A new billion-euro business discovered in forests

摘要

The more expensive oil becomes, the more attractive it will be to produce diesel fuel from brushwood, bark and stumps. Paper giants are excited over biodiesel. Companies are now competing for the exploitation of forest-based oil wells, so as to acquire a new billion-euro business. UPM and Stora Enso are trailblaz-ers among the global paper giants who have embarked upon building a business from biodiesel. Norske Skog is a Nordic company that has already publicised its diesel project, and there are several similar projects in progress in North America. However, the first forest biomass exploiting pilot plant was successfully started up in Germany, in the spring of 2008, by the Choren Company that is owned by Shell and German automotive companies.