Gasum biogas plants in Nordics

The Gasum Gas Fund supports full-time research relating to education, research and development aiming to promote the gas ecosystem. Gasum Gas Fund is one of the special funds run and administered by the Finnish Foundation for Technology Promotion (TES). Grants have been given out from the fund for researchers developing future solutions concerning, for example, the bioeconomy and circular economy, transport and logistics or energy solutions promoting the use of gas. For the application period and call for applications will be open at the beginning of  2022.

Grants for 2021 were given out from the Gasum Gas Fund to six researchers in Helsinki this year.

The objective of the Gas Fund is to support full-time research with full daily allowances. In addition, the Gas Fund seeks to provide long-term funding for research carried out by students. The Gasum Gas Fund is one of the special funds run and administered by the Finnish Foundation for Technology Promotion (TES).

Received by six persons this year, the grants from the Gasum Gas Fund in 2021 totaled €63,000 (2020: 75 000)

• Miriam Kellock: Analysis of the rate limiting steps in enzymatic hydrolysis of lignocellulose: the effect of lignin and enzyme structure, 12 000 €
• Miika Marttila: Kasvihuonelämmitysmenetelmien ilmastonlämpenemispotentiaali boreaalisella ilmastovyöhykkeellä Väitöskirjassa: Agroekologisten ja teollisten symbioosien ympäristövaikutukset maaseutuliiketoiminnassa, Lappeenrannan-Lahden teknillinen yliopisto LUT, 5 000 €
• Sami Lieskoski: The use of energy storage to integrate renewable energy in the transition to carbon-neutrality, Åbo Akademi, 12 000 €
• Marjaana Hassani: Pientareet ja joutomaat energianlähteinä, Jyväskylän yliopisto, 24 000 €
• Hassaan Ahmad Warraich: Master's thesis: "Studies on carbon dioxide hydrogenation to methanol using in-situ diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy and mass spectrometry", Aalto yliopisto, 5 000 €
• Danielle Bansfield: Exploiting the unexploited: improved recycling of nutrients in the reject water from biogas production into value-added products, Aalto yliopisto, 5 000 €

The UN Global Compact is a voluntary, international corporate sustainability initiative administered by the United Nations. It sets ten principles relating to human rights, labor, environment and anti-corruption. The UN Global Compact calls for businesses worldwide to adopt these principles and to report on their implementation. Gasum now joins the global network of more than 13,000 companies based in over 160 countries committed to the initiative already.

”Companies have a very important role in solving global issues and have both the expertise and resources needed to promote sustainability. The UN Global Compact provides companies with both a national and global operating environment, and tools for sustainability work. We welcome Gasum to the Global Compact network,” says Lenita Toivakka, Executive Director, Global Compact Network Finland. 

“The UN Global Compact initiative is a globally well-known framework with universal principles. Commitment to the UN Global Compact is a natural extension to Gasum’s sustainability work. We promote climate change mitigation and the circular economy, and strive to be an accountable employer and business partner. We will continue to develop sustainability together with our employees, customers, suppliers and other stakeholders,” says Johanna Lamminen, Chief Executive Officer, Gasum.

The Global Compact is well aligned with Gasum’s existing support for other international frameworks concerning human and labor rights, such as the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGP), OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, and the ILO Core Conventions on Labour Standards.

In addition, Gasum contributes to the UN Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs) of the UN 2030 Agenda that aim to meet the urgent environmental, social, and economic challenges facing our world. Gasum has defined the goals towards which the company contributes most in its operations, the most relevant SDGs being Goal 7 (Affordable and cleaner energy), Goal 8 (Decent work and economic growth), Goal 9 (Industry, innovation and infrastructure), Goal 11 (Sustainable cities and communities), Goal 12 (Responsible consumption and production) and Goal 13 (Climate action).

The energy company Gasum’s newest biogas plant is in Munkkaa, Lohja and was officially opened virtually on June 2, 2021 by Jari Leppä, Minister of Agriculture and Forestry. The Lohja biogas plant will process around 60,000 tonnes of biomass each year and produce 40 GWh of biogas, a renewable transport fuel. The amount is equivalent to the annual consumption of 4,000 cars.

“There is a constantly growing demand for biogas, which is, for example, currently by far the best way for heavy-duty transport to reduce emissions. Growing demand for biogas also means a need for continuously more biogas feedstock, or organic waste. The Lohja biogas plant offers companies in the Helsinki region a chance to become part of the circular economy and a cleaner future by recycling their biowaste into fully renewable biogas,” says Johan Grön, Vice President, Biogas, Gasum.

Use of biogas as a fuel can help to reduce lifecycle emissions by up to 90%. In addition, vehicles running on biogas produce no nitrogen and sulfur oxide emissions typical of transport.

Biogas production capacity taken into account in the Government Programme

The importance of biogas in reducing transport emissions is well recognized in Finland. The national Roadmap for fossil-free transport lists a number of measures that can be used to support gas transport in the coming years. In addition, a national biogas programme for Finland has been included in the Government Programme. Implementation of the national biogas programme seeks to make more efficient use of biogas production potential going forward.

”It’s a pleasure to open the Lohja biogas plant. The promotion of biogas in particular supports the transition from fossil fuels to renewables. Promoting the circular economy and sustainability are at the core of the Government Programme. The increase in biogas production will mean increased availability of recycled nutrient-based fertilizer products. The most important role of agriculture is to produce good, nutritious food,” said Jari Leppä, Minister of Agriculture and Forestry.

As a by-product of biogas, the plant produces organic recycled fertilizers, which are particularly suitable for organic farming. There is a need for recycled fertilizers in farming in the Helsinki region, where there is a lot of organically farmed arable land. The advantage of recycled fertilizers over fossil fertilizers is the organic matter they contain, which has a positive effect on soil health and weather resistance in the fields.

Gasum now has a total of 17 biogas plants in Finland and Sweden and is one of the largest biogas producers in the Nordic countries. Earlier this spring, Gasum opened the Nymölla plant in Sweden. Located next to Stora Enso’s pulp mill, the Nymölla plant uses process water from the mill as a feedstock and can produce 80 GWh of liquefied biogas.

Gasum is accelerating the availability of biogas by building new plants and by increasing the procurement of biogas from the production plants of other operators. Gasum is currently building an industrial-scale (120 GWh/year) manure-based biogas plant in Götene, Sweden. The plant is scheduled for completion in early 2023.