Wood waste and wood dust as green energy sources
Converting wood into green electricity and heat is a sustainable choice, but only when the wood can no longer be used as a raw material for new products. We also use wood that is no longer usable for materials in a sustainable way: as an energy source for our own power plants and production process.
Nothing is lost in the production process. Even wood dust that is released when panels are sawn and sanded is used as fuel for our tumble dryers and presses.
Two of our own power plants
In collaboration with renewable energy expert Aspiravi, we manage two power plants. They convert wood waste into green electricity and heat.
A&S, our first power plant established in 2010, converts almost 500 tonnes of wood waste into green electricity daily for our machines at the Spano production site. A&S produces more green electricity than Spano consumes. We then return the surplus to the grid as renewable energy for companies and households.
A&U, active since June 2020, produces green electricity and heat for our Bospan production site. We also transport green heat from A&U to Agristo, a nearby potato processing company, via a 2.5 kilometre-long heating pipe. Here, too, any electricity we do not use goes to the public grid.
73% of our total energy consumption is renewable and fully self-generated.
Wood dust as a heat source
The wood dust that is released when panels are sawn and sanded is not lost either: we use it as a heat source for the tumble dryers and presses in our production process. This is how we are increasingly reducing the consumption of fossil fuels there.
Clear objectives
But above all ambitious: We aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 42% by 2030. And by 2050 we want to be CO2 and climate neutral. How will we achieve these objectives? By focusing more on green energy and using energy more efficiently at our production sites.