We use existing raw materials sustainably

Material efficiency is a key factor in making advanced biofuels, with solutions based on the use of waste and residues, enabling increasingly sustainable fuel production without compromising global food production or biodiversity. Renewable wood-based biofuels can substantially reduce transport emissions while maintaining sustainable production methods.
 

We benefit from the lifecycle of wood-based biomass with optimal efficiency. As a raw material, wood provides a very good starting point, as evidenced by the renewable BioVerno fuel made from a residue of pulp production at UPM. We are also developing new raw material concepts based on sustainable land use with low risk of causing indirect land use change.

Wood is UPM's most important raw material. It is a renewable raw material that we transform into a variety of recyclable products, which also retain carbon throughout their lifecycle. Products such as pulp, paper, labels, timber, plywood, biocomposites, biochemicals and biofuels. From wood to products with respect for nature.
 

The production process for UPM's biofuels stresses material efficiency and renewability. A natural wood extract of mainly softwood origin, crude tall oil is collected as a residue in pulp production. No separate logging operations are needed for making UPM BioVerno advanced biofuels. Crude tall oil is a wholly renewable raw material, and so its use yields substantial environmental benefits compared to the use of fossil fuels.

Mass balance allows gradual transition from fossils to renewables. The mass balance system ensures that the claimed amount of renewable feedstock has been used in production. Mass balance brings the benefits of sustainable renewable feedstock to end users. Each tonne of renewable diesel and naphtha replaces one tonne of fossil diesel and naphtha, saving fossil resources and emissions.

UPM Biofuels has developed a new biofuel feedstock concept by growing Brassica carinata as a secondary crop in South America. The carinata crop produces non-edible oil suitable for biofuels' feedstock and protein for animal feed. UPM grows and tests Brassica carinata with third party farmers in Uruguay.