Vattenfall to replace coal with biomass (Denmark)

[jpak]

http://www.energycurrent.com/index.php?id=3&storyid=15938

STOCKHOLM: Swedish power generator Vattenfall will rebuild its power plant facilities in Denmark in order to use large quantities of biomass fuel instead of coal.

The plan, which Vattenfall's engineers have decided to call MaxBio, will replace up to 724,000 tons of coal per year, starting in 2018. As a result, it will prevent at least 1.5 million tons of carbon dioxide from being released into the atmosphere, a 27 percent decrease.

MaxBio will make a significant contribution to Vattenfall's goal of making its energy production in the Nordic region carbon neutral by the year 2030. The Stockholm-based company's goal is to turn electricity into an entirely clean product that customers can consume with a good conscience, given concerns about global warming.

"The entire Vattenfall Group is fully engaged in changing our power plants and production methods such that we can meet the expectations that world has on us to provide clean, environmentally friendly energy," says Hans von Uthmann, Vattenfall's vice president and head of Vattenfall Norden. "Of course, this is not a task that can be achieved overnight. But, we have concrete plans to decrease carbon dioxide emissions each year. In the Nordic region alone, we will invest more than 60 billion Danish crowns until the year 2016 in order to achieve this goal. The new MaxBio plan comprises investments in excess of 5 billion Danish crowns."

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