The transition to a fossil-free industry is a current topic, and in Swedish industry, energytransition of existing energy systems is promoted to reduce climate impact. Energy transitioninvolves a structural change in the energy system with a focus on energy use and energysupply. To reduce global greenhouse gas emissions, the transition can be achieved throughelectrification and the use of biomass. Currently, sawmills combust significant amounts of biomass to meet the heat demandof industrial wood drying. As the biomass used is a by-product of the sawmills’ otherproduction processes, this combustion is usually considered sustainable and circular. However,some research indicates that increased biomass usage in several industrial sectors can leadto overexploitation of the resource with negative environmental impacts. Despite thesedisagreements, many argue that bio-based residual flows must be utilised efficiently to meetsociety’s future biomass needs. Against this background, it needs to be examined whether sawmills should continue tocombust biomass or whether an energy transition would be more economically and ecologicallysustainable. The aim of this study is to investigate how energy use in the sawmill industrywill change in the future and what potential consequences this change may have. In addition,the possibilities and feasibility of electrifying the drying process in the sawmill industryare investigated. To achieve this purpose, a literature search and an interview study wereconducted. The results from these parts form the basis for a scenario-based quantitativestudy of the consequences of different energy transition cases. The results show that future energy use in the sawmill industry will be affected by severalfactors. One important factor is the price of biomass, which can provide an incentive toelectrify the energy-intensive drying process. However, it can be challenging to make anelectrified drying process profitable, and until then energy efficiency will be prioritised ratherthan biomass replacement. The results also indicate that electrification of the drying processcan reduce the climate impact, assuming that the electricity source is fossil-free. The releasedbiomass can then be used more efficiently than incineration, and the optimal use may be toproduce long-life products. Clear knowledge gaps have been identified regarding the electrification of the drying processand its potential consequences. Since the sawmill industry is not ready for an energytransition today, there is time to fill these gaps and develop the electrifying processes. Furtherinvestigations should be conducted on various aspects of electrified drying through in-depthmodelling and analysis of the sawmill energy system. Additionally, future studies couldinvestigate the extent of the impact of sawmill biomass release on the surrounding energysystem.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:liu-196532 |
| Date | January 2023 |
| Creators | Fredriksson, Hanna, Andreassen, Daniel |
| Publisher | Linköpings universitet, Energisystem |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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