UPM weighing environmental impact for biofuels business

Finnish forest industry company UPM is studying biofuels development opportunities by starting an environmental impact assessment (EIA) for a possible biorefinery in Mussalo, Kotka, in south-eastern Finland, said a press release.

The study of a possible Kotka Biorefinery is in the very early stages and the EIA process normally takes approximately one year.

EU and national policies on biofuels will also play an important role in the final assessment of the possible investment.

The EIA study states that the proposed second UPM biorefinery would use a different raw material base and technology than in the current UPM Lappeenranta Biorefinery. The Kotka Biorefinery would produce approximately 500,000 tonnes of advanced biofuels for transportation, made from several renewable and sustainable feedstocks.

“We are looking into the use of several new feedstocks that fulfil sustainability criteria, such as wood residues and other sustainable wastes and residues. In addition to this in Uruguay we are testing a winter cropping concept with Brassica carinata for biofuels' raw material. Oil from turnip rape-related carinata would be one of the possible raw materials for the Kotka Biorefinery,” said Petri Kukkonen, Vice President of UPM Biofuels Development.

The environmental impact assessment started by UPM in February is a legal preventive environmental policy procedure. EIA studies the execution of alternatives, environmental impacts and the possibility of minimising harmful impacts - as well as the opinions of various stakeholders on all these areas.