Ponsse seeks to achieve car­bon neut­ra­lity at its fac­tory in Vie­remä by 2025. Con­si­de­ring this goal, the most sig­ni­ficant part of emis­sions comes from the use of lique­fied gas as a fuel in the sur­face treat­ment process in pro­duc­tion. Ponsse is close to achie­ving this goal, as lique­fied gas was replaced with renewable bio­gas at its fac­tory in Vie­remä in August.

Ponsse’s fac­tory in Vie­remä has shif­ted to the use of bio­gas supplied from a local bio­gas ter­mi­nal. Com­mis­sio­ned at the begin­ning of 2024, the Vie­remä bio­gas plant distri­bu­tes lique­fied and pres­su­ri­sed bio­gas for use in industry and trans­port. At the begin­ning of its ope­ra­tions, bio­gas will be acqui­red from Gasum, a Nor­dic energy com­pany, but the supplier will be chan­ged to Hank­kija at the end of 2024 when Demeca’s gFuel Upgrade 100 bio­gas proces­sing unit will be built in Vie­remä. The unit will process raw bio­gas into pure bio­met­hane. The munici­pa­lity of Vie­remä built a raw gas col­lec­tion pipe across local farms and a con­nec­ting pipe for Ponsse, with rela­ted modi­fica­tions being comple­ted during the sum­mer and early autumn of 2024, when the fac­tory was clo­sed for the sum­mer.

“The use of bio­gas at the fac­tory star­ted wit­hout any problems, and gas is now used in all plan­ned loca­tions. Users can­not see any dif­fe­rence. The new gas bur­ners are effec­tive and heat up the water used in the paintshop’s was­hing mac­hine and the drying cham­ber. Bio­gas will also be used in win­ter for hea­ting the wel­ding unit’s beam sto­rage,” says Esa Pent­ti­nen, Ponsse´s Pro­duc­tion Direc­tor.

“The gas bur­ners can also be adjus­ted accor­ding to needs. This is an excel­lent fea­ture given that the pre­vious bur­ners were eit­her fully on or comple­tely off,” says Pent­ti­nen.

Ponsse’s annual con­sump­tion of lique­fied gas has been approxi­ma­tely 70,000 kg, or 900 MWh. Last year, the con­sump­tion of lique­fied gas accoun­ted for more than 90 per cent of the car­bon footprint of pro­duc­tion in Vie­remä. The shift to bio­gas will reduce Ponsse’s car­bon footprint by roughly 215 t CO2-eq. (ton­nes of car­bon dioxide equi­va­lents) and marks a sig­ni­ficant step towards achie­ving the car­bon neut­ra­lity goal set for Ponsse’s pro­duc­tion.

Bio­gas reduces emis­sions from pro­duc­tion at Ponsse’s fac­tory

While bio­gas links local agricul­ture in Vie­remä to the tech­no­logy industry, it is not inten­ded for industrial con­sump­tion alone. A refuel­ling sta­tion for pres­su­ri­sed bio­met­hane
is already in ope­ra­tion in Vie­remä. The munici­pa­lity already has ten bio­gas-fuel­led vehicles and trac­tors. This also pro­vi­des Ponsse with the oppor­tu­nity to use bio­met­hane in the future.

“The munici­pa­lity of Vie­remä is also using bio­gas as an auxi­liary source of district hea­ting. Ponsse’s fac­tory is con­nec­ted to the munici­pal district hea­ting network, in which woodc­hips are used as the pri­mary energy source. In addi­tion to allowing us to replace the fuel used in sur­face treat­ment, bio­gas will also reduce the annual emis­sions gene­ra­ted in our pro­duc­tion by roughly 5 t CO2-eq. through district hea­ting,” says Katja Paa­na­nen, Chief Res­pon­si­bi­lity Officer at Ponsse.

Renewable energy with up to 90 per cent lower emis­sions

Bio­gas pro­duc­tion repre­sents the circu­lar eco­nomy at its best. In its pro­duc­tion process, the energy con­tent of waste raw mate­rials can be uti­li­sed. In addi­tion, the orga­nic nut­rients remai­ning after bio­gas pro­duc­tion can be used as fer­ti­li­sers in crop pro­duc­tion, for example.

Bio­gas is pro­duced in an anae­ro­bic diges­tion process at bio­gas plants at effluent treat­ment plants and on farms, in addi­tion to which it is reco­ve­red from land­fill sites. It can be pro­duced from orga­nic mat­ter such as biowaste, industrial side­streams, sludge, manure and field bio­mass. The mate­rial gene­ra­ted in the anae­ro­bic diges­tion process is rich in nut­rients and can be used as a recycled fer­ti­li­ser on fields, among other uses.

Bio­gas is wholly renewable, and its total lifecycle emis­sions are as much as 90 per cent lower than those of fos­sil fuels on ave­rage. Bio­gas is eco­lo­gical because, when growing, bio­mass seques­ters the same amount of car­bon dioxide as is relea­sed into the atmosp­here through its use.

“Local pro­duc­tion also strengt­hens the use of local domes­tic energy and inc­rea­ses energy self-suf­ficiency, while reducing depen­dence on fos­sil fuels,” says Paa­na­nen.