Natural gas replaces heavy oil
Borregaard's new natural gas facility at the plant in Sarpsborg is now in full operation and has made the company independent of heavy oil. This entails major environmental benefits in terms of emissions to air.
For the past 13 years Borregaard has worked according to an energy strategy based on replacing heavy oil with more climate and environmentally sound energy sources. The company is now in the final and conclusive stage of the project.
“This is a milestone in Borregaard's work on making our production in Sarpsborg greener. It is a pleasure to confirm that our latest addition in energy supply significantly reduces both greenhouse gas emissions and other emissions to air,” says President and CEO Per A. Sørlie of Borregaard.
Borregaard currently covers its ongoing energy requirements from green sources such as energy recycling from waste, bioenergy and hydropower. In periods when it is very cold or production is particularly energy-intensive, there is an additional need for energy. Up until now, Borregaard has used heavy oil to produce steam in these periods. This heavy oil has now been replaced by natural gas (LNG - Liquid Natural Gas).
The use of natural gas provides significant environmental benefits in terms of emissions to air compared to heavy oil. NOx emissions are reduced by a huge 90 per cent, while sulphur dioxide (SO2) and particulate emissions are practically eliminated and CO2 emissions are reduced by 25 per cent.
The new multi-fuel boiler has cost a total of NOK 117 million. Of this Borregaard has been pledged 36.8 million from the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise's NOx fund based on the achieved emission reductions.
Borregaard is one of the world's most advanced biorefineries. All the constituents of timber are exploited to produce advanced biochemicals that can replace oil-based alternatives. Among other things, Borregaard's specialty cellulose is used in building materials, filters, adhesives and plastics. The wood's binding agent, lignin, is a raw material in a number of products including concrete additives, car batteries and agricultural chemicals. Bioethanol is produced from sugar structures in the wood, which is used for biofuel, in car care, paint, etc. Borregaard is also the world's only manufacturer of vanilla flavour, vanillin, from wood.