Holmen is investigating the possibility of harvesting peat on the Group’s land. To gain experience, peat cutting began outside Örnsköldsvik in 2009. A total of 46 GWh of peat was harvested on the site in 2010, and the area of peat extraction will be further
extended in 2011 which, it is hoped, will increase the volume of peat harvested.
Peat consists of plant material that, owing to a lack of oxygen, has only partly decomposed into bogs and fens. The incomplete breakdown means that much of the energy content of the biological material is retained, enabling peat to be used as fuel. Peat harvesting provides a way of utilising several of the value-creating resources that the Group has at its disposal.