Some kind of afforestation boom
will still come
“It’s always a good idea to plant a tree. Plant-
ly – a bit like in Finland in both sides of the 2010s,”
ing forests will be a global megatrend, I’m ab-
says Antti Asikainen.
solutely sure of that. It’s also a cure for climate
Japan had already implemented an extensive re-
anxiety. Plant a thousand trees and you can
forestation programme from the 1950s to 1970s.
say you’ve done something about it.”
The country’s forest resources – over 6 billion m3 – are twice the size of Finland’s.
The original quote belongs to Luke’s Executive
Antti Asikainen, then Professor of Forest Tech-
Vice President for Research, Antti Asikainen, who
nology at the Finnish Forest Research Institute
was asked by Talouselämä magazine in March
Metla, predicted in the history of Kesla published
2019 what an individual can do for the climate.
on the company’s 50th anniversary that by 2020 the use of forest energy in Finland would reach
Quake boosts bio-trend
12 million m3.
In March 2011, the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear
“Its use increased to 7–8 million m3 – 2015 was
power plant in Japan was in the eye of a storm.
the turning point of the forest energy boom. The
The power plant was cut off, and the backup
use of wood energy has increased further, but
power generators failed. The water in the con-
the growth has come from industrial by-prod-
densation pool boiled and the cores of three re-
ucts.
actors melted. Nearly 19,000 people died in the
The Finnish forest energy boom now appears to
chaos and tsunami caused by the earthquake,
have moved to Japan due to natural disasters.
comparable to the Chernobyl nuclear accident.
Kesla, in turn, is a global operator in the forest
Before the disaster, Japan produced a quarter of
equipping of tractors, and the company has a
its energy from nuclear power. After the accident,
good reputation in Japan, according to Asika-
more than 50 nuclear power plants were shut
inen.
down in the country. Kesla, which was already
“Previously Kesla’s harvester heads were installed
active on the Japanese market at the time, was
only on Sumitomo machines, but now on other
also affected by this series of events.
brands as well. I think that’s very smart. Kesla’s
“Japan launched a bioenergy programme, which
market position has remained good.”
has increased the use of forest energy very quick-
20
The photo shows Antti Asikainen, Executive Vice President for Research in Japan in 2016.
