works

Higher humidity is especially important in environments with large amounts of static discharge. The Swedish police force use one of the filters in their county communication centre in Sundsvall.

The filter is comprised of plants, soil and water. The fans at the bottom suck in air over the leaves. As air passes the plants any dirty particles fasten.

Two times an hour the plants are showered with regular water. The particles fall into the soil where they are absorbed and the pollutants are broken down. The clean air is blown out at floor level.

“Unfortunately, the ventilation industry is rather conservative, so we need a change of attitude. Many people still believe good indoor air can only be achieved with a powerful flow of air.”

Most of Rectus’ customers are based in Sweden, although the filters have also been installed in Finland, Poland and the USA. “We’re negotiating with an American company that is interested in a licence deal for the North American market,” says Swedin.

Airports and offices with large numbers of people are the most common locations. The first installation was made in the flight terminal at Sundsvall-Härnösand Airport when it was erected in 1997.

The technology is also suitable for environments where many people use computers and other electronic equipment, and where it is common for staff to suffer headaches and respiratory problems.

“Airborne infections, dust and allergens are minimised.”

No daylight is needed as special bulbs are used to light the plants.

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“After we installed a filter in the lunchroom at the Swedish mining company LKAB’s mine in Gällivare, the manager noticed that the employees became happier. The plants also have an aesthetic role.”

The next step may well be a filter some 1,000 metres below ground deep in the bedrock under the mine in Kiruna, northern Sweden.

The application areas are almost endless.

A school in Sundsvall has installed a living filter.

“The teachers are keen to teach in that particular classroom.”

The technique even works well in buildings listed as culturally important where conventional ventilation systems cannot be installed. In May 2009 the Royal Palace in Stockholm received its first filter.

“It’s installed in the area where the switchboard staff sit. In August we’ll be installing a second filter in one of the conference rooms. Hopefully we’ll receive orders for other parts of the Palace where the King works,” says Christer Swedin. n

Nor thern Sweden Soil Remediation Center

Solutions for toxic contaminants threatening humans and ecosystems Contamination from abandoned or active industrial sites is a serious hazard for the safety of humans and the function of ecosystems. A Swedish national inventory has so far identified up to 80.000 sites with potential risk, and with the current pace approximately 300 sites are being cleaned-up annually, at a substantial cost to society. Developments in quality and efficiency in risk reduction and remediation of contaminated sites is essential. It demands the ability to characterize and treat a broad range of inorganic and organic compounds in various conditions, which requires varying specific high level competence including scientific research.

Northern Sweden Soil Remediation Centre (MCN) was established in 2001 as a network for research and knowledge exchange, and has since then involved more than 150 professionals, in research, public and private organizations.

MCN constantly adds new projects and today co-ordinate 11 research groups in an open organization were scientists from the universities and personal from remediation branch organizations collaborate on specific problem topics. The

organization model allows scientists direct interaction with end users, which promotes applicable research and shortens the lead time to implementation in the field.

Examples of previous results are commercialized analytical methods for organic forms of tin, arsenic, mercury as well as oxidized forms of PAH:es and the increased understanding of behavior and availability of PAH:es, dioxins and mercury.

These have been applied in many areas including former sites for lumber preservation, pulp manufacturing, forest plant nurseries and coke gas generation, and for setting Swedish national guideline values.

The centre is coordinated by Umeå University with research partners Luleå University of Technology, Swedish Agricultural University, and Swedish Defence Research Agency. Our current active business partners are Tyréns, Ramböll, Sweco and Pelagia consultancies, ALS laboratory, MB Envirotek and Ragn-Sells remediation contractors, plus a number of national and international partners in research and reference groups.

MCN researchers and business partners are searching for new collaborations worldwide, to continue developing research and finding solutions for contaminated sites.

www.mcnio.com Leaders in science and partnering for the sustainable recovery of contaminated sites

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CASE : bae systems

Military electric hybrid aimes big on the civil market BAE Systems in Örnsköldsvik is well known for its military vehicles. But now, their electric hybrid for specialist vehicles on the civil market could become an international success.

“We are 3 to 5 years ahead of the civil players in this field,” says MD Jan Söderström.

BY Olof Axelsson

PHOTO per ågren/media-bild

B

AE Systems is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of military vehicle systems. For more than fifteen years, the company has been working on developing vehicles based on electric hybrid technology – that is, a combination of diesel engines and electric motors.

The basis of this development is the next generation of military vehicles – combining diesel engines and electric motors in military vehicles provides a great many advantages. Electrical transmission means that the components can be located with greater freedom in the vehicle, allowing it therefore to be built safer, lighter and with

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BAE Systems is offering a series hybrid which is propelled by one or more electric motors whose energy is taken from batteries and the combustion engine.

GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN | 81

CASE : bae systems

“

his technology saves a great deal of fuel in T machines that are constantly accelerating and braking. El-forest offers many advantages.

more space for the men. In addition, electrical components are generally highly efficient, with low maintenance requirements and a long working life. After extensive trials of several generations of test models, series production of the new military vehicles is going to start in 2010-2011.

The advantages of the military vehicles have meant that BAE Systems is now also starting to look outside the military vehicle market.

“The technology is so efficient that we have decided to invest in civil vehicles and applications.

We are offering complete electric hybrid drivetrains for medium and heavy specialist vehicles, such as for mining operations,” says Fredrik Sidahl, who is responsible for the new business segment, the Environmental Mobility Center.

And, according to the Örnsköldsvik company itself, it is far ahead of its competitors.

“We have invested hundreds of millions of Swedish Kronor in developing the new military vehicles and we estimate that we are 3 to 5 years ahead of the civil players in this field, in being able to offer drivetrains with the electric hybrids of the future,” says MD Jan Söderström.

The first civil vehicles are expected to go out to customers for trial operation as early as this summer.

“Several construction machinery manufacturers have shown an interest,” says Fredrik Sidahl.

Electric hybrid vehicles use two different technologies. They can be either series hybrids or parallel hybrids.

BAE Systems is offering a series hybrid which is propelled by one or more electric motors whose energy is taken from batteries and the combustion engine. The motor(s) and engine sit immediately over each axle or separately.

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Lower fuel consumption and a lesser impact on the environment are strong arguments for promotion to customers. BAE Systems’ tests show that diesel consumption drops by 30-50 per cent.

The investment is estimated to have a payoff time for the customer of just one and a half years.

“The batteries are charged when the vehicle runs downhill. The energy is conducted back, thus further reducing the fuel consumption. There is no gearbox and therefore no losses in efficiency,” says Fredrik Sidahl.

Environments in which vehicles are run

indoors, such as factories and mines, are extremely interesting target groups for this cleaner technology.

“The environmental argument is becoming stronger and stronger. At the huge Motor Show in Paris this spring, hybrid operation was greatly in focus. Now our success depends on how well we can reach out over the next 12 to 18 months,” says Fredrik Sidahl.

For Hägglunds, the investment in the civil field is an important supplement to the military one.

“For a relatively small country such as Sweden, it is crucial for both civil and military sectors to be able to collaborate to create advantages within their respective segments,” says Jan Söderström.

It also seems that civil applications are far from new for the BAE Systems Group, whose technology has been powering buses in New York since the 1990s. The older and more tried-and-tested parallel hybrid technology is in use there. n

syre.se

OUR TOOL KEEPS YOUR PRODUCT CONTENT IN CHECK Regardless of the product, a seller must be able to demonstrate where its components come from and how they are produced, their origin and what has happened to them on the way from raw material to finished component. There are many good reasons for a supplier to be thorough with documentation and its follow-ups. Partly because extremely difficult situations can arise with customers if products provide misleading information, whether on purpose or not, and valuable goodwill can be lost the moment the headlines roll off the press. Orderly production is another reason; many companies have also realised the value of profiling environmental sustainability as a strong sales argument in their marketing - and all the signs are that this will be more pronounced in the future.

However, keeping track of EVERYTHING that is included in EVERY product is a job that soon overwhelm even the most energetic and systematic person.

This is when Coresource enters the frame - or preferably even earlier. Our tool is designed to keep track of everything there is to know about every little detail in a complex system – from the perspective of every interested party. It helps to compile and systematise information about materials and components, and to make it accessible; functions that make your situation easier and more secure. In its simplest form it can be used for storing a product’s material declaration and its most advanced version provides an automatic interpretation of the rules for material declarations (such as RoHS and REACH), where the result is a green or red light for a component. You choose whether you want help with information logistics as a web-based service or whether you want our free open source tool for content declarations.

GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN | 83 Coresource AB, Färögatan 33, SE-164 51 KISTA, Sweden | +46 8 643 43 60 | contact@coresource.se | www.incheck.eu

CASE : soll jus

New light fittings saves electricity

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Using a ground lens and a reflector, the light is concentrated to make it more efficient. That means that electricity consumption becomes 30-90 per cent lower in comparison with ordinary light fittings. Östersund company, Solljus [sunlight], is behind this technology.

BY Olof Axelsson

PHOTO solljus

T

he lamp in the Solljus fitting is a gas discharge with ceramic metallic halogen. The secret behind the huge energy savings is having the ground lens and the reflector, which concentrates the light emitted.

“There is no “wastage”, which means that less energy is required,” explains MD, Sten Wennerklev.

And it is no mean reduction.

“Our light fittings often save 30-90 per cent on energy, as compared to other light fittings. And if we assume that the energy is generated using fossil fuels, carbon dioxide emissions will diminish by the same amount.”

One of the customers is Wist Last &

Buss which runs a Volvo workshop in Trondheim, Norway. Instead of fitting 516 fluorescent lights totalling 54.1 kW, the company chose 221 light fittings from Soljus with a total output of 34.9 kW. The energy savings were therefore 36 per cent.

“Fewer light fittings also mean cheaper installation and maintenance.”

Conscious eco-thinking has characterised the development of this light fitting right from the

outset. Apart from the actual bulb, all of the materials are recyclable. But the lamps from Solljus also have other advantages in addition to the financial and environmental ones. The light emitted by this light fitting is restful to the eye since it is completely flicker-free.

The light, which possesses the sun’s full colour

spectrum, also makes each colour appear as it would in natural daylight, which makes it particularly suitable in locations such as clothes stores since it does real justice to the garments’ colours. It has also been proven that salmon fry in Norwegian fishfarms eat and grow better if they are illuminated with Solljus light fittings. And in a collaborative experiment with Norway’s University of Agriculture (Bioforsk), turnip plants have been lit with these to see how their growth is affected.

“The results showed that the plants gained a very good shape, the growth mass was higher than under standard greenhouse light fittings. Our light fitting also reduces energy costs greatly and Bioforsk’s conclusion is that it is very suitable for greenhouse lighting. This autumn, we are going to be concentrating on sales to greenhouse growers,” says Sten Wennerklev. n

Huge potential for savings for one single lamp Assuming that the electricity has been produced using fossil fuels. In that case, a reduction in energy consumption of 1 kWh will give a reduction of 0.950 kg carbon dioxide.

A light fitting from Solljus with a strength of 150 W often replaces other light fittings rated at 300 W.

If a lamp like this is lit for eight hours a day, 230 working days a year, the savings will be (0.300-0.150) x 0.950 x 8 x 230 = 262 kg carbon dioxide every year.

GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN | 85

Over the Chinese threshold OFFICE OF THE HIGH REPRESENTATIVE FOR SINO-SWEDISH ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGY COOPERATION The purpose of our work is to increase exports of Swedish environmental technology and technology for sustainable urban development to China. The aim is to originate projects that are realised and lead to business for Swedish companies. We will open doors to public and private customers and use companies’ existing networks to develop new business for more companies.

OuR FOCuS AREAS:

WE WORk WITH:

• Cleaning air and water • Waste management • Renewable energy & energy efficiency • Sustainable transport systems • Improving the industrial environment • Improved transport planning • Urban planning

• The Swedish Embassy in Beijing • Centec • Business networks and professional bodies • The Swedish Trade Council • Swentec • The Delegation for Sustainable Cities

For more information, please contact:

Mats Denninger High Representative Sino-Swedish Environmental Technology Cooperation Mobile: 070-219 00 71 mats.denninger@ 86 | GREEN SOLUTIONS enterprise.ministry.se

Monique Wannding

Tina Karlberg

Sino-Swedish Environmental Technology Cooperation

Sino-Swedish Environmental Technology Cooperation

Mobile: 070-693 52 24

Mobile: 076-775 02 90 kristina.karlberg@ enterprise.ministry.se

FROMmonique.wannding@ SWEDEN

enterprise.ministry.se

s e i d e a . f oto k r i s to f e r lö n n å

THIS IS IT. Good things happen.

The finely meshed network of expertise we have built up, with skilled and experienced people from the industry, has created an innovative environment that has resulted in a host of new ideas and joint sustainable solutions to shared problems.

If we together can ensure that this infrastructure is used by as many as possible, then we are all winners in obtaining a safer environment as well as a higher quality at a lower cost.

It’s the Egg of Columbus for the process industries.

www.SSg.Se

GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN | 87

CASE : flexiwaggon

The fast track to a more climatefriendly future Enormous environmental benefits, cheaper transport and childishly easy to load and unload. The fully automatic railway carriage that makes all this possible is already here, but where are the investors?

BY mi edvinsson

PHOTOs flexiwaggon

W

ith the simple press of a button, one end of the railway carriage is uncoupled from the train and the carriage rotates outwards. A ramp is lowered and the fully loaded lorry drives slowly up into the carriage. Just as easily, the automated railway carriage is put back in place. Without producing any carbon dioxide, without causing wear on tyres or roads, the lorry now travels the many miles to Luleå in northernmost Sweden, Malmö in the south, Östersund in the west or whichever other railway station is closest to its final destination.

Once there, the procedure is repeated with the rotatable railway carriage, though now at the other end of the carriage, so that the lorry can drive out forwards and continue the last stretch of the journey to the customer. This is Flexiwaggon, an ingenious and environmentally-friendly innova-

88 | GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN

tion created by designer Jan Eriksson from County Jämtland in Sweden. He got the idea back in 1995, and you may wonder why hundreds of Flexiwaggons are not speeding along on Sweden’s railways considering today’s climate threat.

“When I first presented my idea, climate change wasn’t as big an issue as it is today. The world simply wasn’t ready, and it was difficult to sell an idea alone,” Eriksson explains.

Things are different today. Since Al Gore shocked the world with his film ‘An Inconvenient Truth’, public awareness of environmental issues has rocketed. Several interested parties have invested in the idea, enabling the construction of two prototypes of Eriksson’s railway carriage.

In November 2008 the latest prototype was put through an extensive test drive with a fully loaded lorry onboard. The fully automatic railway

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Flexiwaggon offers combination possibilities since it is capable of transporting lorries, buses, passenger cars, containers, timber, swap bodies, trailers with or without trailer truck – on one and the same waggon.

1.

2.

3.

GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN | 89

Âť

CASE : flexiwaggon

“

he environmental benefits that T can be achieved with the aid of Flexiwaggon are really significant.

A lorry produces 2.7 kilos of carbon dioxide for each litre of diesel used.

The rest is simple maths.

carriage behaved as expected on the rails and all that remains is a brakes test before the concerned authorities can provide their approval.

All that is lacking now is capital and more investors willing to join the venture. The unfortunate timing of the credit crunch forced companies to cut back drastically. The manufacture of railway carriages is not cheap. At present, there is a shortfall of SEK 3.5 million for the next development stage. Eriksson estimates that Flexiwaggon needs about SEK 45 million to really get the company off the ground.

Despite the slow pace, he has a positive

outlook, as long as people realise the benefits it would entail for both society and individual haulage firms if we let lorries take the train. Road accident risks would be reduced, as would road maintenance needs. Haulage firms could cut down

4.

90 | GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN

5.

on diesel consumption, wear and other transportrelated costs and could – depending on whether the driver takes the train too – save SEK 1.70–4.50 per km compared to road transport. Last but not least, Flexiwaggon would help cut carbon dioxide emissions, something that companies using the carriages could use to their advantage to market themselves with a distinctly green profile.

“It’s going to become even more pressing to reduce carbon emissions and the environmental benefits that can be achieved with the aid of Flexiwaggon are really significant. A lorry produces 2.7 kilos of carbon dioxide for each litre of diesel used.

The rest is simple maths,” says Jan Eriksson. n

6.

Ica believes in Flexiwaggon The nationwide Swedish retailer Ica Sverige AB found Flexiwaggon to be such an interesting solution that they bought shares in the company. Once the railway carriage is ready for service, they will gladly be the first to try it.

BY mi edvinsson

PHOTO ica

C

limate change is something we are now all aware of. Every forward-thinking corporate leader knows that environmental issues must be on the agenda today. Otherwise, the company will soon be swept away by the competition.

Ica Sverige AB is one of Sweden’s leading retailers with a focus on consumer non-durables. For many years the company has given environmental issues a high priority and has been a part-owner of Flexiwaggon AB since 2005.

“Jan Eriksson called me and wanted me to take a look at his product. I saw firsthand how Flexiwaggon works, and what I saw was very impressive,” explains Christer Skogsby, who was head of transport for Ica Sverige at the time.

Skogsby was already interested in rail-based solutions. For a couple of years, Ica Sverige tried shipping goods by rail in the conventional manner between certain locations, but the results were not satisfactory, in terms of neither economics nor time. Flexiwaggon brought with it new possibilities and it was decided that Ica should support the project.

“The strength is the flexibility. The lorry can travel both with and without a driver. You can load the entire articulated lorry or just the trailer, with the truck remaining. Unloading is child’s play. The total transport cost can without a doubt be reduced and – most importantly – it’s environmentally-friendly,” says Skogsby.

No matter how highly Ica values environmental issues, the company cannot finance Flexiwaggon single-handedly.

Hopefully, in time financially stronger supporters will dare to invest. Because, as Skogsby believes, it is all about courage, and when Flexiwaggon is ready for commercialisation, Ica Sverige will happily stand to the fore.

“If people see that this well-established company is willing to make the change, others will follow. If everything works, I’m confident it will be in great demand. This is a solution I truly believe in,” says Christer Skogsby. n

GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN | 91

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CAse : coresource

What’s in your product?

There are increasing demands for more transparent listing of product contents.

Legislation, standards and, not least, increasing environmental awareness demand an easy answer to the question: What’s in your product?

BY gunnar fröberg

PHOTO istockphoto

“A

t first sight you might think – how difficult can that be? You know what you produce! But the more complex a product is, with more suppliers, the more problems have the potential to grow exponentially,” says Ulf Bergvall, MD at Coresource, which is now challenging the industry with an open source solution for intercompany use.

Coresource’s background is in product data management (PDM), where it is mainly large companies that are provided with tools and services to keep track of their products. Orderly PDM is an increasingly important area of business support in conducting effective development, production and sales. A sustainability declaration is now also being added. Many large companies have realised that information about sustainability is not just valuable in itself; it is also a motor for making supplier contacts more efficient and is an important part of the company’s overall environmental and sustainability profile.

Coresource is now setting up an open source solution – InCheck – for small, mediumsized and large companies, which enables companies to keep track of the most basic sustainability information between themselves. Development is taking place with support from the Peak Innovation cluster.

“Building this solution around open source code means it will be accessible for most companies, large or small. That is the important point.

Sustainability reporting is no stronger than its weakest link.

“In other words, it doesn’t matter how orderly a company is, if it all falls apart because of a component from a supplier,” says Ulf. By building the solution and services around an established XML interface, suppliers can add data that can be interpreted and stored in a component database. In this way, information can be analysed and an entire product structure with sustainability information can be made easily and simply.

In its most basic form, the solution can be

used for a product’s materials declaration. However, in the background there is clever information logistics, which saves time when many components are included. Naturally, the most intelligent function is an automated interpretation of the regulations for materials declarations (such as RoHS & REACH) so that, on the basis of a bill of materials, it can be demonstrated whether or not a product is compliant.

“Our long experience of PDM means that we are very familiar with problems relating to data storage, data quality, etc. There is nothing to indicate that sustainability information is better or worse than any other information. However, bearing in mind the now increasing volumes of data to be sent up from underlying manufacturers, the challenge of keeping track of sustainability information will grow. This solution is one step, but there is a need to develop industry-specific functionality and services that cover all aspects of sustainability information,” concludes Ulf Bergvall. n GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN | 93

CASE : green highway

Green Highway – Scandinavia’s green transport axis The Green Highway is linking Scandinavia together. This important east-west link passes through regions that have major reserves of renewable energy. So it is no coincidence that the “green” development in frontline transport systems is in precisely this location.

BY per trostemo

PHOTO sandra pettersson/Fotograftina&CO

illustration green highway

T

“

here is a thousand-year-old route crossing through Scandinavia from the Atlantic to the Baltic. Through deep forests and over high mountains, pilgrims and merchants trudged along the uneven connecting route. At the time, travellers were obliged to use Shanks’s pony and, in the best cases, ordinary horses for getting along. Old tried and tested means of conveyance, operating on renewable energy… Today the Sundsvall – Östersund – Trondheim highway is a vibrant communications artery. European route 14 and the almost 130-year-old railway convey an increasing number of travellers and freight between these lively regions.

hat we are doing is a huge step W towards achieving the EU’s climate goals by 2020.

Despite the increasing volume of traffic, transport can once again become just as “clean” as it was in the days of the pilgrims. The E 14 is going to become a “Green Highway”, a green transport axis through a belt of renewable energy. Along the full length of the route (almost 500 km), there will be facilities for filling up vehicles with biogas, ethanol, rapeseed diesel and, not least, electricity.

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“This is one concrete result of the intensified collaboration between the municipalities of Trondheim, Östersund and Sundsvall. And in the Green Highway our three municipalities’ conscious environmental endeavours obtain really great support from the energy companies – Trönder Energi, Trondheim Energi, Nord-Tröndelag elektrisitetsverk, Jämtkraft, Härjeåns Kraft and Sundsvall Energi. What we are doing is a huge step towards achieving the EU’s climate goals by 2020,” says Ann-Sofie Andersson, chairman of the municipal executive board in Östersund.

It is hardly any coincidence that the E 14 in particular is the road lying at the forefront of developments towards “green” transport routes.

Throughout the region, there are huge reserves of renewable energy in various forms – hydroelectric power, wind power, bioenergy from the forests, biogas, ethanol and other potential energy resources.

In addition, there is the know-how and desire to work on systematic conversion to sustainable, ecofriendly energy production and energy supply.

There are also good reasons for assuming

that the investment in the Green Highway will act as a lever for the regions’ development. The tourist industry, which is already strong today, will be given an extra boost, as will research and enterprise within electricity production, bioenergy and many other areas of eco-technology.

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GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN | 95

CASE : green highway

Exciting investments in the footsteps of the Green Highway: • Th e municipality of Trondheim has purchased 26 electric cars in order to position itself as a serious demonstration location.

•A guide to electric cars and rechargeable hydrids currently with 83 models of cars has been produced in collaboration with Sundsvall Energi, Jämtkraft, Trondheim Energi and Trønder Energi •A list of 100 items including some measures that have been already implemented and some that are earmarked for implementation •A first electric bus is being introduced •C harging stations/charging posts are in production

Trondheim

Stjørdal

Meråker

• An electric scooter project is being launched to produce 4 prototypes of electrically-powered snow scooters. The investments will produce a completely new attraction for winter tourism. It will be possible, noiselessly and with zero CO2 emissions, to make your way into the sensitive landscapes of mountains and forests.

• It is planned that electric cars/electric vehicles will be tested and verified mainly in a winter climate at the Vehicle Technical Centre in Östersund. Using the skills-base that VTC possesses, it will be possible to combine a unique range of services to vehicle developers. n

Storlien Åre Järpen

Krokom

Östersund Brunflo

table of symbols Biogas pump

Gällö

Charging poles

Bräcke

(currently and planned)

E85 Ethanol

RME biodiesel Fränsta

© www.worldsat.ca 2009 all rights reserved.

Distribuerad av www.metria.se

Vattjom

Sundsvall d

Green Highway in brief • T he region has about 350,000 inhabitants in the larger urban areas of Sundsvall, Östersund and Trondheim. The smaller communities have about 100,000 inhabitants.

• T he region has a total of 150,000 vehicles.

•A n attractive living environment requires travel that is economically, socially and ecologically sustainable.

Improved transport structures improve the opportunities of living and working in central Scandinavia.

•G reen Highway creates a strong, effective and ecofriendly transport stretch between Sundsvall – Östersund and Trondheim with shorter journey times for public

96 | GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN

transport and other green means of transport, as well as greener freight transport.

• Green Highway is part of the established SÖT cooperation (Sundsvall-Östersund-Trondheim). From the statement of intent: “Our towns act as the motors in three regions that between them stretch from the Atlantic Ocean to the Baltic Sea. We see the opportunities for concrete cooperation between the towns on many levels. We also view the ties between our towns as a part of the integration of Europe.”

Charge your batteries Jämtkraft is one of several energy companies in central Scandinavia that is really on the ball. The company is investing heavily in helping expand the infrastructure for renewable energy along the Green Highway.

BY per trostemo

T

PHOTO jämtkraft

his summer a charging station for electric cars will be installed in Åre.

“We’ll erect four types of charging posts with different capacities, everything from super fast to slow charging,” says Tommy Eriksson from Jämtkraft, which together with Sundsvall Energi, Härjeåns Kraft, Trönder Energi, Trondheim Energi and Nord-Tröndelag elektrisitetsverk are highly involved in expanding the energy

infrastructure along the Green Highway. Åre is first in line for the planned chain of charging stations along the entire E 14 road from Trondheim to Sundsvall. No electric car driver will need to get caught out powerless!

“We count on needing one station every 100-150 km. However, the use of electric cars is increasing rapidly, so we may have to revise our plans.”

Jämtkraft is also participating in the development of electric cars adapted to

demanding winter climates. Part of this work involved converting a Saab to run on electric power.

“We got in touch with Uppsala-based Electroengine, a company at the leading edge of battery development. We’re now the proud owners of Sweden’s first full-size electric-powered car and through Green Highway we get to follow development from the front row,” says Tommy Eriksson. n

GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN | 97

biofuel region

The link between raw materials and industry The J채mtland and V채sternorrland regions are bubbling over with initiatives in bioenergy and transport, conducted by the universities, local industry and the community. All marked by a willingness to collaborate in the development of raw materials and industry. BioFuel Region wants to encourage this spirit.

by Camilla Dopson

PHOTOs Gunnar andersson, Camilla Dopson

98 | GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN

“

he transition to T biofuels involves more than just technology. We need the people and the decision-makers behind us too.

Eva Fridman, a process manager at BioFuel Region, explains that BioFuel Region’s goal is to be a world leader in the transition to biofuels and products made from renewable raw materials.

B

ioFuel Region is a collaboration between the public and private sectors. A common vision is to be a world leader in the transition to biofuels and products made from renewable raw materials.

“Our network has meant a great deal in the establishment of biofuels in northern Sweden,” says Eva Fridman, a process manager at BioFuel Region.

Today, there are 75 filling stations

with E85 and two percent of vehicles in the region are environmentally classed.

Development of the second generation of cellulose-based ethanol at the university’s pilot plant is progressing well, with several patents pending. Investments in the biofuel refineries of the future are considerable and many are rallying around biogas. BioFuel Region is also entering a collaboration on DME-based biofuel initiatives in the form of black liquor gasification.

BioFuel Region has drawn up common values that give people and organisations the prerequisites to participate in the development of biofuels and green products.

“We must quickly develop sustainable solutions for the oil-dependent transport sector. This demands a holistic and humble approach and the insight that we need a broad base of expertise,” says Fridman.

BioFuel Region mainly focuses on raw material issues, industrial and regional development and social transition.

“The transition to biofuels involves more than just technology. We need the people and the decision-makers behind us too,” says Fridman.

BioFuel Region’s projects aim to inspire people to see the opportunities for growth and development associated with the energy transition, but also to communicate the driving forces behind the need to switch to biofuels. Climate change, the importance of securing an energy supply ready for when the oil runs out and so on. Project work for school pupils, the generation that will take over the helm, and further education for teachers and politicians are key activities.

BioFuel Region wants to be a test and demonstration region for new technology and energy-efficient raw material use. BioFuel Region participates in larger projects, such as the development of

biofuel refineries, and smaller projects, such as converting snowmobiles to run on biofuel. One challenge is to create business opportunities from this work.

BioFuel Region shall help innovators test their ideas and network with industry. It also helps industrial players find raw material supply partners.

“We want the universities and major industrial players to join a test panel for new business concepts and innovations.”

BioFuel Region is involved in two major research projects focused on the maximum sustainable use of forest resources.

Future Forests is examining how the forest can be used in a sustainable manner while taking into account climate change, globalisation and future needs for energy, products and recreational opportunities.

The Increased Use of Forest Biomass Project focuses on increased use and harvesting of biomass from the forest for bioenergy. n

GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN | 99

Fr a mtidens Bior affinaderi

Raw materials for the future Using timber as a basic raw material, we can fuel cars and buses, as well as manufacturing components that are used in high speed tyres on Formula 1 cars and in heat shields for space rockets. The Framtidens Bioraffinaderi (Biorefinery of the Future) is a major step on the way towards a society that has sustainable growth based on agrofuels and raw materials from forestry.

BY Gunnar Andersson

PHOTO Hรฅk an Nordstrรถm

10 0 | GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN

“ T

he vision behind Framtidens Bioraffinaderi, which is based in Örnsköldsvik, is that of replacing the fossil fuel based society and creating sustainable growth based on agrofuels and raw materials from forestry.

One of its founding ideas is that meetings create innovation. This is why Framtidens Bioraffinaderi is a hub, where representatives from the community, business and higher education can gather around the same table for discussions and seminars, as well as exchanging information and coordinating activities.

At Framtidens Bioraffinaderi, leading industrialists meet cutting edge researchers from higher education. This is where young school pupils and upper-secondary school students come into contact with

hese meetings are vital in creating T something new – and something new is what we need to replace the oil industry’s refineries and the 2000 products made from crude oil.

researchers and industrialists. Farmers work in partnership with power companies and agricultural colleges. Joint R&D projects are the glue that holds it all together.

“These meetings are vital in creating something new – and something new is what we need to replace the oil industry’s refineries and the 2000 products made from crude oil,” says Clas Engström, MD of Framtidens Bioraffinaderi.

For most people, the natural constituents of timber are around them every day.

Cellulose is an important component of paper, cardboard, nappies, washing detergent, dishcloths, paint, toothpaste and viscose. It is also a carrier for active substances in headache tablets. In food it is used in sausage skin, ketchup and fruit purees. Hemicellulose is used as one of the ingredients in xylitol. Ethanol made from hemicellulose and cellulose is a fuel of the future; it can be used to run cars and buses without adding to the greenhouse effect. A number of green chemicals can also be extracted from ethanol.

Lignin is used as a bonding agent in concrete and markedly reduces carbon dioxide emissions from the concrete industry. It is also a source of vanillin and a valuable fuel that provides steam power for factories and for homes’ green electricity and district heating. Biofuels such as bark, leaves and twigs, lignin, agrifuels and biogas from human waste, make it possible to provide heating that does not contribute to global warming.

One example of how activities within the framework of Framtidens Bioraffinaderi can bear fruit is the development of textile fibres based on cellulose - viscose.

Through a partnership between Umeå University and industry in Örnsköldsvik, drops of a viscose solution for research

purposes have just been produced at the Domsjö area for the first time in 30 years.

Peter Strunk, doctoral student at Umeå University and based at Framtidens Bioraffenaderi in Örnsköldsvik, is working on a project that is being carried out as a partnership between Umeå University, Domsjö Fabriker, Akzo Nobel and Framtidens Bioraffinaderi. Its aim is to increase the understanding of special cellulose as a raw material and that of its various product types, such as viscose.

Thanks to this partnership with industry and the university, research results can rapidly transform into action and thus customer benefit.

“The more we know about viscose’s chemical and physical properties and how they can be adapted, the better the textiles our customers will be able to produce,” says Kristina Elg Christoffersson from Domsjö Fabriker.

Thread for fabric and textiles

is produced from viscose. Dissolving cellulose from Domsjö is used as a raw material in the fabric’s threads. By developing and analysing viscose, the idea is to be able to improve and adapt cellulose for the textiles industry.

“Now we will also be able to further develop tailor-made solutions for our customers,” adds Kristina Elg Christoffersson.

An increased interest in sustainable alternatives to cotton and oil-based fibres is resulting in more awareness of alternative types of fibre, such as viscose.

“This research has enabled us to take an important step in the development of Framtidens Bioraffinaderi. We are gradually learning more about the products that the forest will be able to provide us with when oil runs short,” says Clas Engström. n

GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN | 101

ecotourism from coast to mountains

102 | GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN

ecotourism – jä mtl and

Room for sustainable tourism and natural experiences It is no coincidence that most ecotourism companies in the country are located in the county of Jämtland in central Sweden. With the freedom of its natural environment, its pure air and clear waters as its greatest assets, it is more a question of being self-evident.

The demand for various kinds of experience breaks is steadily on the increase and, in particular, activities focusing on culture and nature are a real growth area. Where the people arranging the trips have a responsible attitude to the impact all of this has on the environment, animals and population.

BY helena bredberg PHOTOs Jämtland Härjedalen Turism – håk an hjort – Peter Lydén – Erik a ranbrandt – tina stafrén – Göran strand, scanpix

»

The touristindustry needs to give consideration to economic as well as ecological and social perspectives, to ensure long-term sustainable development.

GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN | 103

ecotourism – jä mtl and

In recent years, Jämtland has become internationally famous for its smallscale food production of a huge variety of products.

I

ngrid Hedlund is a tourism development officer at Jämtland-Härjedalen Turism, which is an umbrella organisation for the tourism industry in the region. She sees a clear trend towards travel that is increasingly environmentally-aware.

“People have stricter requirements today than they used to,” says Ingrid Hedlund. “Our visitors know what they want and they request activities and accommodation facilities in a consciously environmental way which is quite different to before.”

Work has been going on within JämtlandHärjedalen Turism for about a year to create a shared basic value system on issues including longterm sustainability. The aim of this is to ensure that all activities within the organisation are characterised by the sustainability policy that has been produced, which takes into account economic, ecological and social aspects.

“There are great differences between tourist destinations in the county. Certain destinations have to focus more on one of the three dimensions, depending on the circumstances of that particular destination. Our members have made varying progress in their work on sustainability issues and,

104 | GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN

since they are in different geographical locations, they have different starting points,” states Ingrid Hedlund.

In the project called Turism 2020 a number of subprojects are taking place out at the destinations, which all have to do with destination and product development. Each subproject team must go through the policy item by item, comparing it with its own operation. Shared activities such as workshops in sustainable development are also implemented within Turism 2020 to ensure that a shared view of the objectives is achieved.

“We have now increased awareness to a level where it is second nature to include the environmental perspective in all parts of the business.

When we started out, many people felt it was difficult to know where to start,” Ingrid Hedlund explains.

The concept of sustainable growth also

covers development of the various destinations to allow them to offer activities all year round.

That produces a more stable business, which has a positive impact on the entire community – for example, by creating more jobs and improving service. Åre has succeeded well here too and can

be regarded as a role model for other locations in Sweden.

“Primarily it is cycling and hill-walking which have expanded during the snow-free season. This includes the Hike & Bike initiative, which is constantly improving, to provide cycling and hiking tourists with something a little bit extra. We are trying to broaden the target groups and to attract whole families out into the mountains,” says Ingrid Hedlund. “Fishing is another major item which attracts streams of foreign visitors. Here too we are seeing new target groups coming – for example, French people who appreciate our pike fishing.”

Something that is really on the up is the

production processes, try some samples and buy some delicious foods to take home. We are great believers in that and will be making a good job of it,” concludes Ingrid Hedlund.

“

quest for taste experiences. Experiencing new cultures and eating traditions. In recent years, Jämtland has become internationally famous for its small-scale food production of a huge variety of products, from sheep and goat’s cheese to chocolate, ice cream, bread and birch sap wine.

“We are now trying to produce working models for these companies, so that they can package their business as a tourism product,” Ingrid Hedlund tells us. “Our visitors clearly express the desire to take trips out to the farms, look at the

rimarily it is cycling and hillP walking which have expanded during the snow-free season.

The tourist industry, with its special relationship with the environment and the surrounding community, needs to give consideration to economic as well as ecological and social perspectives, to ensure long-term sustainable development.

Focusing on sustainability can allow income from tourism to be retained or increased while natural and cultural values are being protected and developed. A good grounding in the local community, consideration for the needs of the local population, accessibility, security and a stable labour market make positive contributions to the experience the visitor gets and leads to good, high quality hospitality. n

GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN | 105

ecotourism – nature’s best

Nature’s Best

– makes finding ecotourism companies and nature travel much easier BY helena bredberg PHOTO staffan widstrand/Ekoturismföreningen

E

cotourism is one of the fastest-growing areas of tourism globally. Nature’s Best [Naturens Bästa] is a quality label for responsible experience tourism in Sweden’s natural environment. Nature’s Best gathers together the most prominent nature travel companies in Sweden and their finest products. Today, a hundred nature travel packages are on offer, everything from elk hunting, dog sled trips, wilderness trekking on horseback and white water rafting, to canoeing through the archipelagos, experiencing Sami life, hill-walking and exclusive fishing.

The label is tailor-made to provide a guarantee of: • high quality in the travel experience for participants 106 | GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN

• a ctive responsibility for protecting the natural world • more environmentally-adapted travel • c onsideration for cultural values and the people at the destination The purpose of quality labelling is

to create improved ecotourism in Sweden and a higher volume of easier-to-book, quality-assured nature travel that has been adapted for the environment. The idea is also for the protected natural environment and culture to support and provide work for more people, precisely because it is unspoilt. At the same time, Sweden is being profiled as a strong international destination for exciting ecotourism. The principal players behind the Nature’s Best label are the Swedish Ecotourism Association in company with the Swedish

Society for Nature Conservation and Visit Sweden.

The Swedish Ecotourism Association is an active opinion-former for linking tourism with active nature conservation and preservation of cultural heritage.

Endeavours are being made to make ecotourism a tool for sustainable development, particularly in sparsely populated areas. The association also strives to adapt all tourism to the environment.

The following pages contain information on some of the organisers who have been awarded this quality label – a little taste of what they stand for and what they have to offer. n

ecotourism – rid i jor m

Anyone wanting to experience something just a little different, can expect to find it in northwest Jämtland. The Raven’s Eye [Korpens Öga] adventure lodge is situated on a mountain slope, with a view over Lake Jormsjön and the Norwegian/Swedish mountains.

This is the company base of Rid i Jorm, which arranges qualitylabelled expeditions in unspoilt natural surroundings. Here a mixture of the exclusive and the primitive awaits. Everything has a local touch – with Old Norse influences.

BY helena bredberg PHOTOs tommy andersson

Horseback adventure – Old Norse style

GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN | 107

There is a constant stream of guests who come to stay in this special environment, to eat good food, take saunas and just enjoy being there.

G

oing your own way and doing what you believe in usually leads to something quite unique. Rid i Jorm is living proof of that. When Ola Sundquist changed the direction of his farm from pigs to horses, it was inspiration from the natural environment in Iceland that gave him the idea. He had been working for a few years in Iceland, and when he later went hillwalking at Stekenjokk, in northern Sweden, with his brother, who is an archaeologist, they observed that the landscape there was very reminiscent of Iceland. That was when the idea for Rid i Jorm was born. Today, 15 years later, the company is really busy with riding treks fully booked before the season has even begun.

Elin Eriksson, who runs the business with Ola, explains that the company is constantly developing. Apart from riding treks of varying lengths, they also offer guided tours in the mountains and to the Korallgrottan cave which is Sweden’s longest. In addition, there is a constant stream of conference guests who come to stay in this special environment, to

108 | GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN

eat good food, take saunas and just enjoy being there. Customised activities are also available based on what the visitors wish to do. But more guests require more space too.

“We have extended quite a bit and supplemented the lodge with a guesthouse that has ten double rooms, a wonderful communal room and breakfast room,” says Elin Eriksson. “We also have a chapel, constructed of timber and slate with a chandelier in the roof and the view over the mountains as an altarpiece. Here too we have chosen to include something from the Icelandic tradition, where all of the larger farms had their own chapel.

It is not a church, but a building that is more open to ceremonies, where we hold christenings and a lot of weddings. It is great fun.”

A little further away is a

roughly hewn round building. It is the banquet hall, taking its inspiration from the Viking Age, and a real experience in itself, with its turf roof, slate floor and chairs carved from logs. Illuminated by candlelight and an open fire. Riding and hiking treks usually conclude here with a

banquet, wood-fired sauna and bathing in a timber hot-tub. The food is sourced from local producers and from the larder of the forest, all prepared in the farm’s own kitchen.

The reason for choosing Icelandic horses in particular is that they cope so well in mountainous terrain. They are incredibly strong horses, fairly light in weight and able to make their way virtually anywhere. They also quickly learn the right technique for walking through rough terrain and across bogs.

“They are also small horses, which most people can take a liking to, without being afraid. And they are fun horses to ride. Each one has its own personality, spanning a wide spectrum. They can be both good-natured and tough. Ours are lively and playful,” Elin Eriksson tells us.

No previous riding experience is usually necessary to have a great adventure in the saddle on an Icelandic horse. On certain longer treks, this is a precondition however.

“Horses are creatures of habit who like to use familiar routes and to gallop at the same places, which can be rather stressful. We try to avoid that. With us,

“

Apart from riding treks they also offer guided tours in the mountains and to the Korallgrottan cave which is Sweden’s longest.

the horses get a good bit of variation, since we always have a free choice of route to the destination we have decided on. There are millions of ways to choose between. That is a greater challenge and surprise for us and for the horses,” says Elin Eriksson.

With these Icelandic horses as

the central focus, guests are encouraged to feel at home and welcome here. The business is based on quality, caring for the horses and showing consideration for the environment. There is a close working relationship with the inhabitants in the community and in the surrounding villages.

“It is comforting to accept help from one another. People here know their surroundings well and share their skills about animals and the natural environment. As regards fishing, we have really good contacts which means we are able to offer some great experiences,” says Elin Eriksson.

Thanks to their broad-based commitment, they have also been involved with SVT (Swedish National Television) in designing activities for the TV programme

e make use of W as many locally produced items as possible.

Expedition Vildmark. A programme for children and adolescents in which children accept various challenges out in the natural world. Next season, too, the TV team is going to be recording episodes with Rid i Jorm.

On the issue of what is required to be awarded a Nature’s Best quality stamp for ecotourism, Elin Eriksson responds that it is important to have a plan for the activities and for the business as a whole.

“It has really been things that are obvious for us, located here in a sensitive environment. We never ride along bridle paths, for example, and instead take different routes each time so that we avoid soil erosion. A certain amount of knowledge is required about the different areas in the environment which are sensitive, including bogs and the bare mountains.

So we regularly change the places where we camp for the night on our multi-day treks,” Elin Eriksson explains.

As from autumn 2009, there is

going to be a local abattoir in the village.

That means that hunters as well as people who own reindeer, sheep and cattle will be able to process their meat locally. It just is not possible to get more “locallyproduced” than that.

“We make use of as many locally produced items as possible and that also seems only natural when you live in a small village where everyone is dependent on each other,” states Elin Eriksson.

The intention is also to develop the business in order to be able to offer more winter activities. Until now there has been no riding in the winter season, because the snow makes it difficult to get about in the surrounding environment.

But the snow can also be an advantage when you want to attract guests from faraway places.

“Perhaps our Christmas festivities could become an interesting, exotic activity in the future,” Elin Eriksson ponders. n

GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN | 109

High class mountain fishing and wilderness luxury - that is what the Sami company, Anariset, is famous for. Right in the heart of Jämtland’s reindeer grazing country, a living is being made from reindeer husbandry and tourism. The company’s name has been taken from the majestic Anariset mountain range. Visitors come here to experience the magnificent natural environment, Sami culture and great game fishing.

BY helena bredberg PHOTOs anariset

Anariset – Sami culture and game fishing

110 | GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN

ecotourism – anariset

12

years have gone by since Per-Erik Jonasson first started his tourist business. He was born and bred in the Tossåsen Sami village and had been working as a full-time reindeer herder. When the Sami village reduced the number of its reindeer, something extra was required in conjunction with reindeer herding to allow a reasonable living to be made. That was tourism. And it proved to be a good choice.

“Many people were talking about getting out into the natural world and an interest in nature seemed to be a growing trend,” Per- Erik Jonasson tells us.

“

guests who come to Anariset experience the peaceful natural environment of the mountains and warm hospitality. That is the basic concept.

Anariset received Sweden’s ecotourism quality label, Nature’s best, in 2004.

Visitors also gain some insight into living Sami culture.

“Reindeer herding is the basis of our existence and is included as a natural part of a stay with us. People are very curious, so I usually tell them about reindeer herding and about the kind of tasks that are involved. About what goes on over the year including calving, marking, slaughter and when we move the reindeer,” says Per-Erik Jonasson. “We also usually make a visit to the Sami encampment in Grönvallen where people lived right up to the 1960s.”

Four years ago, Anariset began marketing game fishing seriously. At that time, an investment had been made in a large, modern Sami hut which could accommodate large groups and conferences.

Now lots of companies are applying to come here with their staff for team-building or with their customers for representation. There are guests here every month of the year, but the focus is on quality rather than quantity, and it has to be sustainable in the long term. A visit in a cold

“I fairly quickly understood that rules would be needed to safeguard the fish stocks. So we have different rules for different waters. In certain fast flowing waters, we have set a limit of 35 cm for the fish that can be taken. In other places, all fish have to be released back into the water. On the lakes, for example, the bag limit is three fish per day and rod,” says Per-Erik Jonasson.

He also tells us that they were met by a certain amount of criticism at the start.

Not from everyone, but many people did think it was unnecessary. ”Today, having rules for game fishing is a quality standard,” Per Erik Jonasson states.

here are people who travel 1000 km T just to fish here with us for a few days.

They are incredibly keen and have a great interest mainly in dry fly fishing.

November with snow, darkness and crackling fires probably seems pretty exotic for visitors from Brazil, for example.

“We get everything here, from solo hikers and families to large groups. A few years ago, we had a visit from the EU’s agriculture ministers during Sweden’s last presidency of the EU,” says Per-Erik Jonasson. “Some people come just to be here, others want to fish or hunt. We can arrange elk and small game hunting, with guides, dogs, accommodation and food.”

Anariset has a game fishing opera-

tion that is sustainable in the long term, in waters that have always been used by the Sami for their household requirements.

The number of fish taken over the year has been adjusted on the basis of what the waters produce. For that reason, it is possible today to offer natural game fishing with high average weights and catches of both salmon trout and Arctic char.

At the foot of the Anaris moun-

tains, on a spit of land in Lake Anasjön is the fishing camp to which fishing guests are brought by boat. Here a few days’ fishing awaits them in the waters all around including lots of small tarns and streams.

Per-Erik usually provides a few tips and advice about fishing and hill-walking in the area. Then the guests are left alone, to be fetched back a few days later.

“There are people who travel 1000 km just to fish here with us for a few days.

They are incredibly keen and have a great interest mainly in dry fly fishing. When they arrive here they usually have some coffee and then take a boat and check the depth and the lake-bed, or walk along the banks for a reccy. When the evening comes they tie their flies. Then they are ready to start fishing. They are really great fun to have as guests,” Per-Erik Jonasson concludes. n

GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN | 111

ecotourism – kerstins udde

Contrasts in an ecological health house It was a dream come true when Kerstins Udde Spa och Turism opened its doors in 2004. The women in the little village of Trehörningsjö north of Örnsköldsvik had a vision of creating an ecological health house. After years of work and a huge amount of voluntary effort, visitors now arrive from several countries in Europe to enjoy delights for body and soul.

BY helena bredberg PHOTOs kerstins udde

112 | GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN

K

erstins Udde is beautifully situated, surrounded by water with lake views stretching for miles. It is the community’s old festival site and dance pavilion which was carefully converted into a “health house”, which today contains a spa and conference facilities as well as a restaurant. They also have accommodation here, including a campsite and self-catering cottages. The facility is run as a cooperative enterprise, in which 200 villagers are members. A mixture of relaxing baths and body-care treatments are provided here, with genuine events out in the natural environment and in an atmosphere of traditional culture. A range that is full of contrasts, well considered, which have been proven to work exceptionally well.

Anna-Karin Gidlund is one of the enthusiasts within the cooperative who has been involved since the very beginning.

“The business is run by between 5 and 10 employees, depending on the season.

In addition, there are a number of selfemployed people, like myself, and some voluntary working members who make the whole thing possible,” she explains.

“We have a lot of guests from countries like Germany, Holland and Norway. We are also involved in an exchange project with other countries, for adult education, and we have taken on volunteers from all over Europe.”

The location is not just beautiful to look at. Two years ago, in May 2007, the facility was awarded a quality label as an ecotourism company.

“We have built our operation around experiences in the natural world and around the strong roots we have in our cultural heritage,” says Anna-Karin Gidlund.

The labelling committee’s citation read: A cooperative in Norrland with several hundred co-owners and with its feet firmly grounded in the local soil. Here, a harmonic, eco-friendly conference and spa facility in a place of natural beauty is at one with the district’s natural environment and cultural heritage, including

old-time forestry operations, haymaking with horses, beaver-watching safaris and rambling to shielings and mills. Events at which guests can truly taste, smell and experience times gone by.

Kerstins Udde offers numerous

events that have been awarded the quality label. Activities in which those taking part have an experience affecting all of their senses, aimed at different age-groups at the same time.

“We have several family-oriented events in which each of the generations gains something from the activity,” says Anna-Karin Gidlund.

“One example is the midsummer night ramble, which is held several times every summer, but most of all at midsummer. It is a restful walk along paths through woodland and over hills, leading up to the shieling at Långvattnet. Good, traditional, old-fashioned food and music awaits here in the midst of a long, light summer’s night.

“We go back as sunrise approaches and stop to pick the traditional seven types of wild flower. Those who want to can wash themselves in the dew, to ensure a long and healthy life, or so the story goes,” explains Anna-Karin Gidlund.

Picking seven types of flower to put under your pillow on midsummer night comes from an old tradition, in which people believed they would then dream about their partner-to-be.

“We also stop in silence to look out for beavers. If you just have a bit of patience, they always show themselves,” Anna-Karin Gidlund promises.

Anna-Karin Gidlund is the person in the cooperative who pushes the ecological work most. Together with her husband, Sören, she runs a goat farm and supplies products and raw ingredients with the organic Krav label to the business operation within Kerstins Udde. KRAV labelling is Sweden’s system that represents good environmental attributes, good animal husbandry, good health properties and social responsibility. She also sells her goat’s cheese to shops all over Sweden.

“I organise cheese tasting sessions too, during which our visitors can pat the kids and taste home-made goat’s cheese. We cycle there at a comfortable pace.”

Anna-Karin’s goat farm in Djuptjärn which is around 10 km from Kerstins Udde, makes traditional soft goat’s cheese, “getmese” whey cheese and harder versions of goat’s cheese. The tradition has been passed on here from Anna-Karin’s grandmother who also made cheese which was then stored - in the ridges of the roof. On the farm there are around 80 goats which go in and out as they please.

Two years ago, in May 2007, the facility was awarded a quality label as an ecotourism company by Nature’s Best.

The village of Trehörningsjö is right in the middle of Ångermanland’s natural environment. Being around 700 km from the nearest larger town, Örnsköldsvik, the place just seems made for calming stressed souls who need a break from their everyday existence. However, its remote position has also mean that people have had to fight extra hard to make it easy for visitors to make their way here. Several trains pass by a few hundred metres from the facility several times a day, but none of them used to stop at little Trehörningsjö.

“Today the trains stop if you ask them to in advance,” Anna-Karin tells us. “It has not been easy to organise, so we are really proud to have achieved this. For us it seems natural that our guests should come by train, which is a good environmental choice,” Anna-Karin Gidlund concludes. n

GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN | 113

SkyCab Vision Design Niklas Wejedal, NanikStudio. Copyright SkyCab AB.

Welcome to the new way of travelling TM The new way of travelling

Phone: +46 (8)-661 05 75, Fax: + 46 (8)-667 77 10 info@skycab.se, www.skycab.se 114 | GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN

SkyCab Vision Design Niklas Wejedal, NanikStudio. Copyright SkyCab AB.

Are we the best?

Stockholm got the award “European Green Capital” 2010 by the European Commision. The rst award ever.

Does this mean that our politicians are the boldest?

Are our companies the most advanced?

Or our citizens the most environmentally aware?

If our network contain these components, and we offer them to you, does that make it the best offer in Europe?

Maybe it does.

Come and see for yourself!

The Stockholm Environmental Technology Centre can put you in contact with the components required to create a green capital. We can demonstrate the best water treatment plant in the word, introduce you to new aspiring technologies within energy or waste and get you in contact with entrepreneurs and policy makers. Did we mention that we do it professionally – but non prot?

Well, we do. Come and see! www.smtc.se

GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN | 115

CASE : fjällnäs

In symbiosis w

Mii gullo means “How are you?” in Sami, and this phrase, expressing gentle enquiry and genuine interest, permeates every aspect of our exclusive spa.

116 | GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN

iosis with nature Is it possible to be one of the world’s most exclusive travel destinations yet still run a business in harmony with nature?

Fjällnäs Est 1882 appears to have successfully combined the two extremes into a sustainable concept.

BY gunnar andersson

PHOTOs Fjällnäs

T

he Galapagos Islands, Las Vegas, Hawaii – or why not Fjällnäs Est 1882 in Sweden’s Tänndalen?

When the New York Times presented its annual list of the most desirable places to visit in 2009, Fjällnäs was ranked sixth. What’s more, the respected Condé Nast Traveler US Edition periodical included Fjällnäs Est 1882 in its 2009 list of the hottest hotels in the world.

Fjällnäs is owned by the Bertmar family and managed by CEO Johan Bjelke. The resort attracts a clientele seeking an exclusive haven for seclusion and contemplation, as well as those seeking to experience undisturbed natural surroundings – all year round. The basic idea behind the tourist resort is to offer a haven that blends harmoniously with the surrounding nature with its continual and dramatic variations. An untouched wilderness is right on the doorstep, the air is crisply clean and you can drink straight from the clear mountain lake. When the first visitors arrived in Fjällnäs more than 130 years ago, they were drawn by the clean, unspoiled and beautiful surroundings – just like today.

“Exclusive peace and quiet, the highest quality and service in harmony with the splendid natural surroundings are the things our guests want,” says CEO Johan Bjelke. “We strive to run our business in complete symbiosis with the fragile surroundings, causing as little impact as possible.”

The doors to the new Fjällnäs Est 1882 were first opened for

the 2008-2009 winter season. By then, the owners had invested SEK 80 million in order to offer a truly exclusive resort. However, just as important is that the hotel does not impact the environment. Natural materials and local raw materials are two examples of the green thinking behind the hotel. As a business, the hotel is run based on the traditional eight seasons of the Sami, ensuring a unique experience no matter what time of the year you visit.

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GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN | 117

CASE : fjällnäs

The standard of living is very important at Fjällnäs.

The ambition is to give many options, including options of very high standards. The restaurantserves local delicacies with the distinct flavours of lovingly handled local produce taking pride of place, and Aula Capella is non-denominational, but is a spiritual place to which anyone with the right intentions is welcome.

“

“At the beginning of the twentieth century, for people up here survival depended on how well one could read and deal with nature’s abrupt turnarounds and the approaching seasons. The four seasons we talk of today were simply not enough.

Instead, the year was divided into eight shorter seasons, each with its own specific signals and signs,” Bjelke explains.

Fanny Sachs is the principal architect of all the new buildings. With breathtaking design and architecture using solid materials, the constructions seem like extensions of nature. Behind the extensive restoration work and painstaking efforts to return the original structure of the main building from the 1880s to its former glory is interior designer Shideh Shaygan. One interesting building is the chapel, which has windows created by artist Karin Mamma Andersson and also houses another piece by American artist Jene Highstein.

ere, every building has a story to H tell, its own life. As the nature around us changes character, so does the experience of staying at Fjällnäs.

Even if much of Fjällnäs is new, it retains some genuine airs and graces. Fjällnäs was already pioneering back in 1882 when it was founded by Jonas Åslund, and while the last century was still young, international celebrities and Swedish royals rubbed shoulders here.

Fjällnäs is 820 metres above sea level in Tänndalen and the resort has 20 rooms and 48 beds of a high and exclusive standard.

“Here, every building has a story to tell, its own life. As the nature around us changes character, so does the experience of staying at Fjällnäs.

A summer visit is wildly different to a visit in the autumn,” says Bjelke.

The solid craftsmanship, well-considered architectural work and nature’s presence characterise each and every room. The double rooms feature wood furnishings built on site by local craftsmen while the interior decoration is achieved purely with natural materials, such as wood, stone, glass and hide. The fabrics are hand-woven and the solid wood and slate floors are kept comfortably warm by the underfloor heating.

The restaurant serves local delicacies

with the distinct flavours of lovingly handled local produce taking pride of place.

“The local delicacies are gathered directly from our flora and fauna. Then, with much heart and soul, they are prepared into gastronomic works of art inspired by the rich local culture and history,” says Bjelke. The menu changes in sync with nature and breakfast, lunch and á la carte meals are served to guests in a relaxed environment, right at the edge of Lake Malmagen.

The resort’s Mii Gullo Spa gathers inspiration to its refreshing and healing treatments from the rich pickings of local culture and history, and in Fjällnäs Chapel visitors are met by world-class experimental architecture and art.

It is almost like an out-of-body feeling when you sink into your own thoughts on a level with the clear waters of Lake Fjällsjö.

“Mii Gullo means ‘how are you’ in Sami and that curiosity and genuine interest permeates the entire experience of our exclusive spa.”

Aula Capella is non-denominational, but is a spiritual place to which anyone with the right intentions is welcome. The chapel is a place where spirituality and reverence meet the groundbreaking and the breathtaking. Here you can enjoy experimental architecture and contemporary art of international calibre, in a meeting with unexpected materials and provocative designs. Comprising an exciting and uplifting experience that will create memories for life. n

118 | GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN

210x

Profiled research with focus on industry and commerce, quality of life and learning – towards a sustainable society

Mid Sweden University gathers a substantial part of its strong research in the profile Forests and mountains as resources for industry and commerce and quality of life. The area includes applied research complemented with basic research within important subjects. The aim is to carry out research with a high quality and an international competitiveness. An important starting point is that the results should be of interest for the region in which the university is situated.

Mid Sweden University has a close cooperation with regional industry and commerce, authorities and organisations. For example, students have many opportunities for internship, degree projects and essay writing in cooperation with external actors. Research is also carried out in collaboration with local, regional, national and international actors.

871 88 HÄRNÖSAND 851 70 SUNDSVALL 831 25 ÖSTERSUND Phone: +46 (0)771-97 50 00 Fax: +46 (0)771-97 50 01

www.miun.se

210x270_miun_cleantech.indd 1

GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN | 119

09-07-08 10.15.13

CASE : kl ätter musen

Backpacks made of nylon recycled from fishing nets Over the past three years, the company Klättermusen in Åre, Jämtland has worked hard to find a manufacturer that can deliver impregnated material without the use of fluorocarbons. When they finally succeeded, they were among the first in the world.

The green initiatives continued and the latest news – in a field in which the company leads – is backpacks manufactured using 100% recycled nylon made in Korea from old fishing nets and carpeting.

BY Helena bredberg

PHOTO klättermusen

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K

lättermusen is a well-renowned company in the outdoor adventure segment and makes equipment for demanding recreational activities. Twenty-five years ago when Peter Askulv founded the company, the goal was to create products that didn’t already exist, designed for the trials of tough climates and demanding activities. Today, Klättermusen is known for its functional, proprietary designed clothing and backpacks with details that only committed adventurers and extreme situations can give rise to.

And, not least, for its environmental work.

Once the idea was hatched to make really good backpacks from recycled material, the search for a suitable supplier began. It had to be a material that is functional yet also kind to people and the environment. After many trips and much searching, a material manufacturer was finally found in Korea. Until then, the Korean company had only produced thinner fabrics, so development work was begun.

“The first woven samples we received were not particularly pretty,” says Eva Askulv, head of marketing at Klättermusen for the past twelve years. “But when the final delivery came, they had managed to produce a material with a good finish,” she continues.

“Today we have a number of backpacks made from recycled nylon. Using a backpack made from recycled material cuts the use of natural resources by 28 percent and even cuts emissions by the same 28 percent,” Askulv explains.

Parallel to the backpack venture, Klättermusen has also produced recyclable clothing.

“This demands careful planning already during the design phase,” says Askulv. “The product must be stitched with the right thread, and any zips and details must be recyclable. As far as possible, we want to take responsibility for all materials ‘from the cradle to the cradle’, as it were.”

As a part of this work, the company has introduced its own recycling system with a form of deposit on its products. As of the spring of 2009, recyclable goods are marked and customers can then return their used or worn out products to the store to get a refund on the deposit (1–20 euros) marked on the garment. Worn out clothing and accessories are taken apart, sorted and sent for recycling. Clothing that is still in good condition is donated to charity.

In order to make life easier for consumers, Klättermusen has developed an ECO index that

Awards 2009 SOA Sustainability Award 2009 (Gnå backpack, 100% recycled) 2009 ISPO Eco Responsible Award (Gnå backpack, 100% recycled) 2008 OutDoor Industry Award (Mjölner backpack) 2008 Volvo Eco Sports Design Award by ISPO (For the PFC-free Einride organic cotton jacket) 2007 Nordens Gröna bälte (For work on PFC-free products) 2007 OutDoor Industry Award (Noatun jacket, the first waterproof jacket in the world made without the use of fluorocarbons.)

2006 OutDoor Industry Award Silver (Liv quilted down top) 2006 OutDoor Industry Award (Einride jacket)

specifies a product’s environmental impact in relation to other products. The index is based on ten criteria, including lifetime, recycling, biodegradability, impregnation side effects and material. Points are awarded under each criterion and converted into a percentage.

“All our products have an ECO index and it’s not difficult to calculate so customers can do it themselves for comparisons with other products on the market. There are discussions in the industry to develop a standard index for the entire outdoor industry and they are more than welcome to base it on a further development of our concept. We are open to all improvements, and for the benefit of consumers an easily understood and common standard would be a step in the right direction,” Askulv continues.

There is no doubt that the environment and quality are two of the secrets of Klättermusen’s success. Askulv explains that for many years the company has supported different types of green projects and has employed environmentally sustainable production methods, such as without the use of hazardous chemicals, for some time.

But common sense remains the linch pin of the business.

“Quality and garments that last without getting worn out or outdated, that’s our motto. And, most of all, don’t buy a jacket unless you need it,” Eva Askulv ends. n

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CASE : lundhags

Nature – a driving force for green products Tucked away in the mountains of Jämtland, Lundhags has developed its outdoor products in harmony with nature for more than seventy years. They started manufacturing walking boots way back in 1932 and in their field Lundhags has earned a position among the foremost in the world. When they decided to expand their range with clothing, long-distance ice skates and backpacks it was a given to take an eco-friendly approach. And this was long before cleantech became an established concept.

BY helena bredberg

PHOTOs lundhags

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GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN | 123

CASE : lundhags

“

I t’s close to our hearts. We want to ensure that nature stays around. Naturally, it also provides a competitive edge.

The company’s walking boots are made from leather and natural rubber at its factory in Järpen. Here they have full control over production.

When Lundhags selects suppliers for new clothing lines they invest a great deal of time in finding the right materials. They must be of high quality and, of course, any impregnation must be without the use of hazardous fluorocarbons.

“We’ve never had PFCs in our garments.

Everything you use in nature must be impregnated for water resistance. That’s why we sell impregnation agents without hazardous ingredients and with a seal of approval from the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation. Then consumers can decide whether they want to treat their jackets, for example,” Hellentin explains.

M

any companies in the outdoor segment work actively to offer their customers green products. Jonas Hellentin is head of marketing at Lundhags, with its head office in Järpen, Jämtland. He believes that the outdoor industry has made more progress in this field than others because of the strong connections with nature.

“It’s close to our hearts. We want to ensure that nature stays around. Naturally, it also provides a competitive edge,” he says.

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The company’s environmental awareness stems from its long tradition as a shoemaker. The company’s walking boots are made from leather and natural rubber at its factory in Järpen. Here they have full control over production. The boots are treated with grease to waterproof them. They have no waterproof membranes, as such membranes wear, eventually failing at the folds after which water can leak into the boots.

“Durability and lifetime are important considerations for the environment. When we ask our customers what they appreciate the most, they often mention the durable designs. Many customers keep their boots for twenty years or more. When the sole eventually wears out and needs replacing, the customer simply sends the boots to us here in Järpen. We repair them and then return them to the customer,” Hellentin explains.

All areas of the business are characterised by the idea of durability. Lundhags purposely sticks to basic colours such as black, brown and blue to ride out any passing fads, ensuring they don’t appear outdated. The company chooses to use natural materials, recycled polyester and organic cotton.

The clothing is stitched to last and extra stitching is used on areas prone to wear.

“Environmental awareness is high among our personnel, too. All of us who work here live close to nature, enjoy active outdoor lifestyles and are proud to make good products. We’re a small company, so for us it is important to remain consistent and to base our work methods on our values,” says Jonas Hellentin. n

16 - 18 September, Stockholm, Sweden

www.wbcvf2009.se

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CASE : lenko

at the forefront of green snow Lenko is not the largest manufacturer of snow cannons in the world. Nor does the company have the longest experience, although its 27 years ought to be sufficient to guarantee a certain level of expertise. On the other hand, the company is at the forefront of the industry when it comes to green thinking and product development. Prior to the upcoming season, a new snow cannon is being tested, designed to radically reduce environmental impact. During both manufacture and use.

BY helena bredberg

PHOTOs thomas bostrĂśm

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CASE : lenko

Together with other manufacturers in Sweden and Germany, the company has tested and evaluated all components to find optimal functionality.

“

e have focused strongly on customer W benefits and environmental demands are priority number one.

W

inter tourism is facing a dilemma. The increasingly mild climate in areas dotted with popular ski resorts is threatening the amount of snowfall.

Warmer winters with higher temperatures are forcing ski resorts to make larger investments in snow cannon systems to give winter a helping hand.

Such systems extend the season and guarantee snow on the pistes when the tourists come. The problem is that snow cannons are energy hungry machines. A great deal of energy is needed to produce snow, and all the heat generated during the process goes to waste.

But a change is in sight. Lenko, headquar-

tered in Östersund, is one of Europe’s largest snow cannon manufacturers. The company takes environmental issues seriously and for a number of years has invested wholeheartedly in a search for new, measureable ways to reduce energy consumption. Everything from recycling the water from their own test runs to using recyclable materials and reusing components from old machines. An

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important part of this work has been product development.

Lars-Åke Svensson, the company’s sales director, explains that Lenko has, to put it mildly, a technology fixation.

“We have focused strongly on customer benefits and environmental demands are priority number one,” he says.

Together with other manufacturers in Sweden and Germany, the company has tested and evaluated all components to find optimal functionality. Today the finishing line is in reach: a snow cannon that among other things uses 25 percent less electricity, produces snow in a shorter time, even at higher ambient temperatures, and reaches maximum production already at 7–8 degrees minus, as opposed to the 12–13 degrees minus of existing machines. Weight has also been significantly reduced, down to 500 kilos, which has positive effects on manufacturing and transport.

It has smaller heating coils and as such generates less heat. They have also taken the opportunity to improve the sound proofing to reduce noise, improving the local environment. lars-åke Svensson is very confident that

the new snow cannon will lessen environmental impact and reduce running costs. And, going against what you would expect, it will not be more expensive but rather less expensive to buy than other systems.

“Not much has been done in terms of the environment in this business. So we think it’s important to introduce change. We know that if everything turns out well, it will get a lot of attention,” he says.

That the competition will eventually develop similar systems he considers a given rather than a threat.

“That’s how it is in this business. We’ve been copied before. What we’re working with now is next generation technology, a completely new way to make snow,” Lars-Åke Svensson ends. n

Foto: Gert Olsson/Bildarkivet.se

From fossil fuels to renewable energy The County Council of Jämtland, responsible for providing health care in Östersund and in 29 towns and villages in the county, has for many years worked towards replacing fossil fuels with renewable sources of energy. The dramatic rise in oil prices in 1973 triggered the first efforts. At that time we had oil-fired central heating in 84 percent of its premises. Today we don´t use any oil at all. In addition to purely practical measures to improve energy efficiency, such as lighting, heat recovery, improved windows etc., we provide information about energy and environmental issues to our 4,000 employees.

The County Council of Jämtland Heating energy kWh per m2/year.

1973–2008

Contact Gunnar Fackel, Environmental Manager gunnar.fackel@jll.se, + 46 (0)63-16 83 14 GREEN

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final words

editorial staff Succes Through Clean Tech – Green Solutions From Sweden is published by: CleanTech Region MidChamber of Commerce Kyrkogatan 26, SE-852 32 Sundsvall Web: www.cleantechregion.com

YES WE CAN ...create a sustainable, green future together – and the time has come to prove it.

I

n this magazine you have just sampled and read about the good, profitable green solutions, products and services from Sweden. There are no excuses. Together we can construct and create a sustainable and profitable society if we want.

The aim of this magazine is to provide inspiration and to encourage you to get started – so what are you waiting for? Let’s start to think positively about success and sustainability.

The magazine is also available on the Internet at www.cleantechregion.com. You can read and download it, and there is also a presentation and information about CleanTech Region.

The website also includes all the clever products and solutions you have read about in this magazine and how you can find out more about them. It also includes our reference facilities and how to book visits to see them in action.

For more information about Green Solutions from Sweden, please contact CleanTech Region Solutions.

www.cleantechregion.com info@cleantechregion.com Call + 46 60 17 18 80 Welcome to Green Solutions from Sweden

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Project Manager: Lars Ling CleanTech Region Phone: +46(0)70 299 40 41 Email: lars.ling@midchamber.se Web: www.midchamber.se Editor: Gunnar Andersson Nordreportern Box 104, SE-90103 Umeå Email: gunnar.a@nordreportern.se Design and production: Magnus Werme Syre Stortorget 8, SE-831 31 Östersund Email: magnus.werme@syre.se Text: ADC Media Järnvägsgatan 12, SE-88130 Sollefteå Email: info@adc.se Syre Stortorget 8, SE-831 31 Östersund Email: info@syre.se Nordreportern Box 104, SE-90103 Umeå Email: info@nordreportern.se Printing: VTT Grafiska AB Circulation: 20,000 ex Language: English

Wild at Heart.

whether you’re trekking through laponia, kayaking an offshore archipelago or howling with wolves we can connect you with sweden’s best outdoors operators. the nature’s best quality label guarantees you a warm welcome, safe and environmentally sensitive services, spectacular scenery, local guides and epic adventures.

www.naturesbest.nu

GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN | 131

Care of Haus 2009

The artist Mikael Genberg wants to put a Swedish cottage on the moon!

We would prefer to stay on earth – if possible.

As a contribution to a sustainable world the project CLEAN Export Mälardalen offers small scale system solutions: • Soil and water purification • Climate smart constructions • Recycling design • Renewable energy.

If you want to know more about the Moon House Project please visit www.themoonhouse.com or become a partner in the Moon House Project …

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www.cleanexport.se