Finnish engineering group Metso said on June 8 that it was building the world's largest bio-gasification plant on Finland's west coast, which should significantly reduce carbon dioxide emissions from a local power plant.
The company said this was the first time in the world that biomass gasification was being adopted on such a large scale.
The bio-gasification unit will be built as part of power company Vaskiluodon Voima's coal-fired power plant in the western city of Vaasa.
"As a result of the new solution, close to 25% to 40% of the coal can be replaced with renewable energy, which will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by about 230,000 tons per year," Metso said.
The deal for the 140-Megawatt plant is worth around $59 million.
The bio-gasification plant is fuelled mainly with leftovers from the forest industry, mostly wood-based biomass, which creates gas that can be combusted along with coal in a boiler.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2011
