4 New path development for
forest- based value creation in
Norway
Antje Klitkou, Marco Capasso, Teis Hansen and
Julia Szulecka
4.1 Introduction
This chapter focuses on path development in the forest- based industries of
Norway, based on the valorisation of side- streams and residues.
Forest- based value creation is one of the main avenues for the emerging
bioeconomy in Norway and the neighbouring Nordic countries Sweden and
Finland. Historically, the forestry sector has been an important part of the
Norwegian economy, both in terms of GDP and employment. The sector
contributed 10.4% of Norwegian GDP in 1845 (Grytten, 2004, p. 254). After
the discovery of oil and natural gas on the Norwegian shelf, the importance
of the forestry sector has diminished. And over the last decade this negative
trend has multiplied.
For decades, the forestry- based industry in Norway has specialised in pulp
and paper production, especially newsprint paper. Therefore, huge volumes
of forest resources, including residues and side- streams, have been poured
into this industry. However, due to changing global market conditions – the
massive deployment of the Internet reducing demand for newspapers – and
the rise of competitors in other parts of the world, European pulp and paper
production has declined significantly in the last decade (Karltorp & Sandén,
2012). This development has had a tremendous impact on the market possibilities of forestry residues, since they can now be processed for pulp and paper
to a much lesser degree. Nevertheless, other valorisation pathways exist
besides pulp and paper production, such as the wooden construction industry,
wooden furniture manufacturing, bioenergy – including solid bioenergy and
liquid biofuels – and the production of lignocellulosic chemicals and materials. We want to explore how important these pathways could be in valorising forestry residues and side- streams.
This chapter analyses and compares new path development processes in
three Norwegian regions specialising in forest- based value creation. These
developments take place in different regional contexts and take different
directions regarding choice of technology and the success of these developments. We can distinguish between three pathways and compare three
empirical cases: (1) replacing pulp and paper production with an integrated
forest- based value creation in
Norway
Antje Klitkou, Marco Capasso, Teis Hansen and
Julia Szulecka
4.1 Introduction
This chapter focuses on path development in the forest- based industries of
Norway, based on the valorisation of side- streams and residues.
Forest- based value creation is one of the main avenues for the emerging
bioeconomy in Norway and the neighbouring Nordic countries Sweden and
Finland. Historically, the forestry sector has been an important part of the
Norwegian economy, both in terms of GDP and employment. The sector
contributed 10.4% of Norwegian GDP in 1845 (Grytten, 2004, p. 254). After
the discovery of oil and natural gas on the Norwegian shelf, the importance
of the forestry sector has diminished. And over the last decade this negative
trend has multiplied.
For decades, the forestry- based industry in Norway has specialised in pulp
and paper production, especially newsprint paper. Therefore, huge volumes
of forest resources, including residues and side- streams, have been poured
into this industry. However, due to changing global market conditions – the
massive deployment of the Internet reducing demand for newspapers – and
the rise of competitors in other parts of the world, European pulp and paper
production has declined significantly in the last decade (Karltorp & Sandén,
2012). This development has had a tremendous impact on the market possibilities of forestry residues, since they can now be processed for pulp and paper
to a much lesser degree. Nevertheless, other valorisation pathways exist
besides pulp and paper production, such as the wooden construction industry,
wooden furniture manufacturing, bioenergy – including solid bioenergy and
liquid biofuels – and the production of lignocellulosic chemicals and materials. We want to explore how important these pathways could be in valorising forestry residues and side- streams.
This chapter analyses and compares new path development processes in
three Norwegian regions specialising in forest- based value creation. These
developments take place in different regional contexts and take different
directions regarding choice of technology and the success of these developments. We can distinguish between three pathways and compare three
empirical cases: (1) replacing pulp and paper production with an integrated