Södra's research foundation is now distributing seven million kroner to nine research projects to promote the development of family forestry. A number of the projects focus on how forestry is affected by an increasingly warmer climate in Sweden.

Södra's research foundation was established in 1995 with the mission of promoting research and development that has significance for forestry and forest industry operations in southern Sweden. Since then, roughly 200 different research projects have received more than SEK 250 million. Now there will be even more.

Södra's research foundation is now distributing seven million kroner to nine different research projects, including forestry and how this will be affected by an increasingly warmer climate in Sweden. The project "Decision support for flow planning with regard to road availability" will investigate how warmer winters with more rain affect forest roads and will be awarded just over one million kroner. In addition, several projects also focus on family forestry's plant selection and putting the right plant on the right land.

- Climate change poses challenges for family forestry in several ways, and therefore we invest in managing this, says Göran Örlander, chairman of Södra's research foundation.

- According to climate research, the increasingly warmer winter climate will result in increased amounts of rain in winter. Temperature fluctuations around 0 ^o C in winter are expected to cause repeated frosts. All in all, this means less load capacity on the roads. This will be studied in a project that deals with flow planning of timber transport and road accessibility. The project can be expected to have positive effects in reduced damage to the roads and, in the long term, lower transport costs. Some of the projects also touch on issues surrounding the important choice of tree species - much in view of climate change, says Göran Örlander.

Focus: Strengthening the forest farm's values ​​through innovation
In order to refine and renew the values ​​of the forest farm, Södra focuses on developing the benefit of the forest raw material and how it is used. An example of this is the "Electrochemical depolymerization of lignin to specialty chemicals" and "Cellulose based energy harvesting" projects. The projects are granted just under one million and half a million kroner, respectively, and will investigate new areas of use for wood fiber, among other things to generate electricity and replace fossil alternatives in various products.

- A number of exciting projects have been granted funds, all of which will research and develop new technology and applications within chemicals and energy carriers. The focus of these projects is on cellulose and lignin as renewable carbon alternatives to today's fossil-based materials. With the forest as a base, new sustainable products are developed and complement today's important products from Swedish family forestry, says Henric Brage, head of strategic development at Södra Innovation.

Read more about Södra's research foundation and which projects have been granted grants.