Swedish battery manufacturer Northvolt and Finnish-Swedish forestry company Stora Enso seeking to develop batteries from forestry by-product lignin, encountered in wood.
The companies stated that they intend to develop sustainable batteries utilizing the lignin-based carbon from wood sourced in Nordic forests, namely as of Sweden, Norway, and Finland. Europe has a total of 211 million hectares of forest land, there are around sixty-one million hectares in these three countries.
Lignin accounts for 30 percent of wood weight whilst bestowing rigidity and antimicrobial properties of wood.
Northvolt in February acquired an old Swedish paper mill from Stora to turn it into a cathode material factory by 2024 with an annual production capacity of around one hundred gigawatt hours.
The chief Environmental Officer at Northvolt, Emma Nehrenheim stated that the company is exploring a new source of sustainable raw material and expanding the European battery value chain, whilst developing a less expensive battery chemistry.
Volkswagen, a German motor vehicle manufacturer has been financing hundreds of millions of dollars in Northvolt to secure battery supply for its electric vehicles.
Stora Enso, a leading provider of renewable products firm has announced lower-than-projected quarterly earnings, as logistics bottlenecks undermined profitability.
Annika Bresky said in a statement that the demand has been robust for their main segments but logistical challenges with low long haul vessel reliability and poor container availability has had an impact on their ability to copiously assist their customers.
Second-Quarter Sales
Second-quarter sales increased at 18 percent to EUR 3.05 billion, while analysts had projected revenue to be EUR 2.98 billion.
Stora Enso in June raised its full-year earnings guidance and stated it currently anticipates 2022 operating profit to surpass last year’s EUR 1.53 billion.
The companies stated that the global megatrends including an accelerated focus on combatting climate change, increased awareness of sustainability, and digitalisation reinforce Stora Enso’s business strategy and the demand for its renewable and eco-friendly products, both a brief and prolonged period.
About Northvolt
In 2017, Nothvolt enabled the future of energy by creating the world’s greenest battery cell and setting up a European supply of batteries. Northvolt’s mission is to build the greenest battery in the globe and deliver batteries with an 80 percent lower carbon footprint compared to those made using coal energy.
About Stora Enso
Stora Enso is a leading world-wide provider of renewable solutions in biomaterials, packaging, paper, and wooden construction. The company believes that everything that is made from fossil-based raw materials today can be made from a tree tomorrow. Stora Enso has around 22,000 employees and their transactions in 2021 were EUR 10.2 billion. Stora Enso shares are listed on Nasdaq Helsinki Oy and Nasdaq Stockholm. Additionally, the company shares are traded in the USA as American Depository Receipts (ADRs).