Since the global increase in energy use is showing few signs of slowing down, sustainable energy solutions have to be developed. For this reason, the energy of biomass has to be used more widely and more efficiently. In forests all over the world a huge amount of logging residue is left lying idle and the bioenergy unused. This could be changed by using Obey, a procedure for optimising bioenergy yield, based on long, Nordic traditions.

The Finnish high-tech company Real Time Systems has recently developed an advanced electrode control system that compared with conventional systems offers substantially higher productivity and reduced specific energy consumption in electric arc furnaces.

The manufacturing of RFID antennas through the process of etching is now being challenged by a new patented technology: Walki-4E, a new way of producing flexible circuit boards efficiently and sustainably. This is possible through a dry production process, involving no liquid chemicals and using paper as the substrate. It also allows for computer to antenna production and extremely accurate laser cutting of the circuit board patterns.

A well-known phenomenon at oil terminals in cold regions is that crude oil transported in railway cars can be too stiff to unload. To help solve this problem, Neste Jacobs has developed an unloading device called Ecoarm. It is a ready to use system that can be used as is or configured by combining top-unloading, bottom-unloading or top-warming technologies to meet clients’ needs.

To ensure that cranes used in demanding industrial processes are up and running at all times, Konecranes has recently launched an innovative remote services product family named TRUCONNECT. The first two products in this family are the TRUVIEW® data reporting service and the full-service package, the TRUCARE® solution.

Former Stromsdal that developed the renowned biodegradable Tecta dispersion-coated barrier board is up and running again, under new ownership and named Premium Board Finland. The product quality is even better than before, since the coater was thoroughly renewed just before the mill had to close down due to the financial crises in late 2008. The capacity of the coater is about 100,000 tons and of the board machine about 80,000 tons per year. 

In a move to gain independence in manufacturing wind turbines, Germany-based PROKON selected The Switch as its partner for its key permanent magnet generators (PMG) and full-power converters. This marks a significant start to cooperation for both companies. For The Switch, this is the second contract with a German customer for a direct drive PMG in the power range of 3 MW. For PROKON, this opens up new market opportunities and strengthens the company’s single-source wind power park portfolio.

Every euro invested in improved quality can yield 5-10 euros in payback

Lids for dairy products in single-portion food packaging applications have many tasks to fulfil. They must protect the contents from contamination and light, they must be sturdy, and they must be easy to apply and remove. Most  materials used for lids, like aluminium, meet some of these demands but not all of them. Walki’s fibre based lid is outstanding in this sense, since it meets all these demands and is also recyclable.

Upwards of 250 million people around the world are affected by disasters every year. Such an overwhelming figure undoubtedly stems from our present-day increased awareness, as global news leaps the obstacles and frontiers that once kept it local. However, despite the daunting scale of the statistic, there is hope, for with this mass-media knowledge of scale and heart-rending social detail comes both the common urge to help fellow humans in distress and, in the case of the United Nations (UNISDR), the incentive to develop strategies to reduce the effects of disasters.