Triple Heat, Energy Oasis, Heated Match, and Excess Heat Framework were four innovative ideas presented during Braincade, with a focus on low-temperature excess heat. An event where creative brainstorming is mixed with arcade gaming, organized through the Bothnia Green Energy project and the University of Vaasa.
The International Energy Agency has recently predicted that solar heat will become the third wave in renewable energy. After a decade of rapid growth for wind power and solar panels for electricity, the norhtern Sweden-based company Absolicon is at the forefront of solar heat development. Twenty years ago, founder Joakim Byström began exploring how we could solve heat supply with solar energy. Today, their concentrated solar collectors stand as a solution for some of the world's largest food companies.
Internet of Things enables possibilities but also some challenges when integrated with buildings and construction. This topic was disucessed during the seminar arranged through the project Bothnia Green Energy during EnergyWeek in Vaasa.
Climate Leap opens up for new applications. Up to five billion SEK can be allocated this year towards the green transition. This marks a significant increase compared to previous years. Charging infrastructure, hydrogen, and agriculture are among the areas where the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency sees particularly good opportunities for investments that contribute to climate benefits
Envigas, based in Bureå in Northern Sweden and Outokumpu have come together in an exciting partnership to drive the green transition forward. The Finnish steel giant has ambitious sustainability goals and is investing 9.9 million euros in Envigas, which is at the forefront of biocarbon development.
- When building a new industry from scratch, you need to team up with the right partners, and that's why this feels like an important milestone, says Lars-Gunnar Almryd, CEO of Envigas.
Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) have the opportunity to apply for €10,000 for initiatives that reduce energy consumption by at least 5%.
Traditional methods for managing residual streams are often not sufficiently flexible or innovative for the environmental challenges we face. BizMaker, one of the actors in North Sweden Cleantech, has developed a simple framework to help industrial companies identify and sort valuable residual streams that can pave the way for new circular business models, collaborations, and increased profitability.
How revolutionary can a new type of floor drain in a bathroom really be? More than one might think – the innovation from Umeå can have crucial positive effects on the Earth's climate and the way we use resources. Sweden's energy savings could equate to what a nuclear reactor produces annually. It is no wonder that Enduce is considered one of Sweden's 33 hottest tech startups.
North Sweden Cleantech gathers innovators who go to great lengths in pursuit of solutions that can lead to significant environmental improvements. Gary Cass has gone further than most. He gave up his family life in Australia and moved to the other side of the world to fulfil his dream of transforming the packaging industry from Örnsköldsvik. And it all started with a mistake.
Beställa rätt klädstorlek på nätet, förutse isbildning i vindkraftparker, skapa energibesparingar i malningen av malm. Detta är några områden där optisk mätteknik kan vara en lösning. Adopticum hjälper små och medelstora företag att med optisk mätteknik optimera sina processer och utveckla nya tjänster eller produkter och på så sätt få stöd i att lösa sina hållbarhetsutmaningar.
Last week, the joyful news was announced that the project "Innovationskraft för grön omställning" (Innovation for Green Transition) was granted funding from the Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth. This creates opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises to receive support in developing their innovation efforts and seizing the business opportunities that come with the green industrial transition. As a result, North Sweden Cleantech welcomes two new collaborative partners.
Travel-free meetings, remote support and continuous environmental work are the focus of Informationsteknik, the video and meeting technology company. Informationsteknik helps the customers achieve their goals by providing technical solutions that are tailored to the customer's wishes.
A world-leading centre for green innovation in environmental technology, recycling, green energy and local production in Umeå. That is the vision and goal for the 600-hectare area that is now emerging near Dåva. The area also gets a new name, Dåva Eco-Industrial Park.
Today it goes without saying to recycle. Companies highlight their green profile; employees demand more sustainable routines and there are also legal requirements to have knowledge of and to manage the waste. Lack of time can be an obstacle for this and Caicla therefore provides a recycling solution, where the companies both receive data on how much they put in the bin, as well as having the bins emptied before they are completely full. A smarter recycling solution, quite simply.
A feasibility study carried out by Liquid Wind in partnership with Umeå Energi confirms that there are excellent conditions for establishing Sweden’s third electrofuel facility for the maritime sector at the Dåva cogeneration plant in Umeå. A partnership between Liquid Wind and Umeå Energi is now launched to make the facility a reality.
Vegetation contributes to cleaner the air, lowered carbon dioxide levels, increased well-being and security. In growing cities, the horizontal space for vegetation becomes smaller and the only way to increase the greenery in the city is through vertical cultivations. The Umeå-based company, Vertisà, therefore offers vertical gardens for both indoor and outdoor environments, with local fauna that attracts local insects and create a local ecosystem. A win for both the eye and environment.
Vidde Snow Mobility is the company with its sights set on a sustainable snowmobile where sustainability permeates the entire process, from construction to materials, business model, use and finally recycling. With a new snowmobile that is powered by electricity, is quiet and powerful and with a long lifespan, the future looks bright for Vidde.
North Sweden Cleantech has developed to be the unifying force for green development in a dynamic region, it is the climate-smart innovation site of the future. In Västerbotten and Örnsköldsvik there are a multitude of small and medium-sized enterprizes that are at the forefront of climate- and environmentally friendly solutions.
– It feels great that we have taken on the role of the natural catalyst that makes visible and strengthens companies for sustainable growth. It is a market in which we will see continued large investments, says Peter Hedman, project manager for North Sweden Cleantech.
Floods, the need for clean water and erosion protection - water has become one of the biggest challenges of our time. But there are solutions. Tecomatic are specialists in water treatment systems and erosion protection. Now they are on a growth journey, have doubled the number of employees in one year and plan for continued high growth.
Residual streams and by-products from Metsä Board's pulp and board mill in Husum in Örnsköldsvik municipality have the potential to create an industrial symbiosis and new establishments.
In recently published innovation reports it is concluded that Sweden is the most innovative country in the EU, and third in the world.
A smart innovation that can become an important part of the green transition - worldwide. The company of the month is Skellefteåbolaget Linnovation.
Ecotype in Umeå wants to help forest owners cross the digital threshold and make it easier for them to cultivate their forest in a sustainable way. Skogshubben is the digital hub that everything revolves around.
Edvardssons in Bredbyn AB is as stable as its best-selling chairs. With the business's three legs, packaging, event floors and furniture for the public environment, the company has a unique position in the market. Durable quality products in wood and zero waste provide a sustainable production that is appreciated by customers.
More than SEK 1,000 billion will be invested in green industrial establishments in northern Sweden in the coming decades. The total societal transformation will put severe pressure on the Swedish electricity system, which requires innovation, large-scale skills development as well as new collaborations and business models. During the Energy ConFusion conference in Skellefteå, industry experts from all over the country gathered to discuss whether we think big enough about electrification.
This year's winners of the regional finals of Venture Cup North were crowned on Thursday. North Sweden Cleantech presented the sustainability award Impact Maker 2022, which this year went to Nordic Renew Resource.
The winner of this year's Cleantech Profile is Jonas Ranggård from Boliden Minerals! He was appointed by an unanimous jury during Cleantech Meetup in Umeå on May 10.
For the first time, an analysis has been made of how circular Sweden’s economy is. The Circularity Gap Report Sweden is an in-depth analysis of how Sweden consumes materials, from food and consumer goods to housing and mobility. The report shows that Sweden’s economy is largely linear. The analysis has been carried out by RISE and Circle Economy on behalf of the strategic innovation program RE:Source.
The company Conifer Vision, based in Skellefteå, has the goal set on the forest. With unique AI solutions they provide valuable data for forest management and administration. It is both profitable and good for the climate.
Logscom AB in Åsele has eliminated the last manual step in harvesting forest. Their automated timber labelling system, which is built directly into the harvesting machines, increases the efficiency and improves the working environment in forestry. But the biggest winner is the forest itself.
With the help of captured carbon dioxide and hydrogen, Liquid Wind is going to break new industrial ground. The first facility for big scale production of electro fuel is planned to be ready 2024 in Örnsköldsvik. The green fuel can revolutionize the maritime industry, making it carbon neutral.
Then you are welcome to register your interest in participating in matchmaking that will create mixed teams with researchers and SMEs from the two countries who can participate in future calls.
Then check out the latest inquiries that we have selected in the cleantech area from EEN's matchmaking database.
EEN's matchmaking database is an online database with thousands of business opportunities for you who want to find new business partners or new innovative solutions.
During the autumn of 2021, a current situation analysis was made of the gender equality of a number of cleantech companies in the Kvarken region in order to highlight needs and opportunities for continued development in cleantech. The assignment also included collecting examples from companies that have succeeded in their gender equality activities.
Outside Lövånger, Skellefteå, a completely new green industry is emerging - at Ecorub, material recycling is being taken to a whole new level. Here is Europe's only production for recycled rubber and plastic materials.
- This is recycling for real. We can process waste materials so that it is possible to manufacture new products that are sustainable instead of sending them for incineration, says Isac Andersson, CEO of Ecorub.
Waste management in Colombia, Energy efficiency in Somaliland and Smart Grids in Germany – these are just a few examples of projects that have started as a result of Smart City Sweden. The visit platform works to demonstrate sustainable city solutions from Sweden and welcomes delegations from all over the world. The result is over 20 projects on four different continents.
Smart Climate is the company that contributes to a green transformation of the aviation industry. Innovation being developed and manufactured in Umeå is an environmentally smart cooling and heating system for the flight cabins.
- There are big initiatives to transform the aviation industry and low emissions and reduced energy usage will be an even stronger competitive factor, says Emma W Flodén, new CEO.
Future Cleantech Solutions is an Interreg Botnia Atlantica project that works with change, innovation and networks within the business community in the Kvarken region. For three years, we have worked in the project together to bring together local small and medium-sized companies with current large investments and establishments in the Kvarken region. This has resulted in a guide to successful cross-border collaboration.
During the digital event Let’s Talk Circular Business on October 21st, participants from all over Sweden and Finland, and from other countries in the world, got the opportunity to listen and learn more about the journey of four companies transforming their business model into a circular business model. Experts in Circular Economy also shared their knowledge about methodologies, platforms, initiatives and showed cases from both Sweden and Finland as well as international examples.
It all started with a patent from NASA that led to large-scale production of vegetables in a closed environment outside Sundsvall for 20 years. Now the technology has been further refined to become the future cultivation system of forest plants - completely digitally controlled and automated.
- The industry works hard to digitize and here we can ensure that the start of each plant is optimal. The world needs more high-quality trees to be planted from a sustainability perspective, says Johanna Johansson, CEO of Plantvation.
–What does a Formula One race have to do with sustainable leadership? Ulrika Sedin asks. To succeed in your job, you have to know how to focus, brake and rest in the right places because the digital world we live in is as fast-paced and ever-changing as an F1 race. The leaders must be F1 drivers who lead both themselves and others in a sustainable way.
New inquiries in EEN matchmaking database, an online database with thousands of business opportunities for you who want to find new business partners or new innovative solutions.
The Ambassador from United Arab Emirates in Sweden, H.E. Sheikh Mohammed bin Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum, visit Skellefteå and Umeå in Northern Sweden on September 24th.
The ability to install modern and energy-efficient lighting has changed with new technology. The newly started Umeå company Lighting by Ström wants to improve knowledge about lighting and focus the spotlight on how the industry can change towards a circular economy and sustainability.
- There is a lot to gain here, both for those who own a property and the people who move in the building. Our mission is to show the benefits of taking the help of a lighting designer, says returnee Anna Clara Sandgren.
Sara kulturhus, one of the world's tallest wooden buildings, and northern Sweden's newest landmark, has opened. Located in central Skellefteå, this climate-positive building, which also includes a high-rise hotel, was designed and built by world-leading sustainable construction companies.
Now you will find new inquiries in the EEN Match database with over 20,000 offers and inquiries from companies around the world.
World-class competence, innovative strength and clean energy. Northern Sweden is today a dynamic growth region, not least in the area of cleantech.
- It is fantastic to see the development, says Peter Hedman, Project Manager for North Sweden Cleantech.
Biochar from Bureå, Skellefteå, can be the Swedish steel industry’s salvation in its quest to cut CO2 emissions. Envigas leads the rate of innovation with a proprietary process – with great possibilities.
“There’s no doubt that we’re just right in time”, says Tobias Brink, Head of Business Development.
Accelerate Skellefteå offers startups with ideas in energy storage, mobility and electrification to participate in a unique development program that runs between October 1 and February 28.
The industrial area in Domsjö in Örnsköldsvik has now been given a new international name, High Coast Innovation Park.
- It creates a lot of value for us entrepreneurs to have a common name and it is important to have an international name while operating on a global arena as we do. It is a great advantage to be part of something bigger, says Björn Vedin, CEO of Domsjö Fabriker, one of the actors in the area.
As the fifth-largest economy in the world in 2020 and one of Sweden’s largest export markets, the UK is a very interesting market for Swedish smart tech companies. With a strong focus on sustainability and innovation, the market is attracting Swedish companies to establish in the country.
With a green technology focus and through smart acquisitions of cutting-edge expertise, Eurocon has become a player to be reckoned with. But there are bigger plans for the consulting company - only in 2021 will a major recruitment effort be implemented that includes up to 30 new hires.
With the event Bioeconomy Co-Creation we wanted to contribute to the journey towards the 2030 climate goals. To succeed, we in the bioeconomy industry, need to work as one. The forest has big opportunities but at the same time it is also the green lungs of the earth. Through good collaboration and successful innovations, we can work faster and be stronger.
New interesting inquiries in the cleantech area in EEN's matchmaking database.
There are good opportunities for Swedish smart grid companies that are looking to export to Germany. The biggest possibilities are within e-mobility and charging infrastructure, energy storage and smart grid technology, but also smart cities and smart home products and solutions contributing to the Energiewende are needed. This is the conclusion of a webinar held by the German-Swedish Chamber of Commerce (GSCC) on behalf of Smart City Sweden.
In today's digital regional final in the Venture Cup, the winners in region north were presented. North Sweden Cleantech awarded the Impact Maker sustainability award, which this year went to Nowa Drops.
Recently Kokkola Industrial Park, KIP participated in a virtual visit to learn more about the industrial initiatives and city developments going on in Skellefteå, Umeå and Örnsköldsvik.
Software from Algoryx, a widely acclaimed company located in Umeå, Sweden, is already used by multinational companies such as Toyota, Komatsu and Honda. But now, as the product AGX Dynamics is linked to the world’s two largest gaming development platforms, Algoryx counts on the global market genuinely opening up its doors with vast potential.
The City of Vaasa and Johnson Matthey have signed a Common Letter of Intent on 2 April 2021. The front-end engineering design for the battery value chain operator Johnson Matthey’s commercial plant in Vaasa has begun.
Since the beginning in 1986, the Vilhelmina company Inpipe's trenchless innovation has renovated drains and pipes over the entire world and contributed to large quantities of reduced carbon dioxide emissions.
The winner of this year's Cleantech Profile is Emilia Lindmark from EOE Eyewear! She was appointed by a unanimous jury during Cleantech Meetup digitally March 24.
Sustainability at future workplaces from different perspectives was on the agenda when the Future Sustainable Workplaces webinar, organized by the project Future Cleantech Solutions as part of the EnergyVaasa Talks series, invited people around the world to take part in the insights shared by Finnish and Swedish leaders and decision-makers. The event was moderated by Annakarin Nyberg.
The demand to convert fossil-heavy industries to more bio-based or with environmentally friendly production is steadily increasing. The consulting company, GreenExergy, is working with energy issues in large facilities. Increased growth and new employments are a head.
- We are in an expansive face, we will grow and continue to deliver good quality in our main areas, says CEO Anders Bystedt.
Representatives from Smart City Sweden region West and North spoke at the Swedish-German cleantech webinar, arranged by the Swedish-German Chamber of Commerce and The Swedish Energy Agency.
Green, domestic production of fuel is necessary according to Sekab, a company located in Örnsköldsvik in the north of Sweden. Sekab would like to take the lead in the production. A new global collaboration will lead to a commercial facility in Örnsköldsvik with green chemicals, such as softwood as raw material.
- We have the innovations and have been proactive in the technological development. We are now equipped to take the next step, says Monika Normark, CTO at Sekab.
Smart City Sweden, with the mission to showcase Swedish solutions for sustainable cities internationally, the travel restrictions following the pandemic demands new ways of working. From welcoming international delegations on site around the country, today both visits and other events are conducted digitally.
Innovators with solutions in aviation can, through the projects Future Cleantech Solutions and FAIR, get the opportunity to showcase their solutions to the aviation industry.
Nordic Cleantech Open once again gives cleantech start-ups the opportunity to showcase their innovations.
The Umeå based company Medicvent, specializes in delivering unique complete solutions for air purification products in healthcare worldwide. The latest product - an autostart box - automatically removes toxic fumes in operating rooms and is based on highly innovative knowledge from the region.
- It has received an undivided positive reception from users, says CEO Erik Lindström.
Every year the Arctic Awards are presented to highlight good practice projects and this year, the project Future Cleantech Solutions was presented as the winner of the Arctic Award “Overcoming Critical Mass”.
The transition to electric cars is dominant in the automotive industry and among investors. But innovations around hydrogen are gaining ground, and fast. The Skellefteå based company Nordic Eco Solutions have a cutting-edge technology and is looking for land to build the first factory.
- It sounds cocky, but once the vehicles are delivered, we have made sure that the fuel and the infrastructure are ready. As we see it, electric cars are made to run on hydrogen, says Christian Hagelberg, CEO at Nordic Eco Solutions.
Smart City Sweden welcomes delegations from all over the world that are interested in investing in smart & sustainable city solutions. Some of these solutions from Sweden are demonstrated in a new short film.
This week, Smart City Sweden and Business Sweden organised a digital meeting with CLP Hong Kong to explore opportunities for Swedish companies in the Smart Grid sector.
400 billion SEK over 20 years is the investment being made by the state-owned mining company LKAB. A strategy to make the whole production line carbon dioxide-free till 2045. It is one of the biggest investments in Sweden.
The initiative for a unique test bed for commercialization of new technologies, products and services in bioeconomy has started. In the first phase a flexible pilot hall with several different test beds will be built in connection to RISE's facilities in Örnsköldsvik.
C-Green's innovative solution OxyPower HTC that transforms large amounts of sludge into an energy rich material, has made the company go from idea to the first industrial facility at Stora Enso in Finland in only five years.
- The potential is huge, in Sweden alone, there is room for more than 50 facilities and over 2.000 facilities in Europe, says Peter Axegård, CTO at C-Green.
Last week, Smart City Sweden's regional nodes East, Middle and North welcomed representatives from a Ukrainian energy company, DTEK, to join a webinar focused on the Swedish energy sector. 40 top level managers participated to learn about Swedish sustainable solutions, investigate whether it was possible to implement these innovations within their group and to find collaborations with Swedish companies.
Liquid Wind from Gothenburg has started the project planning of a production facility for electromethanol in Örnsköldsvik. The total investment can be 1.5 billion SEK and the goal is to have a decision regarding the investment during 2022.
During Monday afternoon, a matchmaking event was conducted between Swedish cleantech companies and Dutch companies working with residual streams.
The bus stop, Station of Being at Umeå University has been nominated for Beazley Designs of the Year 2020, which will be presented by London Design Museum. Station of Being is one of three nominees in the transport category.
The business idea was sprung from climate anxiety, a lot of experience of distance meetings and over twenty years of digital business development. In 2019, Anders Gunnarsson founded the company Coeo - a hybrid solution which blends together physical and digital meetings. Enter Corona pandemic and he is now the CEO who has done the unusual and removed his phone number from the company website.
- The industry is tossed upside down, we have not been able to take care of all the clients calling us, says Anders.
The Kvarken Council's project FAIR had its kickoff during Tuesday and the project Future Cleantech Solutions was co-arranging the event. The FAIR project will research possible flight routes and socio-economic benefits of implementing electric aviation in the Kvarken region. It is an exciting project that opens up for new opportunities to live and do business in our region.
This year's winners of Venture Cup was presented during Tuesday. North Sweden Cleantech presented the sustainability award, Impact Maker, which this year went to PlasticFri.
SpinChem from Umeå has nine of the ten biggest pharmaceutical companies in the world as paying customers. On top of that they are one their way to solve the problem with radioactive water from nuclear plants and similar businesses. It is exciting times, to say the least, for SpinChem which have to employ more people to be able to handle the development.
- Our goal is to create benefit for the customers, find cleaner processes and improve the world, says Emil Byström CEO.
Continuously analysing the ore and water mixture - the slurry - in a concentrator plant is important for process control – technology is coming from Skellefteå that is at the global cutting edge. The Xore company has been around for ten years and is beginning to be accepted by a somewhat conservative mining industry, which is discovering new opportunities in their technology.
"During the first half of the year, right in the midst of the corona pandemic, more quotation requests poured in than we have ever had," says Mikael Normark, CEO.
When it comes to growth and development in the field of renewable energy, the world's eyes are all on the Skellefteå region.
Tens of billions of Swedish kronor are being invested in the region; while the rest of the world is in fear of recession, people here are talking about expansion.
"I'm absolutely convinced we can become the model that shows the world how to meet the challenges of climate, a renewable society and innovative growth," says Joachim Nordin, CEO of Skellefteå Kraft.
During three webinars, audience gained insight into different parts of the industry on both sides of Kvarken. The series is called "INDUSTRY INSIGHT" and the first three webinars have provided information on Kokkola Industrial Park, Norrbotniabanan as well as public procurement in Sweden. With a total of over 400 entries, the interest has been great and for those who missed the event and understand Swedish, all webinars are now on the Future Cleantech Solutions YouTube channel.
Thanks to its unique electric systems, Elforest Technologies from Örnsköldsvik has made an impression in the cleantech field. With the international actor Axel Johnson Group as an investor, the plans are big.
- In ten years’ time, we hope to be several times bigger than we are today, says CEO Gabriel Söderholm.
Umeå Municipality has positioned itself as a leader in equal urban development in Europe. International visitors travel to northern Sweden to discover how the strategic work is carried out.
“This is thanks to a long tradition of integrating gender equality into all issues related to urban planning and infrastructure,” says Gender Equality Officer Linda Gustafsson.
More and more companies find that sustainability is a business strategic tool that provides competitive advantages. Therefore, North Sweden Cleantech and Esam are now taking the next step to make the region even better in circular business development.
- Esam has very good expertise in this area and together we can support the companies to become more competitive and efficient in their resource utilization, says Peter Hedman, project manager North Sweden Cleantech.
The winners in the Venture Cup regional finals are announced. North Sweden Cleantech was event partner and annouced the award winner for Impact Maker 2020, an award that was appointed to the startup company Blamorama Games, run by Ingrid Fridesjö and Maya Umar.
Skellefteå-based Linnovation works intensively with three innovations that are based on the same solution - knitted copper wire. Together with an integrated sensor technology, three prototypes have been made: a de-icing system for wind turbines and roofs, and a heating solution for an ambulance stretcher.
- I know that there is an incredible need for all these products, says inventor Kjell Lindskog.
Many actors in northern Sweden are currently investing in wind power and they have similar challenges. One of North Sweden Cleantech’s focus areas is to create and develop clusters within the region's main strengths. The large investments in energy and wind power are therefore given high priority when it comes to clusters.
Wärtsilä is a global leader in smart technologies and complete lifecycle solutions for the marine and energy markets, providing both manufacturing and services, with operations in over 200 locations in more than 80 countries around the world.
Wind power and hydrogen was in focus during a workshop organized by North Sweden Cleantech together with Inlandets teknikpark and Process-IT Innovations and others. Participants in the workshop were 30 people from different parts of the value chain, where representatives from North Sweden Cleantech's wind power clusters also participated, during a full-day workshop over link.
When Fredrik Sahl was on parental leave he had an idea, and now he is on his way solving Umeå municipality's problems with water leakage in the sewage. Thanks to his background as a civil engineer in energy technology and Umeå Energi's investment in the latest technology in data transfer technology, a thought became reality.
The demand for high-quality industrial lighting is increasing and Prismalence has taken market shares on the world market from Örnsköldsvik. The company has become a supplier to the world's largest crane manufacturer and opened an office in Singapore.
- We are more and more noticing that there is a demand for good light-control and light quality in extreme environments, says marketing manager Daniel Björk.
How do you build a sustainable factory prepared for the challenges that the future will bring? What are the megatrends of tomorrow that will shape the factories that we build today? What are the main issues to be confronted and what does the world of manufacturing look like in the coming decades? These are some of the topics that will be presented during the seminar Future Sustainable Factories by some very exciting actors who are taking on the challenge of building the factories of the future!
Swedish solutions in smart and sustainable cities attract a record number of foreign visitors to Sweden. Smart City Sweden displays over 100 visit objects across the country with solutions in environmental technology, mobility, urban planning, digitization and social sustainability. North Sweden Cleantech is the northernmost node in the project.
The winner of this year's Cleantech Profile is Emil Eriksson from Järven Ecotech! He was appointed by a unanimous jury during Cleantech Meetup in Örnsköldsvik on January 14.
At the annual summation of 2019, it is clear that the interest for Northern Sweden's smart solutions is big. As the northernmost node in the national project Smart City Sweden, North Sweden Cleantech has received 6 delegation visits with 28 participants from 6 different countries.
Smart production of food for a sustainable world. The winners of Uminova Innovation's climate competition want to contribute. They receive 200,000 SEK to develop their idea.
Komatsu Forest was in Vaasa in Finland on Tuesday to inform about their new industrial establishment in Umeå and network with Finnish companies for possible collaborations for the new establishment, and the interest from the Finnish side was comprehensive.
Sweden’s waste management has evolved for centuries and in Umeå we have several popular visit objects on the topic. Last week a group of international visitors from India got introduced to the Swedish waste management system and with great interest in our sustainable solutions on smart waste management a visit program was organised by North Sweden Cleantech through the national initiative Smart City Sweden.
The Skellefteå-based company Eco-Oil Miljöbränslen i Sverige AB has stopped working in silence. The company develops environmental fuels and in an interview Kent van Klint, CEO of Eco-Oil tells about the recent increased interest in the company.
North Sweden Cleantech - The climate smart innovation site of the future is our newest project and the goal of the project is to increase the innovation and innovation power of small and medium-sized companies, and to strengthen the development and accessibility of innovation-support systems and environments in the cleantech area in Västerbotten County and Örnsköldsvik Municipality.
How we produce, store and use energy when electrification, digitalisation and connected industries request renewable energy was something discussed during the conference and meeting place, Energy ConFusion which was arranged by North Sweden Cleantech and partners in Skellefteå June 3-5 2019.
Emma W Flodén from Smart Climate won the pitch contest Pitch Up during Energy ConFusion 2019.
Ignite Sweden arrangerade Ignite EnergyConfusion matchmaking under konferensen Energy ConFusion, där startups fick möjlighet att möta storbolag i Skellefteå.
Umeå Municipality is building a climate smart bus stop at Umeå University. In connection with that, other surrounding areas will also be rebuilt to enhance the availability and road safety.
Service Node, a start-up company from Umeå, thinks highly of the project Cleaner Growth which partly financed the innovation and export platform North Sweden Cleantech during the years 2016-2018. Service Node is a cleantech company whose smart tags facilitate and streamline service and maintenance work of premises and equipment, minimizing the need for paper documentation.
For about 100 years, our vehicles have been running on petrol and diesel, but that needs to come to an end. To save the climate it is essential to work towards an emission-free society and for this purpose electric cars play a very important role.
Last week, the reformulated EnergyWeek 2019 brought together almost 4,500 event participants from 25 countries. All the continents were represented. During the week, participants got to hear a total of 110 speakers at 21 different events or seminars. The event had more than 170 exhibitors.
During EnergyWeek in Vaasa, Northvolt was named the winner of the Energy & Innovation Award. Northvolt from Sweden was nominated for their work with the greenest battery factory in the world. Besides Northvolt, Akkurate Oy (Finland), AES Tietê & CERTI Foundation (Brazil), PSR (Brazil), DCX (Poland) and Johanneberg Science Park (Sweden) was nominated.
During this week, OECD experts from France and Spain will visit Umeå to look deeply into the city's work within circular economy. As a result, Umeå will obtain an overview of the work being done in the area as well as guidelines on how to best continue developing the circular economy in Umeå and Västerbotten.
Interreg Botnia-Atlantica has selected North Sweden Cleantech's collaborative project with the Vasa region, Cleantech Kvarken, to become one of three showcase projects that will be included in the European Commission Inforegio database.
Envigas R&D department, which develops advanced pyrolysis of biomass, is located just outside Skellefteå, in the north of Sweden. Pyrolysis is the thermal decomposition of biomass which is fed into a reactor under elevated temperature and without access to oxygen. It converts the organic material into bio-carbon (or bio-coal), a little ash, bio-oil and a pyrolysis gas (syngas).
The Swedish Government has given The Swedish Energy Agency increased resources to develop Smart City Sweden, the national demonstration platform for smart and sustainable city solutions.
Daiwa Securities Group, Japan's second largest investment bank, has through its subsidiary Daiwa Energy and Infrastructure Co. Ltd. aquired a 40 percent stake in Bioendev.
Multi Channel Sweden's innovative wood chipper is on its way to the international market. Nicklas Boström, CEO of the company, travelled, together with several others involved in the Bizmaker Forest Accelerator programme, to Canada this autumn. They participated in the Scandinavian Startup Week, which is a recurring initiative that helps new growth companies to international markets. The goal for Multi Channel Sweden is that all existing traditional disc chippers in the industry will eventually be replaced by Multi Channel Sweden’s Flexchipper™. One part of that work is an information tour in Canada in 2018.
Getting the right person in the right place is not easy. Successful recruitment can depend on small details like words and images. The half day conference Women with Impact, on October 4th, gave many concrete and valuable ideas on how to find the expertise needed by the company.
Rototilt is situated 50 km northwest of Umeå, in Vindeln. The world's leading manufacturer of safe and efficient tiltrotatorsystems are working systematically with gender equality since 2006. In October, they will talk about their gender equality work at the half day conference Women with Impact.
Holmen, a Swedish forest company, has successfully been using arginine as a liquid fertilizer in its nurseries for fifteen years and now the organic fertilizer Argrow, from Arevo, is available in solid form too. This enables seedlings to continue being fertilized once they have been planted in the forest. Research results have shown that forest seedlings much prefer arginine to nitrate as a source of nitrogen.
The companies C-Green, Absolicon, Oazer and Multi Channel Sweden from northern Sweden draw a lot of attention when presenting themselves to the international market. It was the second time North Sweden Cleantech organized an international exchange at Region Västerbotten office in Stockholm.
The city of Umeå, Northern Sweden, will be Sweden’s first test city for 5G, putting both the city and Sweden in the forefront of the development of new infrastructures and services in Europé.
Billions of SEK might be invested in a new technology that can remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Dåva CHP, the heart of Umeå's district heating supply, is one of the combined heat and power plants proposed to be first out testing the method, resulting in negative CO2 emissions from the plant.
On September 13th, northern Sweden visits Stockholm. During a couple of hours, you will learn more about northern Sweden as well as the North Sweden Cleantech platform and the cleantech companies in the region. The purpose of this event is to gather ambassadors and representatives from priority markets to create new business opportunities as well as increased international collaboration.
The European Commission recently announced that the finalist cities of this year’s European Capital of Innovation Award are Aarhus, Antwerp, Athens, Bristol, Gothenburg, Hamburg, Leuven, Lisbon, Madrid, Toulouse, Umeå and Vienna.
Uminova's kitchen was packed with entrepreneurs, businesspeople and business coaches when Anna Stenberg, the founder of Women Executive Search, Wes, lectured on diversity, equality, how to recruit wider and why you should care.
Eco-Oil is a Skellefteå based company with a unique and patented processing plant that produce sustainable synthetic biofuel based on energy crops. The company started in 2007 by researchers from Umeå University in the Bio4Energy project, aiming to produce 100% renewable and CO2-neutral gasoline, diesel and jet fuel.
In a visit organized by North Sweden Cleantech and Emil Källström from the Center Party, France's Ambassador to Sweden, David Cvach, visited prominent cleantech organizations in the region Västernorrland. In Örnsköldsvik, Processum and SEKAB were visited, where the ambassador received information about the company's operations and on various future projects.
Next summer, North Sweden Cleantech will host an international cleantech conference in Skellefteå. Cleantech is a hot topic whenever sustainable industry, growth and the future are discussed. But what is cleantech and why is everybody talking about it? And what role will northern Sweden play in its development?
Umeå Tech Arena is an annual recurring event for entrepreneurs, investors and anyone else who likes tech. On May 29th, it's arranged for the fourth time and this year the theme is artificial intelligence (AI).
The Skellefteå based company Eco-Oil and researchers associated with the Bio4Energy at Umeå University now launch a new technology for making "green" hydrocarbons that can be used to produce biofuels.
Skellefteå will have an international business conference next spring. The working name is Future Industry Meetup - Energy Edition. Susanne W Lindström presented this during her visit at the municipality of Skellefteå's morning meeting at The Great Northern.
Stefan Löfven, Prime Minister of Sweden, visited Racoon Miljöfilter in Robertsfors on February 20 to listen to and talk about innovation and look at the products and manufacturing at Racoon.
In an event arranged by North Sweden Cleantech and Uminova Innovation hosted Björn Axelsson (pictured, Department for International Trade) and Robert Cooklin (Science & Innovation Network) from the British Embassy in Stockholm.
Skellefteå in northern Sweden has been chosen for Europe's largest industrial establishment in modern times.
VEO has made a deal with Skellefteå Kraft, one of the largest energy companies in Sweden, on modernizing the electrification and automation systems in the Rebnis hydropower plant. The order will further strengthen VEO’s position on the Swedish market. Being a returning customer, Skellefteå Kraft has already partnered with VEO on many succesful projects.
Northern Sweden's proposal for a future battery factory in Skellefteå stands strong among its competitors. "When it comes to delivery of renewable and clean energy in Sweden, we are simply the best alternative", says Susanne W Lindström, project manager for international business at North Sweden Cleantech.
The whole region is now gathering force to improve the proposal even further in time for the final decision.
The company LunaLEC from Umeå, northern Sweden, has developed a unique technology that has been internationally recognized. The company has been offered an introduction to the Asian market through Hong Kong's state-owned Science and Technology Park. "This is a great opportunity for us", says Managing Director Patric Stafshede.
Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden is one of the Advocates of the UN Sustainability Development Goals 2030 (SDG). On the 19th of April The Crown Princess gave the opening speech at a conference on the UN SDG hosted by the United Nations University in Tokyo.
“We can help you do business in Hong Kong and Asia”. The message was clear for start-up companies from northern Sweden, when a delegation from Hong Kong visited Umeå and Cleaner Growth.
There was great support from both public and private actors at Cleaner Growth’s breakfast meeting in conjunction with County Administration Board’s “Climate Forum Västerbotten – Theme Transport”. Even support from the visitors was great which was reflected in the amount of questions from participating companies.
More women in the technology industry can provide companies with increased profitability. This was one of the lessons from the Women with Impact conference, organised by Cleaner Growth, which attracted nearly 100 people.
Many aspiring and established suppliers and partners took the opportunity to meet the regions energy companies. After an inspiring morning at Företagardagarna with lectures and exhibitions, the afternoon’s business event which was hosted by Cleantech Kvarken began with no less than 51 scheduled meetings between companies from both Sweden and Finland.
The plant will be the first of its kind in Europe and is an important step for interested companies on a large scale to develop nano-crystalline cellulose from cellulose-based material. Nanocrystalline cellulose materials have many interesting properties and can be used, such as building materials, biocomposites, printed electronics, and color additives.
On Sunday, a number of representatives from Umeå’s Business Services will travel to Copenhagen and Kalundborg for a study trip on circular economy. The schedule is full with study trips, lectures and workshops. Business Development from Cleaner Growth and Cleantech Kvarken will take part in the trip, as well as government researcher of circular economy, Ola Aletrå, and the councillor of Umeå, Margareta Rönngren, amongst others. The trip is organised by ESAM AB, in connection with a feasibility study for the Municipality of Umeå’s Business Services, and the organisers of the Umeå Gala.
Summer, sun and algal bloom. Not an unusual phenomenon, unfortunately. Francesco Gentili develops a way to counter the eutrophication of our waters, which simultaneously cleans the pollution from the air and produces biomass that can be used as a transportation fuel.
Earlier this week, BioCools CEO, Maria Forssell, was invited to give a presentation to the UN agency, United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) in Stockholm. BioCool SafeWater, developed by BioCool, is a pill that eliminates harmful microorganisms, such as bacteria, viruses and parasites from drinking water. The microorganisms are killed in a safe and environmentally friendly way to mimic the body’s way of defending itself.
Magnus Matisons from BioFuel Region has been chosen to represent the region’s bioeconomy interests in the EU’s Bioeconomy Panel. This nomination offers the opportunity to highlight our region’s unique conditions for bioeconomy development.
At this year's Storforum Cleantech Kvarken and its sister project Cleaner Growth were given the opportunity to present themselves to the construction industry. The municipal company Bostaden won an award for best project with "Sustainable Ålidhem.
Cleantech Kvarken’s new business directory is now ready. In it, we have put together a fascinating collection of companies within the energy and environmental sectors in the Västerbotten, Örnsköldsvik and Vaasa regions.
Sweden’s two innovation county council members, Robert Winroth and Daniel Forslund, are working together on a project that will offer more long-distance solutions to primary health care and new compensation systems. During the spring, a preliminary study will be conducted involving Philips, a high tech firm and Roche pharmaceuticals.
The question of the day was whether the public sector, together with the private sector, can stimulate development and enhance the competitiveness of companies, with policy in mind. The event was moderated by Mattias Goldmann, CEO of the Tankesmedjan Fores, and the organisers were Region Västerbotten, Miljösamverkan Västerbotten, Energikontor Norr, Företagarna and Cleaner Growth.
A company matchmaking event will be held in Örnsköldsvik on February 25 for companies working in the clean tech industry. Companies from Skellefteå, Umeå, Vasa and Örnsköldsvik will participate in the event aimed at establishing new business contacts.
At the fifth annual Nordic Cleantech Open, which attracted more than 113 clean tech firms, LunaLEC from Västebotten was selected by the jury as one of the Nordic region’s 25 best cleantech startups.
The next major project for northern Sweden was presented to Sweden’s Minster of Energy Ibrahím Baylan and 60 or so invited guests yesterday. With this, companies that focus on clean environments and climate smart technology will earn even more government support.
Mikael Damberg, Sweden’s Minister of industry and innovation, took an innovation trip through Umeå yesterday.
At the opening of Västerbotten at the Grand Hôtel, Hybricon bus systems received the Grand Prize award.
Note:
Visitors shall bear all costs related to the visit including flights, accommodation, all meals, translations etc.
International Business Developer
nina.rismalm@umea.se +46 70 256 82 84Umeå
International Business Developer
helena.nasstrom@ri.se +46 73 275 10 83Örnsköldsvik
