Global demand for raw materials and energy is still growing, and so is our urgency to break away from fossil raw materials. To achieve this goal, we need innovations. At the same time we must ensure that the new raw materials and energy solutions are sustainable — locally and globally.
Towards climate positivity
Sustainable products can help us remove CO2 from the atmosphere and bind carbon in the soil. UPM's Towards Climate Positivity concepts aid the transition to a low-carbon bioeconomy now and in the future.
Currently, a quarter of all European greenhouse gas emissions come from transport. Sustainable advanced biofuels, both waste and residue-based, as well as those based on renewable land use, effectively promote low-emission transport. To reach our goals, we need to both reduce emissions and increase carbon sequestration, for example through activities such as carbon farming.
Aiming for carbon removal and emission reductions
Ambitious targets for sustainable raw materials
EU Directive on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources sets mandatory requirements for what and how renewable fuels can be produced.
UPM Biofuels' goals are more ambitious than the legislation requires. We want to find new sustainable raw material streams to produce advanced biofuels and materials. This way we make sure that our raw materials meet and exceed the directive and the definition of the most sustainable raw materials.
The efficient utilisation of forest industry residues and side streams forms the basis of our raw material research. In addition to crude tall oil, we also test other waste and residue-based raw material alternatives. Discovering good uses for these material streams is a cornerstone of circular economy.
Utilising various waste- and residue-based raw materials reduces the pressure to consume virgin raw-materials and enables sustainable production. However, these raw materials alone are not enough to meet the global demand. We must find additional methods and raw materials as sources of advanced fuels and products.
Methods such as regenerative land use and carbon farming enable the production of new, sustainable raw materials. This makes way for smarter land use, utilising existing farmland better while improving soil quality. Regenerative methods do not cause negative changes in land use.
UPM’s advanced biofuels and feedstock materials
Replace fossils
Replace fossil raw materials in fuels, plastics and chemicals
Lower CO2 emissions
Promote circular economy and enable rapid reductions in CO2 emissions
Extensively certified
Extensive third-party verification and certification guarantee sustainability
Explore sustainable raw materials and land use
Residue from the forest industry
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Regenerative land use
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A fast track to fossil-free and low-emission transport
Biofuels are vital to the road transport energy mix needed to meet the EU's greenhouse gas reduction targets with the speed required. With sustainable biofuels, rapid emission reduction can be achieved as no infrastructure or vehicle changes are required.
In the short term, high-quality advanced renewable fuels such as UPM BioVerno can significantly cut both greenhouse gas and tailpipe emissions in vehicles with internal combustion engines. In the long term, other transport sectors that are hard to electrify, such as aviation, marine and heavy-duty transport, can be decarbonised with advanced biofuels.
Renewable solutions needed in the plastics and chemical industry
Chemicals and plastics are difficult to decarbonise, as they are made of carbon. To meet the EU’s net-zero target and bolster the ambitious long-term goal to achieve zero virgin fossil feedstock in plastics and chemicals we will need to harness all sustainable carbon sources - recycled, bio-based and CO2 based - into maximum use.
Despite the efforts put into recycling and reduction of single-use plastics, petrochemicals are projected to account for one third of global oil demand growth by 2030. Therefore, we need renewable biobased innovations such as UPM BioVerno naphtha to complement the other sustainable carbon sources enabling a circular economy within plastics and chemicals.
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