Kjna29280enn jrc111652 Online Revised by Ipo

Energy efficiency and GHG emissions:
Prospective scenarios for the pulp and

paper industry
Moya, J. A., Pavel, C. C.
2018
EUR 29280 EN
This publication is a Science for Policy report by the Joint Research Centre (JRC), the European Commission’s
science and knowledge service. It aims to provide evidence-based scientific support to the European
policymaking process. The scientific output expressed does not imply a policy position of the European
Commission. Neither the European Commission nor any person acting on behalf of the Commission is
responsible for the use that might be made of this publication.
Contact information
Name: Jose A. Moya
Address: European Commission, Joint Research Centre, PO Box 2, NL-1755 ZG Petten, The Netherlands
Email: [email protected]
Tel. +31 224565244
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JRC111652
EUR 29280 EN
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How to cite this report: Moya J. A. and Pavel C. C., Energy efficiency and GHG emissions: Prospective scenarios
for the pulp and paper industry, EUR 29280 EN, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, 2018,
ISBN 978-92-79-89119-9, doi:10.2760/035301, JRC111652
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Energy efficiency and GHG emissions: Prospective scenarios for the pulp and paper industry
This study analyses the role of technology innovation in the European pulp and paper industry from 2015 to
2050. The baseline scenario describes a decrease in energy consumption and GHG emissions by 14 % and 63 %,
respectively, in a context in which the demand grows by 7 %. Without the technological improvement the
respective variations would register an increase of 1 % and 5 %. Unlike the biorefineries concept, the carbon
capture and storage technology does not become cost effective; although higher CO2 prices and rewarding the
bio-CO2 captured could turn the industry into a carbon sink.
Contents
Acknowledgements .............................................................................................. 1
Executive summary ............................................................................................. 2
1 Introduction and policy context ......................................................................... 4
2 Scope of the study and methodology .................................................................. 6
3 Overview of the EU’s pulp and paper industry ...................................................... 7
3.1 Manufacturing processes ............................................................................ 8
3.2 Pulp and paper products ............................................................................11
3.3 Production of pulp and paper in the EU and prospective production scenarios to
2050 ............................................................................................................19
4 Current energy consumption and GHG emissions ................................................22
5 Measures for improving energy efficiency and reducing GHG emissions ..................26
5.1 Best available technologies ........................................................................27
5.2 Emerging technologies (ET) .......................................................................33
5.2.1 CO2 capture and storage (CCS) ..........................................................33
5.2.2 Black liquor gasification (BLG) ............................................................34
5.2.3 Biorefineries.....................................................................................35
5.2.4 LignoBoost .......................................................................................37
5.2.5 Emerging drying technologies .............................................................38
6 Bottom-up model for the assessment of GHG emissions and energy efficiency
scenarios ..........................................................................................................40
6.1 Model and decision-making criterion ............................................................41
6.2 Expected life span of the paper machines in the model...................................43
6.3 Maximum annual implementation rate of BATs/ETs........................................46
7 Simulation results ..........................................................................................48
7.1 Baseline scenario ......................................................................................48
7.2 Alternative scenarios .................................................................................51
8 Conclusions ...................................................................................................53
References ........................................................................................................54
List of abbreviations and definitions ......................................................................57
List of figures ....................................................................................................58
List of tables......................................................................................................60
Annexes............................................................................................................61
Annex 1. BATs applicable in the pulp and paper industry according to the BREF.......61
Annex 2. Emerging energy efficiency technologies of the pulp and paper industry
according to selected literature sources .............................................................65
i
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank Emre ÖZÇAKMAK for his contribution to data collection.
Authors
Jose A. Moya
Claudiu C. Pavel
1
Executive summary
One of the political guidelines of the current EU Commission is the need to bring
industry’s contribution to the EU GDP back to 20 % by 2020. In EU-28, the industry
accounts for a quarter of EU emissions and energy consumption, contributing 15 % to GDP
directly, and acting as the foundation for many value chains.
The European pulp and paper industry, the 4th largest industrial energy user in EU, has
the potential to contribute to the main objectives (stemming from the global
commitments) to combat climate change, that are a 20 %, 40 % and 80 % reduction in GHG
emissions compared to 1990 by 2020, 2030 and 2050, respectively. The 2011 roadmap
sets a EU industry trajectory of 43 % reduction in direct emissions by 2023 compared to
2005. The main policy instrument to guide the achievement of these objectives is the EU
Emissions Trading System Directive (ETS). Note that also the EU Climate policy provides
tools to support low-carbon innovation in industry. After 2020 ETS allowances will be put
aside to create an innovation fund or support the large scale demonstration of highly
innovative low carbon technologies.
Regarding energy efficiency, one of five dimensions of the EU’s Energy Union strategy,
the EU has set itself a 20 % energy savings target by 2020 (when compared to the
projected use of energy in 2020). The revised energy efficiency directive includes a new
target for 2030 of 32.5% with an upward revision clause by 2023.
The aim of this study is to analyse the contribution of technology innovation in the pulp
and paper sector to the energy consumption and GHG emission savings until 2050. This
is achieved using a bottom-up model to analyse the cost effectiveness of technological
improvements at facility level for all pulp and paper products covered by the ETS. As a
boundary condition for a baseline scenario, this study uses a growth of the demand and
energy prices that stem from the 2016 reference scenario of the European Commission.
The contribution of the technological improvement makes that the demand growth, by 7 %
from 2015 to 2050, goes hand in hand with a decrease in energy consumption and GHG
emissions of 14 % and 63 %, respectively. While most of the energy improvement comes
from the incorporation of the state-of-the-art technologies to new facilities, most of the
CO2 savings come from switching fossil fuels to biofuels. Otherwise, without the
technological improvements, the energy consumption and GHG emissions will be in 2050
around 1 and 5 %, respectively, higher than in 2015.
Among the technological options analysed, there are seven potential configurations of
biorefineries; three producing dimethyl ether, three biofuels and an additional
configuration producing a mixture of alcohols. All but the last configuration are cost-
effective during the simulation. However, the deployment of the biorefineries is analysed
apart from the baseline scenario, with which all the remaining alternative scenarios are
compared. The approach followed in this study considers only the benefits of the
technologies to the pulp and paper industry, taking for granted the demand of the
biofuels or feedstock from petroleum refineries, chemical industry or transport sector.
The results show that the biorefineries could produce 270 PJ (6.4 Mtoe) of biofuels. In this
case, although the GHG emissions and energy consumption of producing these biofuels
take place in the pulp and paper industry, these carbon-free fuels would reduce GHG
emissions in some other sectors.
Each alternative scenario analyses the effect of different trends of the prices of
electricity, CO2 allowance or fuels. In each of them, the corresponding price of the
baseline scenario is scale up linearly, doubling its final prices in 2050. The GHG emissions
of these alternative scenarios are quite similar because in all of them, even in the
baseline scenario, fuel-switching is equally deployed. Practically the same happens
regarding energy consumption, proving that all energy savings are already delivered
under the conditions of the baseline scenario. Although the amine-based post-
combustion CO2 capture (used as the CCS technology) is included in the model, it does
not become cost effective in any mill, not even in the scenario that doubles the final CO2
2
price in 2050. However, in an alternative scenario in which we contemplate the possibility
(not in the EU ETS) of rewarding the industry by the bio-CO2 captured (with the same
price as the CO2 allowance), the CCS becomes cost effective when the CO2 price is higher
than EUR 92.4 per tonne.
The findings of this study may deserve to be revisited if there were more details than the
existing ones in the already very detailed database used for this study (from RISI), and
more importantly, if there were more details about technological performance (and
associated costs) of breakthrough technologies that are currently at a very early stage of
research. Moreover, the interest to invest in some of the technological options considered
in this study could be reinforced if some of the collateral benefits brought to other sectors
were acknowledged to the industry, enabling those indirect savings. Therefore, this study
underlines the interest of using a holistic approach to grasp in its full extent the potential
contribution of this industry to the European targets.
3
1 Introduction and policy context
‘Putting energy efficiency first’ is one of the main goals that the European Commission
proposed in the package ‘Clean energy for all Europeans’, which aims at keeping the EU
competitive in the clean energy transition (European Commission, 2016a). In line with
the perspective for moving to a competitive low-carbon economy in 2050, the EU leaders
set in 2014 new targets for 2030 on the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG)
(at least 40 %, from 1990 levels, increasing to 80 % by 2050), on the improvement of
energy savings (at least 27 %, which could increase to 30 %) and on the promotion of
renewable energy (at least 27 % share in final energy consumption).
All sectors need to contribute to the achievement of these targets and consolidate the
transition to a low-carbon economy according to their technological and economic
potential. For example, the energy intensive industries (e.g. steel and car industries) will
need to maintain their efforts towards improving the energy efficiency of the production
processes, while promoting innovative solutions, fostering competitiveness and creating
new jobs and growth.
The transformation of the European industrial base towards more sustainable and
resource-efficient business models is a key element of the renewed EU industrial policy
strategy (European Commission, 2017a). The overall goal of industrial strategy is to
make the EU industry stronger and more competitive by investing in smart, innovative
and sustainable technologies (Figure 1).
Figure 1. Main elements of the EU industrial policy strategy
Source: European Commission, 2017a.
The shift of the industry towards higher value added and less energy-intensive products
will promote the decrease of energy consumption. According to the estimations of the EU
Reference Scenario 2016 (European Commission, 2016b) on the future trends and
developments in the EU energy system and in greenhouse gas emissions, energy
demand by industrial activity will decrease in the medium term from 295.3 million toe
(tonnes of oil equivalent) (1)) in 2020 to 269.7 million toe in 2030 and stabilise by 2050
to 251.8 million toe (Figure 1, below left). Two main factors will drive the decrease in
energy consumption: a) replacement of old equipment at the end of its lifetime with
more energy efficient technologies b) switching towards higher value added and less-
energy intensive production processes.
( 1) toe is the abbreviation for tonne(s) of oil equivalent, which represents a normalised unit of energy
equivalent to the approximate amount of energy that can be extracted from one tonne of crude oil.
4
Currently, the industry is the third largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the EU
after power sector and transport (Figure 2, below right). In terms of reducing greenhouse
gas emissions, the EU roadmap for 2050 low-carbon economy shows that the energy
intensive industries could cut more than 80 % of emissions by 2050 by implementing the
energy-efficiency measures (European Commission, 2011).
Figure 2. Estimation of final energy consumption in industry (left) and possible cut in greenhouse
gas emissions in the EU main sectors (right)
Source: European Commission, 2016a (left image) and 2011 (right image).
This cut could be achieved through adoption of more advanced resource and energy-
efficient industrial processes and equipment, increased recycling, as well as abatement
technologies for non-CO2 emissions. In this respect, the European Commission provides
some of the necessary tools and policies. For example, the EU Emissions Trading System
is the most important tool to drive the energy efficiency and GHG reductions in industry.
New energy-efficient production technologies will contribute to the modernisation of EU’s
industrial base, help the transition to a low-carbon and resource efficient economy, and
also play an increasingly role in determining the ability of European business to compete
globally. The overall transition to a low-carbon energy system is supported by the
Strategic Energy Technology Plan (SET-Plan), which is the technology pillar of the EU’s
energy and climate policy aiming at acceleration the development and deployment of
low-carbon technologies.
The role of technological innovation in improving energy efficiency and reducing GHG
emissions by European energy-intensive industries was already addressed by the Joint
Research Centre for cement (Moya et al., 2010), iron and steel (Pardo et al., 2012),
aluminium (Moya et al., 2015) and chemicals industries (Boulamanti and Moya, 2017).
Following a similar methodological approach, in this report we analyse the potential
energy savings and GHG reduction in the pulp and paper industry.
5
2 Scope of the study and methodology
This study analyses the role of technology innovation in improving the energy efficiency
and reducing CO2 emissions of pulp and paper industry taking into account the cost-
effectiveness of the retrofits of the main processes at the mill level in the timeframe
2015-2050. This analysis is based on the most accurate set of information available at
facility level for the pulp and paper industry as developed by RISI (2), and the
prospective breakthrough technologies that the industry could incorporate in the frame of
the 35 years ahead. The information to accomplish this part comes from the scientific
literature, mainly from the International Energy Agency (IEA, 2007, 2009, 2014 and
2015) and others (e.g. Larson et al., 2006). RISI’s Asset Database comprises information
about the equipment, processes and technologies used in the production of pulp and
paper in all integrated and non-integrated mills in the EU, as well as the process/mill-
specific consumptions (electricity and fuel consumption). More details about the RISI
dataset are provided in sub-chapter 3.3.
The information provided in the RISI dataset were used as input data to a model
developed in-house and integrated with additional information about the cost of
technologies installed.
Figure 3. The bottom-up approach used in this report — Methodology overview used in this study
Source: JRC representation.
The following chapters give an overview of the EU’s pulp and paper industry (Chapter 3),
current energy consumption and GHG emission by the sector (Chapter 4), measures for
improving energy efficiency and reducing GHG emissions through adoption of best
available technologies (BATs) and emerging technologies (ETs) (Chapter 5), bottom-up
model and assumptions (Chapter 6), assessment and results of energy/GHG saving
potentials (Chapter 7). The main finding of this study and conclusions are presented in
Chapter 8.
( 2) The RISI database was developed by the RISI company (https://www.risiinfo.com/) under the contract
with the Joint Research Centre, reference number IET/2012/F06/008-NC-C109337 ‘NL-Petten: Database
of the pulp and paper industry in the EU’, followed by an update in 2015.
6
3 Overview of the EU’s pulp and paper industry
The European pulp and paper manufacturing industry is energy- and raw-materials
intensive, overall employing 647 000 workers in 21 000 companies (European
Commission, 2017b). The annual turnover from the production of pulp, as well as
graphic, hygienic, packaging and specialised paper grades and products is estimated at
around EUR 180 billion.
In Europe, the pulp and paper industry is represented by the Confederation of European
Paper Industries (CEPI), which currently gathers 18 national associations (3). In 2016,
CEPI represented 92 % of the European pulp and paper industry in terms of production.
The total production reported in 2016 by the 18 CEPI’s associations (CEPI, 2017) was
37.2 million tonnes of pulp and about 91 million tonnes paper and board (Figure 4).
Figure 4. CEPI pulp and paper industry in 2016
Source: CEPI, 2017.
Based on the CEPI statistics, in 2015, 24.5 % of global production of pulp and 26.1 % of
global paper and board production was made by European companies (CEPI, 2017).
Overall, the EU is a net importer of market pulp and a net exporter of recycled paper and
paper and board products.
( 3) CEPI member countries: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the
Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the United
Kingdom.
7
3.1 Manufacturing processes
The paper and paperboard are made from different forms of pulp, which in turn is
obtained mainly from wood, recycled paper or other cellulose-bearing material such as
straw, hemp, grass, cotton and other (e.g. bagasse, bamboo, reeds, jute, flax, etc.). Pulp
can be also produced by repulping of the recycled paper.
The EU is a forerunner in paper recycling. In 2015, the recycling rate reached 71.5 % and
it is foreseen to increase further to 74 % by 2020, close to the maximum theoretical limit
of 78 % (EPRC, 2017). In 2015, the recovered paper utilisation rate (representing how
much recovered paper is used in the total production of paper and paperboard) was
52.5 % for the CEPI countries (CEPI, 2017).
The process flow in pulp and paper manufacturing operations is illustrated in Figure 5.
Figure 5. Major steps in pulp and paper manufacturing processes (4)
Source: JRC representation with information from Bajpai, 2016.
The main raw material (i.e. wood) is first debarked and chipped uniformly in order to
maximise the quality and efficiency of the pulping process. Then, the harvested wood is
processed by adding water and heat so that the individual cellulose fibres are separated
from the lignin (an intercellular material that binds the fibres together in wood). Pulp is
mainly produced mechanically or chemically, or using a combination of them.
 Mechanical pulping. It is the oldest form of pulping which uses mechanical
energy to weaken and separate fibres from wood via a grinding action. 95 % of the
mechanical pulp capacity is installed in integrated and semi-integrated paper
( 4) SGW — stone groundwood pulping, RMP — refiner mechanical pulping, TMP — thermomechanical pulping
and CTMP — chemi-thermomechanical pulping.
8
mills. The mechanical pulping is characterised by a high yield (85-95 %). However,
the resulted fibres are often weak, short and unstable. Therefore, the mechanical
pulp is used for lower grade papers such as newsprint, magazines, books, etc.
Several mechanical-based processes can be used for pulp making such as: stone
groundwood pulping (SGW), refiner-mechanical pulping (RMP), thermomechanical
pulping (TMP) and chemi-thermomechanical pulping (CTMP). The SGW, RMP and
TMP are the most used processes in the production of mechanical pulp. While in
the SGW the logs are pressed against a rotating grinder stone with simultaneous
addition of water, in the RMP and TMP the defiberising of the wood chips takes
place between refiner disks (Ullmann, 2005).
Electricity is the main source of energy in producing mechanical pulp and most of
it is converted into heat. Some of this heat can be recovered and used in other
processes or for district heating.
 Chemical pulp. In this process, fibres are extracted from the wood in a digester
under pressure with the use of ‘cooking’ chemicals and separated by washing. The
chemicals dissolve most of the lignin and hemicelluloses present in the wood,
resulting in better separation of the cellulose fibres. Although the chemical
process has a low yield (40-55 %), the pulp consists of long, strong and stable
fibres, suitable for high quality papers such as office paper, packaging and high-
strength paper and board. Based on the type of chemicals used for digesting
(breaking the fibres bonds), two main processes are known: Kraft (or sulphate)
and Sulphite. Kraft chemical pulping uses a highly alkaline solution (white liquor)
containing sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and sodium sulphide (Na2S) for digestion,
which can take place in batches or continuous digesters. Sulphide chemical
pulping, uses an acidic mixture of sulphurous acid (H2SO3) and bisulphite ion
(HSO3) (sulphite cooking liquor). Kraft pulping is the most common pulping
process. In 2016, around 67 % of the total pulp produced in the EU was obtained
by kraft pulping compared to 27 % for mechanical and semi-chemical pulp and
about 5 % for sulphite pulp (CEPI, 2017). The so-called ‘black liquor’ resulted
during the wood cooking and further treated in the recovery cycle is a high-energy
content by-product of the chemical pulping containing wood waste, chemicals and
other impurities. This liquor is burned in recovery boiler (present in all kraft mills)
producing steam that can be later used to produce power in a steam turbine. In
general, the chemical pulping process generates more energy than it uses.
In the EU, over half of the paper and board is produced from pulp coming from recycled
paper (Figure 4). With the exception of high grade paper, all other paper and board
products can be produced from fibres coming from recycled paper (secondary fibres).
The main advantage of using recovered paper is that the energy requested is much lower
compared to wood-based pulp (see later Figure 19 and Figure 20).
An important step in the chemical pulping process is the recovery of chemicals from the
spent cooking liquor. This result both in a significant cost reduction associated with
purchasing of fresh chemicals and generation of steam by combusting the organic
residue from the black liquor during refining process. According to Bajpai, the chemical
recovery process consists of 4 main stages (Bajpai, 2016):
— Black liquor concentration; process in which water is evaporated from the black liquor
making thus the combustion process more efficient.
— Combustion of black liquor in a recovery boiler; steam is produced by combustion of
the organic fraction contained in the black liquor with generation of steam used further in
heating applications within the mill or for on-site electricity generation.
— Recausticising; the inorganic fraction resulted after the combustion (known as molten
smelt) is firstly mixed with a weak alkaline solution (e.g. sodium hydroxide and sodium
sulphite) and then recausticised by adding calcium hydroxide to form sodium hydroxide
and calcium carbonate (known as lime mud).
9
— Calcination; after washing and drying, the lime mud is calcined in a lime kiln to
regenerate the lime.
Depending on the end use, pulp could be bleached with various chemicals (e.g. chlorine
dioxide, hydrogen peroxide, oxygen, caustic and sodium hypochlorite) to remove any
colour and processed into the stock used for paper making.
Before turning into paper, pulp undergoes several steps known as stock preparation,
depending on whether the paper is produced at integrated or non-integrated mills. For
example, at non-integrated mills, the pulp arrives dried and baled, while at integrated
mills, the paper mills use the pulp manufactured on-site.
The stock preparation may also include blending and addition of any necessary additives
(e.g. resigns, waxes for water repellence as well as certain inorganic chemicals) for
improving texture, print quality, opacity and brightness. Integrated mills are more
energy efficient than the non-integrated ones because the latter require a pulp drying
stage avoided in the former that also shares common auxiliary systems, such as steam,
electric generation.
Paper is made through several operations called wet end and dry end (Bajpai, 2016). In
the wet-end operation, the slurry of pulp containing more that 99 % water is deposited
onto a moving belt that draws the water from the slurry, moving then through additional
rollers that compress the fibres and remove the residual water. The most common
technology is the Fourdrinier (50 %) followed by Crescent (14 %), Gap Former (12 %),
Hybrid former (11 %), Twin-wire (6 %), and inclined (1 %). All papermaking machines are
made of some basic elements: the headbox, wire section, press section, dryer section
and reel. Twin wire and cylinder formers are alternative methods to the traditional
Fourdrinier wire for the sheet formation. While in the twin wire formers, the pulp
suspension is led between two wires that rotate at the same speed and is drained
through one of both sides, in the cylinder former, web formation occurs on a wire-
covered, water-permeable cylinder (Ullmann, 2005).
The dry-end section consists of up to 100 steam-heated drying cylinders, bringing the
finished paper web to only 5-8 % water (which is the normal moisture content).
To improve its surface quality, the paper could go through additional processes such as
finishing and coating. Coating can be made with coloured substances such as pigments
and binders. A further smoothing of the paper is achieved through a process called
calender (‘ironing effect’). In the finishing process, the rolls of paper are cut into smaller
rolls by a reel cutter.
From the energy consumption view, producing one tonne of paper products requires on
average about 11.5 GJ of primary energy, which is comparable to that of other energy-
intensive products such as steel or cement (Suhr et al., 2015). However, unlike other
energy-intensive industries, the pulp and paper sector uses a high share of biomass as
primary energy source.
Due to the wide range of pulp and paper products, the energy used in their
manufacturing varies for different products and processes, depending on the raw
materials used, paper quality and techniques applied. The average energy required in
different manufacturing processes is shown in Figure 6.
It should be noted that the for the same process the specific energy consumption can
vary widely due to different feedstock composition, various practices in process operation
and use of different technologies.
The amount and type of energy used in pulping varies largely by process. While chemical
and semi-chemical pulping relies widely on steam, the mechanical (SGW) and
thermomechanical pulping (TMP) use mostly electricity for driving the grinding
equipment. On the other hand, heat and electricity can be generated by burning the
biomass residues resulted as by-product in the chemical pulping. As Figure 21 later
shows, pulp mills can produce more electricity than they need.
10
In the papermaking process, drying is the most energy intensive step (Figure 6)
accounting for about two thirds of total energy use in paper production (Kramer et al.,
2009).
More information about specific energy consumption by the European mills for making
the pulp and paper products analysed in this study is presented in Chapter 4.
Figure 6. Average energy consumption (GJ/tonne) estimated for pulp and paper manufacturing
processes.
Source: JRC representation with information from Bajpai, 2016.
3.2 Pulp and paper products

For this study the JRC has counted on detailed information at facility, process and
product level provided by RISI. The information about the European pulp and paper
production is arranged around the same 12 products with carbon emissions benchmark
(European Commission, 2011) in the EU Emission Trading System (ETS). Table 1
provides the twelve pulp and paper products and their definition (according to the carbon
leakage decision).
Pulp and paper products can be made in integrated mills or separated mills, or both
(semi-integrated). A fourth category called ‘recycled’ can be used to cover the paper
production from recycled paper. In this study, the mill configuration is divided into four
categories as follows:
 Integrated — a mill that purchases less than 10 % of its fibre needs.
 Semi-integrated — a mill that purchases anything between 10-90 % of its fibre
needs.
11
 Non-integrated (separated) — a mill that purchases between 90-100 % of fibre
needs.
 Recycled — a mill that uses mostly recycled fibre (more than 90 %).
Table 1. Pulp and paper products included in this analysis.
Product Description
(*)
Pulp
Short fibre kraft pulp Wood pulp produced by the sulphate chemical process using cooking
liquor, characterised by fibre lengths of 1-1.5 mm, is mainly used for
products which require specific smoothness and bulk, as tissue and
printing paper.
Long fibre kraft pulp Long fibre kraft pulp is a wood pulp produced by the sulphate chemical
process using cooking liquor, characterised by fibre lengths of 3-
3.5 mm, which is mainly used for products for which strength is
important, as packaging paper.
Sulphite pulp, thermo- Sulphite pulp produced by a specific process, e.g. pulp produced by
mechanical and cooking wood chips in a pressure vessel in the presence of bisulphite
mechanical pulp liquor. Sulphite and mechanical pulp can be either bleached or
unbleached. Two mechanical pulp grades are included: TMP
(thermomechanical pulp) and groundwood. Chemi-thermomechanical
and dissolving pulp are not included in this category.
Recovered paper pulp Pulps of fibres derived from recovered (waste and scrap) paper or
paperboard or of other fibrous cellulosic material.
(**)
Paper and paperboard
Newsprint Specific paper grade (in rolls or sheets) used for printing newspapers
produced from groundwood and/or mechanical pulp or recycled fibres
or any percentage of combinations of these two. Weights usually
range from 40 to 52 g/m2 but can be as high as 65 g/m2. Newsprint is
machine-finished or slightly calendered, white or slightly coloured and
is used in reels for letterpress, offset or flexo-printing.
Uncoated fine paper Covers both uncoated mechanical and uncoated wood-free:
 Uncoated wood-free papers suitable for printing or other graphic
purposes made from a variety of mainly virgin fibre furnishes, with
variable levels of mineral filler and a range of finishing processes.
This grade includes most office papers, such as business forms,
copier, computer, stationery and book papers.
 Uncoated mechanical papers cover the specific paper grades made
from mechanical pulp, used for packaging or graphic
purposes/magazines.
Coated fine paper Coated fine paper covers both coated mechanical and coated wood-
free papers:
 Coated wood-free papers made of fibres produced mainly by a
chemical pulping process which are coated in process for different
applications and are also known as coated freesheet. This group
focuses mainly on publication papers.
 Coated mechanical papers made from mechanical pulp, used for
graphic purposes/magazines. The group is also known as coated
groundwood.
12
Product Description
Paper and paperboard (**)

(continued)
Tissue Tissue papers cover a wide range of tissue and other hygienic papers
for use in households or commercial and industrial premises such as
toilet paper and facial tissues, kitchen towels, hand towels and
industrial wipes, the manufacture of baby nappies and sanitary towels.
Testliner and fluting Testliner covers different types of paperboard that meet specific tests
adopted by the packaging industry to qualify for use as the outer
facing layer for corrugated board, from which shipping containers are
made. Testliner is made mainly from fibres obtained from recycled
fibres. Fluting refers to the centre segment of corrugated shipping
containers, being faced with linerboard on both sides.
Uncoated cartonboard This category covers a wide range of uncoated products which may be
single or multiply. Uncoated cartonboard is mainly used for packaging
applications which the main needed characteristic is strength and
stiffness, and for which the commercial aspects as information carrier
are of a second order of importance. Cartonboard is made from virgin
and/or recovered fibres, has good folding properties, stiffness and
scoring ability. It is mainly used in cartons for consumer products such
as frozen food, cosmetics and for liquid containers; also known as
solid board, folding box board, boxboard or carrier board.
Coated cartonboard This category covers a wide range of coated products which may be
single or multiply. Coated cartonboard is mainly used for commercial
applications that need to bring commercial information printed on the
packaging to the shelf in the store in applications such as food,
pharma, cosmetics, and others.
Packaging paper Contains those products that are classified as Kraft papers and are
used for various packaging applications.
(*)
Includes the following production processes: pulp mill, recovery boiler, pulp drying section and lime kiln
and connected energy conversion units (boiler/CHP)). It excludes other activities on site that are not part
of this process, such as: sawmilling activities, woodworking activities, production of chemicals for sale,
waste treatment (treating waste onsite instead of offsite (drying, pelletising, incinerating, landfilling), PCC
(precipitated calcium carbonate) production, treatment of odorous gases, and district heating.
(**)
Includes the processes which are parts of the paper production process, such as: paper or board machine
and connected energy conversion units (boiler/CHP) and direct process fuel use). Other activities on site
that are not part of this process such as sawmilling activities, woodworking activities, production of
chemicals for sale, waste treatment (treating waste onsite instead of offsite (drying, pelletising,
incinerating, landfilling), PCC (precipitated calcium carbonate) production, treatment of odorous gases and
district heating are not included.
Source: JRC compilation from RISI and the carbon leakage decision (RISI, 2016).
The distribution of pulp and paper products per type of mills is shown in Figure 7.
13
Figure 7. Type of mills for pulp and paper products in the EU
Sulphite pulp, thermo-mechanical and mechanical pulp Integrated

Short fibre kraft pulp Semi-integrated
pulp Recovered paper pulp Recycled
products Long fibre kraft pulp Non-integrated
--
paper Uncoated fine paper
products
Uncoated cartonboard
Tissue
Testliner and fluting
Packaging paper
Newsprint
Coated fine paper
Coated cartonboard
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200

Mills number
Source: JRC representation with information from RISI, 2016.
Kraft pulp (short and long fibres) is produced exclusively in integrated mills. Regarding
the paper products, 79 % of testliner and fluting and uncoated cartonboard products are
produced in those mills that mostly use recycled fibres. Overall, the ‘recycled’ mills cover
the whole spectrum of paper products manufacturing (Figure 7).
According to the RISI database, in 2015 there were 581 mills operating in the EU for
producing the pulp and paper products listed in Table 1 (Figure 9). These mills are
distributed in 23 Member States, mainly in Italy (119 mills), Germany (101 mills), France
(62 mills), Spain (47 mills), Sweden (42 mills), Finland (35 mills) and the UK (28 mills)
(Figure 9). All other Member States have less than 20 mills or none at all.
Figure 8. Distribution of pulp and paper mills per EU Member State
14
Figure 9. Geographically location of pulp and paper mills in the EU
In 2015, the total production capacity of pulp in the EU was estimated at about 36.9
million tonnes virgin pulp and 56.7 million tonnes of recycled pulp (RISI, 2016). About
85 % of the total capacity of pulp (virgin and recycled) is used for on-site transformation
of pulp into paper products in integrated, semi-integrated and recycled mills, while 15 %
of production capacity is allocated to market pulp, mainly at non-integrated mills. In the
same year, the estimated total production capacity of paper products was about 93.6
million tonnes (RISI, 2016).
The EU production capacity per pulp and paper products is shown in Figure 10.
15
Figure 10. Production capacity of pulp and paper products in the EU, 2015
60
Paper products
50 Pulp consumed on-site
EU production capacity
(million tonnes/year)
Pulp for market
40
30
20
10
0
Short fibre kraft pulp
and mechanical pulp
Recovered paper pulp
--
Packaging paper
Long fibre kraft pulp
Coated fine paper
Coated cartonboard
Newsprint
Uncoated fine paper
Tissue
Testliner and fluting
Uncoated cartonboard
Sulphite pulp, thermo-mechanical
The EU has a large capacity of pulp production from recycled paper, about 56.7 million
tonnes per year, which amounts to 61 % of total EU pulp production capacity. Regarding
paper products, testliner and fluting have the largest production capacity (30 % of the
total paper production capacity), followed by uncoated fine paper (18.2 %) and coated fine
paper (17 %). The capacity share of each of the remaining paper products is below 10 %.
The following charts give information per EU country of the production capacity of virgin
pulp (chemical pulping — Figure 11, and mechanical and chemi-mechanical pulping —
Figure 12) and repulping of imported pulp, mechanical cleaning of recovered paper and
deinking equipment for recovered paper (Figure 13).
In the EU, chemical pulping is spread over 14 countries, while mechanical and chemi-
mechanical pulping is produced in 13 countries. The largest production capacity of
chemical pulping is located in Sweden and Finland, together accounting for about 17.7
million tonnes per year (Figure 11). Portugal, Germany, Spain and Austria are also large
producers of chemical pulp. About 95 % of total chemical pulping capacity in the EU is
based on the Kraft technology. Sweden and Finland are also the major producers of
mechanical and chemi-mechanical pulping, followed by Germany, Italy and Austria
(Figure 12).
Apart from virgin pulp production, the EU has a relatively large capacity for repulping the
imported pulp and other pulp substitutes. The European production capacity for repulping
accounts for over 19 million tonnes, being Germany, Italy and Finland the leading
countries. The repulping process takes place mainly in non-integrated mills (Figure 13a).
The EU is a forerunner in paper recycling. Mechanical cleaning and deinking are two
important processes in paper recovery. For both, Germany is the leading country in
terms of installed capacity and equipment (Figure 13b, c). The total EU capacity of
mechanical cleaning and deinking equipment for recovered fibre is estimated at 31.4 and
11.5 million tonnes of finished pulp per year, respectively. The mechanical cleaning and
deinking take place mainly in recycling mills.
16
Figure 11. Production capacity of chemical pulping per EU Member State
Figure 12. Production capacity of mechanical and chemi-mechanical pulping per EU Member
State (5)
( 5) PGW = Pressure Groundwood, SGW = Stone Groundwood, (P)RMP = (Pressurised) Refiner Mechanical
Pulp), TMP = Thermomechanical Pulp, (B)CTMP = (Bleached) Chemi-Thermomechanical-Pulp) and
NSSC = Neutral Sulphite Semi Chemical Pulping.
17
Figure 13. Production capacity of repulping of imported pulp and pulp substitutes (a), mechanical
cleaning of recovered paper (b) and deinking equipment for recovered fibre (c)
18
Among the 23 EU Member States that manufacture various grades of paper, Germany is
the main player in terms of paper and board machinery capacity, followed by Finland,
Sweden and Italy (Figure 14). These three countries account for about half of the total
production capacity for paper in the EU.
Figure 14. Production capacities of paper products
3.3 Production of pulp and paper in the EU and prospective

production scenarios to 2050
Despite a partial recovery after the global financial crisis, up to now the European pulp
and paper production remained below the maximum peak register in 2007. According to
CEPI statistics, the total annual production of CEPI member countries has decreased
during the period 2010-2016 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of -0.84 % for
pulp and -0.99 % for paper products (Figure 15). However, this trend was not the same
for all pulp and paper products. In spite of the overall decline of the mechanical and
semi-chemical and sulphite pulping production (in volume) at a CAGR of -2.9 % during
2010-2016, the chemical sulphate (Kraft) pulping registered a 0.49 % increase from 2010
(Figure 15a). In the EU, the recycling rate of paper waste has also improved to 71.9 % in
2015 (from 62 % and 68.7 % in 2005 and 2010, respectively).
A significant decline in production was registered between 2010 and 2016 for graphic
grade papers such as newsprint (CAGR = -6.48 %), coated mechanical and wood-free
products (CAGR = -5.26 %) and uncoated mechanical and wood-free products (CAGR = -
2.12 %). This decline was also affected by the overall changes in the industry landscape,
including digitalisation (Figure 15b). Due to increasing in demand for consumer goods
packaging, tissues and hygiene products, the production of packaging grade papers (e.g.
case materials, cartonboard, wrapping and other paper for packaging) and sanitary and
household products grew by a CAGR > 1 % over the same period of time.
19
Figure 15. Production of pulp (a) and paper (b) products by CEPI member countries,
2008-2016
CAGR %
Pulp & board production (million tonnes)
CAGR (2010-2016) = -0.99%

100 (2010-2016)
-0.84 Other paper and board

80 1.69 Wrapping and other paper for packaging
1.05 Carton board
60
1.79 Case materials
40
1.38 Sanitary and household
-2.12 Uncoated mechanical and woodfree

20
-5.26 Coated mechanical and woodfree
-6.48 Newsprint
0
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
(b)
45 CAGR %
CAGR (2010-2016) = -0.84% (2010-2016)
40
Pulp production (million tonnes)
-12 Other pulp

35
Mechanical & semi-
30 -2.9
chemical and sulphite
25
20
15
0.49 Sulphate pulp
10
0
(a) 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Source: JRC representation with data from CEPI statistics.
In 2015, the global production volume of paper and cartonboard was 407.6 million
tonnes (Statista, 2017). Driven by increasing global consumption, especially in Asia, and
based on the assumption of per-capita demand in different regions, it is expected that
the world paper production will increase to about 700 million tonnes in a low-demand
case and over 900 million tonnes in a high-demand case by 2050 (IEA, 2009). To meet
this increasing demand, the worldwide pulp and paper industry will need to go through
structural changes (e.g. switching paper machines from graphic paper into cartonboard)
and consolidate the market segments that are well positioned for growing (McKinsey,
2017). For example, over the next decade the demand market for tissue and
consumer/industrial packaging is expected to grow almost on par or somewhat below
GDP. On the other hand, the global demand for graphic paper will decline further as
consequence of digital communication.
In the medium term, the increasing requirements for stronger, lighter-weight packaging
paper will drive the demand for both short (hardwood fibre) and long (softwood fibre)
kraft paper and the waste paper recovery will continue to improve. Moreover, pulp
market for textile applications will also be growing.
The European market for pulp and paper products will follow somewhat the global trend.
The growth rates of the market demand among different segments for the main global
regions by 2021 were analysed in a recent study carried out by McKinsey and Company
20
(McKinsey, 2017). According to McKinsey estimations, in the west European countries,
the market demand for graphic paper (i.e. mechanical, newsprint and wood-free) and
long fibres (softwood) kraft pulp will continue to decrease in the next years, while tissue,
packaging paper and short fibre (hardwood) kraft pulp will increase at a CAGR ranging
between 0 — 2 %. In eastern Europe, the market demand for all products mentioned above
will increase at a CAGR > 2 %, with exception of newsprint (CAGR < 0 %) and graphic paper
wood-free (CAGR = 0-2 %).
The total production of pulp and paper in EU is projected by ICF Consulting Limited to
increase slowly at a CAGR of 0.21 % from 2015 to 2050 (ICF, 2015). In this study, the
same growing rate has been assumed for the overall pulp and paper production in EU as
of 0.21 % CAGR (2015-2050). In order to estimate the increasing/decreasing rates of
different production segments in the EU by 2050, we have taken into account the
historical data from 2008 to 2016, according to CEPI statistics, as well as the growth
prospects of market demand by 2021 (McKinsey, 2017). These trends were integrated
with the increasing added value of pulp and paper sector estimated at CAGR = 0.79 %
from 2015 to 2050 in the EU Reference Scenario (European Commission, 2016b). The
contribution of each pulp and paper product to the sectoral added value by 2050 was
calculated based on the average prices in 2015 as retrieved from the Eurostat’s Prodcom
list (Eurostat, 2017). In order to estimate the future European pulp and paper
production, we assume that use external trade will remain constant at 2015 values
during the whole simulation. The estimated growth rates are presented in Figure 16.
Figure 16. Assumption of production growth rates of pulp and paper in the EU by 2050.
Source: JRC analysis.
In the simulation presented in Chapter 7, we assume positive growth rates for chemical
kraft pulping and for a series of paper products such as tissue and packaging grade
papers (testliner and fluting, and cartonboard). Production of sulphite pulp, thermo-
mechanical and mechanical pulp is estimated to decrease in the EU by 2050, as well as
for newsprint and fine paper.
21
4 Current energy consumption and GHG emissions
The pulp, paper and printing manufacturing is the fourth largest industrial energy user in
the EU after chemical and petrochemical, iron and steel and non-metallic minerals
sectors (Figure 17). In 2014, this sector consumed 31 659 ktoe (equivalent of 1 325.5 PJ),
accounting for 11.5 % of final industrial energy consumption in the EU (Eurostat, 2016).
Figure 17. Sankey diagram of final energy consumption in the EU industrial sectors in 2014
Source: Eurostat, 2016.
Despite its high energy consumption, the pulp and paper industry is one of the least CO2
intensive industrial sectors in Europe and worldwide. This is due to the large utilisation of
biomass as a primary energy source, which is considered as carbon-neutral by the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). In 2015, 57.7 % of total fuel
consumption in the CEPI’s member countries originated from biomass, followed by
natural gas (34.7 %), coal (3.9 %), fuel oil (1.7 %) and other type of fuel (2 %) (CEPI, 2017).
The pulp and paper sector can play an important role to the decarbonisation of the EU
economy by adopting new energy efficient technologies and by making more efficient use
of bioenergy. Modernisation of old mills, fuel switching to carbon neutral/renewable
energy and improving productivity and quality of products represent additional solutions
for reducing energy consumption and CO2 emissions.
Apart from the direct CO2 emissions generated at the pulp and paper mills, additional
emissions are associated with the off-site production of energy (i.e. steam and
electricity) that is purchased and transferred to the mills. The total CO2 emissions
generated in 2015 by the European forest fibre and paper industry accounted for 49
million tonnes, of which 65.3 % come from direct emissions and 24.5 % from indirect
emissions (CEPI, 2016). According to the ‘2050 Roadmap to a low carbon bio-economy’
developed by the CEPI, it could be possible to bring down the CO2 emissions to 12 million
tonnes by 2050 (CEPI, 2016). However, this CO2 reduction might happen under certain
circumstances and with the adoption of emerging and breakthrough technologies.
According to RISI’s model (RISI, 2016), the fossil fuel CO2 emissions based on the
installed capacity of the European pulp and paper mills are around 39.7 million tonnes per
year The breakdown of fossil CO2 emissions per product is shown in Figure 18. These
emissions have been calculated based on the specific consumption of fuel (e.g. oil,
22
natural gas, liquefied natural gas, peat and coal) used when all mills are operating
practically at their full capacity. Production capacity of testliner and fluting, together with
coated fine paper account for about half of the total yearly CO2 emissions followed by
uncoated fine paper, tissue and coated cartonboard.
Figure 18. Fossil CO2 emissions per production capacity of pulp and paper products in the EU
Overall, about 93 % of the total energy consumption by the European pulp and paper
sector is as heat power, used mainly for the generation of pressurised steam, and about
7 % as electricity. The thermal energy in the form of steam is used for heating of various
products (e.g. water, pulp fibres, air, chemicals, cooking liquor, etc.), evaporation of
water from spent liquors and in the dryer section of a paper machine, dispersion of fibres
derived from recycling paper, drying of coated paper, etc.
The specific thermal energy consumption varies largely between different technologies
and products, depending on the process used, fibre quality and grade of paper needed to
be produced. Figure 19 shows the specific thermal energy consumption per mill’s
capability to produce the 12 pulp and paper products analysed in this study, the average
energy consumption as well as the energy used by the best available technology.
23
Figure 19. Specific thermal energy consumption per pulp and paper capacities in the EU. Circles
denote the average energy consumption
According to RISI’s model/data, when operating at its full capacity, the total thermal
energy consumption of the European pulp and paper industry amounts to 1 522 PJ (RISI,
2016). The thermal energy consumption for each product varies between wide ranges.
For example, the thermal energy needed to produce 1 tonne of packaging paper can vary
from 35.2 GJ/t to 7.3 GJ/t. This means that there is a high potential for energy reduction
through adopting more energy-efficient processes and technologies. Pulp production,
especially kraft pulping, has the highest average energy intensity. For example, the
average thermal energy consumption for making kraft pulp is 26.4 GJ/t, which is about
1.4 times higher compared to sulphite, thermomechanical and mechanical pulping (18.4
GJ/t) and 8.3 times higher than the energy used for repulping the recycled paper (3.2
GJ/t). However, energy can be recovered from both chemical and mechanical pulping.
Heat can be recuperated from mechanical pulping process in the form of hot water or
steam and further used, either for paper drying in an integrated mill or in district heating.
Thermal energy and electricity can also be recovered from chemical processes by burning
the by-products such as bark and black liquor. This allows modern non-integrated kraft
pulp mills to be more energy sufficient, or even become net energy suppliers.
Among paper products, packaging and fine paper are the most thermal energy intensive;
On average, the energy consumption per either tonne of packaging paper, coated fine
paper or uncoated fine paper of is 17 GJ/t, 14.6 GJ/t or 12.6 GJ/t, respectively.
Although the average electricity consumption range for different pulp and paper products
is much narrow in comparison to the thermal energy, for the same product the
consumption of electrical power varies broadly between different mills' capabilities
(Figure 20). Overall, the average electricity consumption ranges between 1.23 MWh/t for
newsprint to 0.35 MWh/t for recovered paper pulp.
24
Figure 20. Specific electricity consumption per pulp and paper capacities in the EU. Circles denote
the average power of the electricity consumption
In mechanical pulping, the electricity is mainly used for separation of wood fibres, and in
paper machines, for pressing and drying of coatings. According to CEPI statistics, 52.3 %
of the total electricity consumption (i.e. 99 937 GWh) by its members was produced on-
site in 2015, which accounts for 52 308 GWh, (CEPI, 2017).
On average, kraft pulping produces more electricity than it consumes (Figure 21).
Figure 21. Average specific electricity consumed (bars) and produced (horizontal lines) on site per
product capacity
The potential of reducing energy demand through improved process integration and
adopting more efficient equipment in pulp and paper mills is the subject of the following
chapters.
25
5 Measures for improving energy efficiency and reducing
GHG emissions
Most GHG emissions in this sector are related to energy consumption through on-site
combustion of fuels and off-site generation of steam that is purchased and transferred to
the mill. Additionally, there are non-energy related GHG emissions derived, for example,
from lime kiln chemical reactions and wastewater treatment.
Many opportunities already exist and other will become available in the future to reduce
energy consumption and GHG emissions in the pulp and paper sector. These
opportunities can be divided as follows:
— general measures, such as energy management systems, process integration, new
equipment and efficient modes of operation;
— increasing on-site use and production of energy from biomass residues (fuel switch)
and expanding the adoption of combined heat and power (CHP) technology;
— retrofitting the existing mills with energy-efficient technologies (e.g. BATs). In general,
BATs have low- to medium costs with relatively short payback periods and energy
savings; however, the investment cost and competitiveness remain determinant factors
in adopting these technologies;
— increased use of recovered paper and paper recycling; a reduction of about 37 % in CO2
emissions is estimated by substituting virgin wood with recycled fibres (Roth et al.,
2016);
— development and adoption of emerging and breakthrough technologies;
— development and growth of new bio-based products from renewable solutions, etc.
To achieve the reduction targets of GHG emissions of 75.5 % by 2050 compared with 2015
as proposed by CEPI in the ‘2050 Roadmap to a low-carbon bio-economy’ (CEPI, 2011),
all these measures need to be tackled.
Implementing the best available technologies, switching from fossil fuel to biomass in
combination to CHP and adopting breakthrough technologies are identified as the most
effective measures for reducing the CO2 emissions from the European forest fibre and
paper industry. According to the industry (CEPI, 2016), by 2050, direct emissions from
this sector can be cut by 20 million tonnes CO2 by adopting these three measures, the
equivalent of 62.5 % of the direct emissions registered in 2015 (CEPI, 2016). In particular,
it is estimated that the adoption of energy efficient technologies might lead to a
reduction of 7 million tonnes of CO2, fuel switch to 8 million tonnes of CO2 and
breakthrough technologies to 5 million tonnes of CO2 by 2050 (CEPI, 2016).
Regarding the reduction of energy consumption, a previous study conducted by ICF
Consulting Limited showed that despite a gradual increase in pulp and paper production
through 2050, there is a potential to achieve relevant improvements on energy efficiency
(ICF, 2015). According to this reference, under a business-as-usual (BAU) scenario, the
maximum energy saving potential technically feasible in the EU pulp and paper sector
can reach 17 % by 2050 (5.5 Mtoe) based upon the application of current available energy
saving opportunities (ESOs), regardless of its economic viability.
All the numbers provided in previous paragraphs may be used as a reference to contrast
the results provided in this study, in which we analyse the role of technology and its
implementation at mill level in the EU pulp and paper industry, based on a bottom-up
model. This aim of this study is to determine the potential evolution of energy
consumption and CO2 emissions for the industry up to 2050 under certain assumptions,
its variability and impact of technology and policy options.
This chapter describes the best available technologies (BATs) and emerging
(breakthrough) technologies (ETs) that the pulp and paper might adopt leading to
increasing the process energy efficiency.
26
5.1 Best available technologies
Best available technologies (BATs) represent the most effective and advanced (state-of-
the-art) technologies that can be applied in different stages of an industrial process
aiming at improving the efficiency of environmental protection. These technologies
indicate the practical suitability of a particular measure which can enable a significant
reduction in energy consumption and CO2 emissions as well as reduction of emissions of
pollutants to water, material waste, etc. This section discusses the BATs identified from
the literature, their investments costs and energy savings. The model described and used
in next two chapters limits the analysis of the applicability of BATs to those whose
presence is identifiable at facility level in the RISI database.
In Europe, the European Commission’s IPPC Bureau establishes under the Industrial
Emissions Directive (IED)/2010/75/EU the best available techniques reference
documents, the so-called BREFs that have to be adopted by the industries. For the
production of pulp, paper and board, a new BAT conclusions reference document was
published on September 2014 containing the legally binding requirements needed to be
considered and adhere to them by all European pulp and paper mills (European
Commission, 2014). 62 best available techniques were identified in relation to reduction
of fuel and energy consumptions (thermal and electrical), and increasing energy
efficiency in power generation for the production of pulp, paper and board (Annex 1).
These BATs are applicable to various activities performed by industrial installations in
integrated and non-integrated mills for production of pulp from wood or non-wood fibrous
material and paper or cartonboard with a production capacity higher than 20 tonnes per
day. They cover the five major types of mills existing in pulp and paper sector, such as:
(i) kraft pulp mills, (ii) sulphite pulp mills, (iii) mechanical and chemi-mechanical pulp
and paper mills, (iv) mills that process paper for recycling and (v) non-integrated mills
including speciality paper mills.
The adoption the BATs, operational improvements alongside with advanced process
monitoring and management systems will increase energy efficiency. Energy
management system technique includes the following features: (i) assessment of the
mill’s overall energy consumption and production, (ii) locating, quantifying and
optimising the potentials for energy recovery and (iii) monitoring and safeguarding the
optimised situation for energy consumption. For example, when applying the energy-
saving measures for Kraft pulping, the indicative electrical energy consumption that can
be achieved for a market pulp mill can vary in range of 660 — 750 kWh/air dried tonne
(ADt) (Suhr et al., 2015). This value does not include the energy required for producing
the bleaching chemicals and if it performed on-site adds 100 kWh/ADt to the previous
indicative level. Due to the higher yield of eucalyptus wood compared to softwood,
recently built eucalyptus market kraft pulp mills have a lower electrical energy demand.
The indicative energy consumption levels for eucalyptus pulp are 550 — 700 kWh/ADt.
While the legally binding decision published on 26 September 2014 (European
Commission, 2014) request all European pulp and paper mills to consider the new BAT
conclusions by October 2018, their adoption and penetration might depend on several
factors such as cost effectiveness, payback period, age of mills and equipment, existing
capital stock, investment cycles, location of the plant, etc. In practice, companies will
move towards BATs depending on their rate of investments in new technologies either at
the end of the economic life of a component of the mill or when a major retrofitting is
required.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) underlines the energy efficiency investments for
pulp and paper sector and gives information about energy saving potential and
investment cost for the most relevant best available technologies (IEA, 2014). In total,
IEA describes 31 BATs related to the main processes of the industry: pulping (chemical,
mechanical and recovered fibres) (Figure 22) and papermaking (Figure 23). In the
following figures, the values provided in the previous reference have been converted
from USD to EUR in 2015.
27
Figure 22. Energy saving potential (bars) and investment costs (circles) for pulp production by
chemical (a), mechanical (b) and from recovered fibres (c)
Source: JRC representation with information from the IEA, 2014.
For the chemical pulping process, there are several technologies by which significant
savings in production costs and additional revenue generation can be achieved. Heat
recovery boiler (high temperature) and continuous digesters are two relevant BATs that
offer the greatest opportunities for energy savings, of about 6 GJ per tonne of paper
each, at reasonably low investment cost (EUR 860/tonne pulp per year for high-
temperature recovery boiler, and EUR 2 190/tonne pulp per year for continuous
digesters). The recovery boilers contribute to increasing the energy generation at a
28
plant by firing black liquor with high dry solids content. Most high energy-efficient boilers
have an increased power-to-heat ratio by utilising feedwater heating, combustion air
preheating, flue-gas heat recovery and especially higher steam temperatures and
pressures, which allow achieving up to 560-600 C and 110 bar (Suhr et al., 2015). If all
features are incorporated into the boiler design, the total power generation can increase
by 16 % compared to the baseline case (Suhr et al., 2015).
Separation of the wood fibres during the cooking process can take place either in batch
digesters or in a continuous digester. Improving digester performance can lead to
significant reduction of operation cost and production losses, while improving the paper
quality and energy/environmental emissions efficiency. Wood and chemical charge,
retention time, and the temperature in the cooking zone are several parameters which
influence the pulp quality (e.g. low lignin content). The energy performance of the
cooking process can be improved in by several modification methods, such as modified
continuous cooking (MCC), extended modified continuous cooking (EMCC), isothermal
cooking (ITC), and low solids cooking (LSC). These modification methods can be applied
also to batch digesters in smaller mills, where it might be not operationally efficient to
switch to larger batch or continuous digesters, leading to energy savings of 3.2 GJ/tonne
of pulp at a low investment cost of EUR 130/t of pulp per year (IEA, 2014).
The most effective energy-efficient technique for mechanical pulping is the heat
recovery produced as a by-product, especially in the thermomechanical (TMP) process.
This BAT combines a high energy saving (about 3.5 GJ/t of pulp) with a low investment
cost (EUR 780/t of pulp per year) (IEA, 2014). Payback periods for this method can be a
few months, depending on capital cost (Kramer et al., 2009). Most of the energy used in
mechanical pulping is converted into heat through friction, as only a portion of the
mechanical work is used to separate fibres from the wood. This heat can be recovered by
using specific equipment and used further as hot water or steam. The methods used in
heat recovery include: (i) mechanical vapour recompression used in integrated mills for
dryer section, (ii) generation of hot water in direct contact heat exchangers, (iii)
production of clean process steam in reboilers and (iv) other techniques such as thermos
vapour recompression, cyclotherm, heat pump systems (Kramer et al., 2009). The
applicability of these methods depends on the type of refiners and design of the TMP
plant. Old mills that use pressurised refining are at first instance suitable for this
technology, as the most modern TMP mills are already designed with heat recovery
systems. The highest potential for heat recovery is from processes carried out in
pressurised refiners. For example, for a TMP process operating at 6 bar, up to 2 tonnes of
steam per tonne of pulp can be produced, the equivalent of 1 tonne of steam per MWh of
the refiner (Suhr et al., 2015). In general terms, up to 80 % of energy input could be
recovered as steam from TMP and an additional 10-20 % as hot water (Suhr et al., 2015).
Heat can be recovered also from other mechanical pulping processes (e.g. groundwood
pulp (GW), pressure groundwood pulp (PGW), chemi-mechanical pulp (CMP) or chemi-
thermomechanical pulp (CTMP). However, the share of energy recovered as steam from
these processes is much lower compared to TMP.
Other BATs for mechanical pulping are: high-efficiency grinding (GW), enzymatic
pre-treatment, efficient refiner and pre-treatment, improvements in chemi-
thermomechanical pulping and thermopulping, but these opportunities are
associated with higher investment costs (Figure 22b).
Although the total energy needed for repulping of recovered paper (secondary fibres) is
much lower compared to chemical or mechanical pulping, the processing of recycled
fibres still require substantial amount of steam and electrical power for heating the
ingredients for repulping, removal of impurities and especially for drying of final paper
products. Since in many cases the energy comes from fossil fuels, the production of pulp
from recovered fibres is often more CO2 intensive than the production of chemical pulp.
In general, two main processes are used for processing of recycled paper, depending of
the paper grade and type of furnish used: (i) processes using mechanical cleaning
without deinking (e.g. for paper products like testliner, uncoated board and cartonboard)
29
and (ii) processes using mechanical cleaning and deinking (e.g. for newsprint, tissue,
coated board, etc.).
Removing the ink from recycled fibres contributes to increasing the brightness and
cleanliness of paper. Deinking is a necessary step in the plants producing paper grades
from recycled fibres for which brightness is important, such as printing paper, newsprint
and tissue. Various types of deinking technologies can be applied depending on the type
of recycled paper and requirements of the new product. The ink can be removed by
washing and flotation. The recovered pulp could be further brightened through a
bleaching process using different chemical agents such as hydrogen peroxide and sodium
dithionite.
In terms of specific energy savings, incineration of residues and heat recovery from
deinking effluent are two relevant techniques linked to deinking process of recovered
fibres (Figure 22c). The investment cost for their installation is proportional with the
energy savings. Combustion of residues derived at the deinking plant could contribute to
increasing the heat or power generation at mills amounting for 0.64 GJ/tonnes of pulp.
A possible source of low-grade heat recovery in a typical pulping mill from recycled fibres
represents the deinking effluent which usually is discharged at high temperature. By
installation of heat exchangers in the effluent circuit some of this heat can be recovered
and used further in the mill. Circa 0.2 GJ/tonne of recovered fibres pulp were estimated
to be saved through heat recovery from deinking effluent with a yearly investment cost
of EUR 610/tonne of recovered pulp (IEA, 2014).
Figure 23. Energy saving potential (bars) and investment cost (circles) for papermaking
Source: JRC representation with information from IEA, 2014
Other BATs associated with the deinking process are optimisation of the flotation
process and by installation of drum pulpers. The drum pulper has lower energy
requirements than the conventional vat-type mechanical pulpers which operate in a
batch method. The drum pulpers have a rotating, inclined design with baffles and
therefore are able to mix more effectively the mixture of recovered fibres, water and
deinking chemicals. Overall, the specific energy savings of these BATs are relatively low
(Figure 22c).
30
Additional BATs in the recovered fibres process are associated with an improved
screening for removing the contaminants in the first stage of the stock preparation,
more efficient dispersers during concentration and heat recovery from blenching.
Among the main sections of a paper machine (i.e. headbox, wire, press and dryer), the
paper drying is one of the most energy-intensive processes in a paper mill. Overall, water
is removed in three successive steps: in the wire (the solid content reaches up to 1520 %
by dewatering by gravity and vacuum/suction), press (45-50 % solid content on the wet
web achieved by mechanical forces) and dryer (90-95 % solid content by drying the web
by evaporation of water on steam-heated cylinders).
Significant energy reduction is possible by introduction of more efficient water removal
devices, new drying technologies and by combining of new forming technologies with
increased pressing designs and thermal drying. Out of 12 BATs shown in Figure 23, 7
BATs are connected with drying section. A highly effective method to decrease energy
consumption for paper drying is to optimise water removing before the dryer section, for
example in the forming section. It has been shown that the energy required to remove
one pound of water in the dryer section could be 25 times higher than to remove the
same amount of water in the forming section (Bajpai, 2016). Despite the high investment
cost (EUR 22 300/tonne of paper per year), around 4.2 GJ/tonne of paper can be saved
by adoption of so-called dry sheet forming (IEA, 2014). The most common paper
machine is based on the Fourdrinier forming process, but thin wire and gap formers are
two examples of new forming designs (Martin et al., 2000). Dry sheet forming allows the
production of paper without the addition of water. This can be achieved either by
dispersion of fibres through carding or using air laying techniques.
An efficient way to reduce the water content in the pulp stock and vacuum pumping
requirements is to increase the consistency of the furnish slurry before the forming
stage. High consistency forming technology can double the consistency of the furnish
pulp (3 %) compared to the one obtained in normal conditions. Such system can reduce
the energy consumption by 1.5 GJ/tonne of paper at a yearly investment cost of 2920
EUR/tonne of paper (IEA, 2014).
Paper drying is normally done using steam-heated cylinders. Fuel savings of 1.05
GJ/tonne of paper are estimated by eliminating the intermediate step of steam
production and introduction the direct drying cylinder firing technique to heat the
cylinders by burning for instance natural gas (IEA, 2014).
New paper drying technologies such as steam impingement drying, condensing belt
drying, impulse drying, etc. can offer several advantages over the conventional cylinder
drying. Among this, the condensing belt drying (known as Condebelt drying) has the
potential to increase the drying rate by 5-15 times compared to the conventional steam
drying by using steel belt as heat transfer medium (Martin et al., 2000).
Infrared moisture profiling is an additional BAT associated with drying section, which
allows optimisation of moisture content in the web.
Another technique that can remove more efficiently the water loading in the pressing
section, thus leading to reduce energy requirements in the dryer is the shoe press. This
BAT consists of increasing pressing area by using a big concave shoe instead of one of
the rotating cylinders. Moreover, the evaporation load in pressing step can be reduced by
pre-heating the water in the paper sheet to about 80 C or more before the paper sheet
goes to pressing. This technique is called hot pressing and the water is pre-heated
through steam showers. Cost of this BAT is estimated to be 2660 EUR/tonne of paper per
year bringing potential energy savings of 0.61 GJ/tonne of paper (IEA, 2014). Additional
benefits are brought by increasing web temperature, such as reduction of viscous
resistance of water and increasing compressibility of the fibre material.
When paper’s surface needs to be improved, depending on its end-use, pigments,
binders, plastic, etc. are usually added through a coating process. The energy consumed
31
in this specific step can be reduced by adoption of the high concentration press, which
enables a high concentration and speed of coating (about 1.6 GJ/tonne of paper can be
saved at an investment cost of EUR 780/tonne of paper per year (IEA, 2014)).
As in the case of pulping process, it is possible to reduce the consumption of primary
energy of a paper mill by heat recovery and integration of thermal energy from steam
and waste heat, especially in the paper drying process. Approximatively, 1.07 GJ/tonne
paper can be saved by applying different types of heat recovery systems, such as
installation of heat exchangers for heating hood supply air or by recovery waste heat
using heat pumps, mechanical vapour decompensations and replacing the dryers with
stationary siphons in the paper machine. The annual investment cost of this BAT is
estimated to be about EUR 910/tonne paper (IEA, 2014).
A further potential method to reduce the steam consumption in a mill is by optimisation
the fibres properties and controlling water retention in the fibre through efficient
refiners. This method is relatively costly (EUR 9 090/tonne paper per year) and is able
to achieve moderate energy savings of 0.12 GJ/tonne of paper (IEA, 2014).
Besides the BATs mentioned in this report, there are some other technologies that could
have an impact on energy savings in the pulp and paper industry. For instance, the
Industrial Efficiency Technology Database contains information about technologies and
measures that improve productivity and profits while reducing energy consumption and
CO2 emissions in several industries including pulp and paper (IETD, 2017).
Combined heat and power (CHP) systems
Apart from increasing use of recycled paper and introduction of energy-efficient
technologies, the pulp and paper industry can reduce the overall primary energy
consumption using on-site generation of electricity and heat through increasing their
(already high) adoption of combined heat and power (CHP), or cogeneration. Compared
to other industries, the European pulp and paper industry is one of the largest user of
CHP. Around 10 % of the total CHP capacity in Europe is within the pulp and paper
industry, representing the third largest industrial sector after oil refining and chemical
(Minett, 2006).
In 2015, the European pulp and paper mills (represented by CEPI members) produced
50 268 GWh electricity through CHP, representing 50.3 % of the total electricity
consumption by the sector (CEPI, 2017). The pulp and paper sector also sells the excess
power to the grid. In 2015, the sector sold 11 109 GWh electricity (CEPI, 2017). The
availability and cost of natural gas, long-term system reliability and the size of the site
are other determining factors for up-taking of CHP technology. The payback period for a
new CHP system installed in a large mill could be about 3 years (Finning, 2017), but the
exact value depends on the price of electricity and fuels within the country/mill.
Traditional steam turbines and/or gas turbines are the most common systems of installed
CHP capacity in the pulp and paper industry. Steam turbines are connected to boiler-
based systems which produce high-pressure steam by firing on-site fuels (i.e. black
liquor, bark, waste, liquid, solid or gas fuels). Gas turbines, unless hot flue-gases are
used in a dryer, are combined with heat recovery steam generators.
A variety of CHP configurations can be applied depending on the specific conditions at the
plant aiming to provide the better energy efficiency and flexibility at the lowest life-cycle
cost. For example, the steam generated can be fed to different steam consumers in a
simple cycle or the gas turbines/heat recovery steam generators can be combined with a
back-pressure steam turbine or an intermediate steam extraction condensing turbine in a
combined cycle.
Investment costs for CHP systems depend on the size of the plant and type of CHP
installed and can vary from EUR 1.5 million for 1 MW simple cycle with gas turbine and
production of 3 t/hr saturated low-pressure steam, up to EUR 54 million for 48 MW
32
combined cycle with gas turbine (CCGT) and production of 90 t/hr of saturated low-
pressure steam (Suhr et al., 2015).
In terms of efficiency, the CHP plants using fossil fuel or biofuels (this is the case for
most pulp mills) can achieve 85-90 % with a back-pressure turbine or even higher (85-
92 %) when producing CHP with a combined cycle gas turbine unit (Suhr et al., 2015).
Despite the widespread use of CHP in the EU’s pulp and paper industry, the last chapter
will examine the opportunity to further exploit this technology, taking advantage of the
large number of solid fuel boilers that will reach the end of their expected operational life
by 2020 (Sipilä et al., 2009).
For all technologies finally included in the study, either best available technologies or the
emerging technologies of next section, the investment cost for each new investment is
particularised using the following expression:
n
 C 
Inv BAT , IT    Inv ref
C 
 ref 
Where ‘Invref’ is the reference investment corresponding to the capacity ‘Cref’; ‘C’ is the
capacity corresponding to the new investment ‘InvBAT,IT’ and n is a scale factor that we
set to 0.6 for all cases.
5.2 Emerging technologies (ET)

New methods, processes and technologies for pulp and paper production might be
developed through innovation in mid- and long-terms, leading to creation of added-value
products, reduce product costs, increase reliability, improve profit margins, productivity
and sector operations. Emerging or breakthrough technologies are often discussed within
the wide range of innovative opportunities. As the commercial status is under
development, pilot/demo phase, semi-commercial or commercialised with little or not at
all market penetration, in general, these technologies cannot be considered as BATs yet.
Several studies looked at the diffusion of innovation in the pulp and paper sector, in
particular at the introduction of the emerging technologies at the mills for improving
energy efficiency and abatement of CO2 emissions. We collected in Annex 2 a list of the
emerging technologies as found in literature. These technologies are applicable in
different steps of the pulping and papermaking processes, including those for reutilisation
of waste heat, emerging by-product (e.g. black liquor) and fuel switch (e.g. biomass).
Out of the emerging technologies listed in Annex 2, this study takes into account only
those that have a large potential for energy savings and reduction of CO2 emissions in
the EU by 2050, and have been demonstrated at industrial scale or are close to
commercialisation in the short- and medium term, and are evaluated as the most
promising according to the International Energy Agency (IEA, 2009) This group can be
considered in Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 8-9. It includes: CO2 capture and
utilisation, black liquor gasification, biorefineries and new paper-drying technologies.
5.2.1 CO2 capture and storage (CCS)

Despite the uncertainties surrounding the diffusion of CCS, carbon capture technology
will be important to large CO2 emitting industries. While an important part of the capacity
in the power production sector can be replaced with renewable energy, for energy-
intensive industries there is no other alternative to cut emissions from processes.
In the pulp and paper industry, the majority of CO2 emissions originate from the
combustion of biomass, which can be considered carbon neutral in certain conditions. The
capturing and storing of CO2 emissions could give the pulp and paper industry the
possibility to act as a potential carbon sink, so called bio-CCS. It is estimated that 73 % of
33
CO2 emissions from the European pulp and paper industry arise at the Kraft pulp mills,
with mean emissions of over 0.5 MtCO2/year (Leeson et al., 2017).
The CO2 emissions are generated in the mill plant mainly from the recovery boiler, multi-
fuel boiler and lime kiln processes. Several studies assess the performance and cost of
integrating CCS technology in pulp and paper mills under different configurations. For
example, Onarheim et al. showed that the retrofit of a post-combustion CO2 capture
plant into a pulp mill increases the steam demand by 1-8 GJ/air dried tonne (ADt) pulp
(Onarheim et al., 2017a). This will result in a reduction in the amount of electricity
exported to the grid. While the steam demand for the CCS plant can be covered in a
standalone mill by the excess steam produced; for an integrated mill, the addition of an
auxiliary boiler will be required. The total negative emission potential amounts to about
2.0 MtCO2 per mill. According to Onarheim et al., the incorporation of CCS into a pulp mill
will increase the levelised cost (6) of pulp by 4 — 30 % in a standalone mill and by 4-37 % in
an integrated mill (Onarheim, 2017b). The amplitude of previous ranges is explained by
the wide variation of cases considered (capturing CO2 from the flue gases of the recovery
boiler, power boiler, lime kiln or a combination of these for both mills: the standalone
and the integrated mill). To maintain the levelised cost of pulp similar to the reference
mill without CCS, a negative CO2 emission credit of EUR 60 — 70 per tonne CO2 for a
standalone pulp mill and EUR 70 — 80 per tonne CO2 for an integrated mill will be needed.
Therefore, implementation of bio-CCS in the pulp and paper industry can be incentivised
by the recognition and rewarding of negative CO2 emissions as well as by tacking the
relevant financial, economic and regulatory barriers. According to IEA, CCS would be
economically feasible for integrated pulp and paper mills at a price of CO2 varying from
USD 30-50/t (IEA, 2009).
In the model we analysed the cost-effectiveness up to 2050 in the European industry of
some of the different alternatives of CCS included in literature (Onarheim, 2017a and
2017b). These references focus their analysis in CCS in two mills, one producing only
pulp and other with integrated production of board. According to literature, the mills are
net electricity exporters to the grid, though the amount strongly depends on the
configuration of the mill (Onarheim, 2017a). In our analysis we retain the separation
between the cases of integrated and non-integrated mills, and consider the capture of
fossil CO2 in the lime kiln and simultaneously in the recovery boiler, power boiler and in
the lime kiln. Chapter 7 presents the results of the model and also analyses how the
deployment of CCS in the industry would be affected if the capture of bio-CO2 was
compensated from the CO2 allowances of the EU ETS. This option would open the
possibility to capture also the bio-CO2 from the recovery and power boiler, increasing the
amount of the CO2 to be captured. The results presented in Chapter 7 differ from those
of Onarheim et al., mainly because the expected increase in the CO2 price that rewards
the investment goes hand in hand with an increase in the price of the energy and
resources required to implement the CCS.
5.2.2 Black liquor gasification (BLG)

BLG is an emerging commercial technology able to obtain energy more efficiently from
the organic content in the black liquor through gasification, producing a combustible gas
which after upgrading and conditioning results in a mixture of hydrogen and carbon
monoxide known as syngas, while recovering the inorganic chemical. The hot flue gases
from BLG can be used to generate steam in a heat boiler, resulting in high pressure
steam for power generation in a steam turbine. Alternatively, the syngas can be used as
feedstock for production of biofuels such as dimethyl ether (DME), Fisher-Tropsch (FT)
fuel, methanol, etc., turning the paper mill into a ‘refinery’. The EU demonstration project
BioDME proved the production of DME from biomass and its utilisation in transport and
( 6) Levelised cost of pulp refers to the price which enables the present value from the sales over the economic
lifetime of the plant to equal the present value of all the cost of building, maintaining and operating the
plant over its lifetime. In short, the levelised cost of pulp is the break-even price of the pulp when the net
present value is set to zero.
34
industrial sectors (BioDME FP7, 2017). Although less steam is produced compared to the
conventional recovery boiler (e.g. Tomlinson boiler), the black liquor gasification is
considered a future key alternative for the recovery boiler as it provides high value
products (e.g. syngas) or more electricity. About 1.75 tonnes of black liquor (measured
as dry content) per tonne of pulp can be produced in a bleached kraft pulp mill,
representing a potential energy source of 250 -500 MW per mill (IEA bioenergy, 2007).
A possible configuration is the integration of the gasification with a steam turbine in a
combined cycle, so-called black liquor gasification combined cycle (BLGCC). BLGCC
technology could reach a power efficiency of about 30 % (based on the heat value of the
black liquor), which is double compared to the conventional recover boiler (IETD, 2017).
Therefore, the BLGCC technology is able to produce 900 kWh/tonne pulp more compared
to a recovery boiler system, however the heat production is reduced by 4 GJ/adt (IETD,
2017).
The capital cost for the black liquor gasification technology depends on the final
configuration into the mill, and it is likely to be two times higher than for a conventional
recovery boiler, ranging from USD 200-400 million (Bajpai, 2016). Larson et al. calculated
an installed capital cost for the BLGCC technology equivalent to EUR 243.5 million
(relative to 2015), which is 1.6 times higher compared with the conventional Tomlinson
boiler (EUR 152 million) (Larson et al., 2006). Despite the larger investment cost
compared to a new Tomlinson boiler recovery system, a BLG in a combined cycle
(BLGCC) or integrated with a synthesis unit (biorefinery) would have higher energy
efficiency, lower air emissions, and a diverse range of products and an attractive internal
rate of return (IRR). According to the IEA, the black liquor gasification technology could
be a competitive alternative to standard recovery boilers with capacities above 800
tonnes of solids per day that are older than 20 years or have not extensively renovated
in the last 20 years (IEA bioenergy, 2007).
5.2.3 Biorefineries
The BAT reference document (BREF) for the production of pulp, paper and board makes
reference to the development of the biorefinery as one of the emerging techniques for
this industry that will bring significant technological, economic and social advantages.
Different biorefinery pathways, utilising biomass as raw material, can be applied to the
pulp and paper sector by integration of new technologies such as black liquor
gasification, biomass gasification, lignin/hemicellulose production and
processing/synthesis units, to provide a wide range of pulp, paper, energy, fuel and
chemical products using biomass as feedstock (Figure 24). Possible feedstocks include
wood extract, spent black liquor, forest biomass, agro-lignocellulosic products and
sludge.
35
Figure 24. Biorefinery concepts within pulp and paper mills
Source: Suhr, 2015.
An optimal biorefinery design depends on several mill characteristics such as type of

plant, energy (steam) balance, size, available investment capital and geographical
location. The value of processed products, fuel price and policy instruments will also
influence the design of a biorefinery. Some biorefinery technologies have already been
constructed on a demonstration scale. Therefore, despite a series of challenges still to
overcome, it is likely that some biorefinery concepts will be implemented on a full
commercial scale in the near future and the integration of pulp mills with other facilities
will increase (Suhr, 2015). The potential of adoption of the biorefinery concept in the EU
and the integration level of biorefineries within the existing and new industry sectors,
including the pulp and paper industry, were assessed through several EU projects (e.g.
Biorefinery Euroview (7), Eurobioref (8), Biorefine-2G (9), etc.).
An integrated forest biorefinery will allow a significant added value to the pulp and paper
traditional business and will improve the sector’s energy sustainability and economic
viability. A promising long-term route is the conversion of kraft mills to biorefineries with
production of different classes of motor biofuels via Fisher-Tropsch synthesis (FT),
dimethyl ether (DME), methanol and hydrogen. This configuration is often referenced as
black liquor gasification motor fuel (BLGMF). The investment cost of the BLGMF
technology was estimated to be just 1.18 times higher compared to BLGCC for the same
flow capacity of black liquor, with almost 10 times more operating cost for BLGMF (IEA,
2015).
A biorefinery is capital‐intensive and this is why only a few operate today on a
commercial scale. Overall, the investment cost of a biorefinery depends on the size of the
mill, fuel/raw material input, black liquor flow, steam surplus/deficit, etc. Moreover, the
investment cost is largely dependent on the biorefinery design and configuration. Black
liquor gasification is found as one of the technologies with the highest level of integration
with the pulping process. Larson et al. examined in detail the technical and commercial
viability as well as the environmental and energy impact of gasification-based biorefinery
for liquid fuel production at kraft and paper mills, and concluded that biorefineries could
bring important economic benefits to the pulp and paper industry (Larson et al., 2006).
The authors also estimated the installed capital costs of seven different BLG-based
biorefinery designs for production of DME, FT and mixed alcohol (MA). No other more
( 7) https://cordis.europa.eu/result/rcn/47386_en.html
( 8) http://www.eurobioref.org/
( 9) http://www.biorefine2g.eu/
36
recent studies were found with this high level of details. All process design of these
configurations include the following basic equipment: BLG, biomass gasification, syngas
heat recovery and clean-up, fuel synthesis and power unit. Depending on the design
parameter values of biorefinery, the installed capital cost can vary from EUR 280.5-462.8
million for DME production, EUR 367.7-559 million for FT production and EUR 441.2 million
for MA production (Larson et al., 2006). Although the upgrading of a pulp mill to a
biorefinery might be economically feasible for production of specific high market value
chemicals and biofuels at lower volumes, a substantial effort is however needed for
integration of materials, processes and facilities into the biorefinery plant in order to
spread the high investment cost and mitigate the risks. In the model we use the same
seven configurations considered by Larson et al. to analyse the cost effectiveness of any
of those concepts in each European kraft mill under the changing conditions up to 2050
(Larson et al., 2006). Three out of these seven configurations analysed in Chapter 7
produce DME, three FT and there is an additional one producing a mixture of alcohols.
5.2.4 LignoBoost
This process is an emerging technology in which up to 25-50 % of the lignin (10) is
extracted from the kraft black liquor via precipitation at low pH with CO2 and dewatering,
and used in other profitable applications such as production of chemicals and materials
(e.g. carbon fibres, activated carbon or phenols). The lignin extraction would be
facilitated and its purity increased by extraction of the other wood constituent —
hemicellulose, either from black liquor or prior pulping. Hemicellulose can be used in
upgrading processes for production of a wide range of value-added products.
A partial removal of lignin from black liquor allows kraft mill to increase pulp production
by up to 50 %, since the pulping process is currently limited by the size of recovery boilers
(IEA, 2009).
Based to its high lower heating value (25-26.5 MJ/kg), the recovered lignin can be used
onsite as fuel in a power plant boiler/recovery boiler or to replace the fossil fuel in the
lime kiln. According to the literature, up to 50 litres of fuel oil per tonne of pulp (1.95
GJ/t) can be saved in a lime kiln by using lignin as fuel (Bajpai, 2016). However, as
Figure 25 shows, most of the European kraft mills already rely on biofuels, and therefore,
the possibility to replace fossil fuels by any other biofuel is limited.
(10) Lignin is an organic substance binding the cells, fibres and vessels elements of plants and wood, with a
content between 20 and 30 % of dry weight of wood.
37
Figure 25. Number of kraft mills with a certain percentage of thermal energy from biofuels
The model treats this potential breakthrough, assuming that as much as 1.95 GJ of fossil
fuels can be replaced by lignin, and in the (likely) case that the kraft mill had a lower
consumption of fossil fuels, it is assumed that the remaining is lignin sold. Although
currently much of the lignin is not extracted yet, it is burned in the chemical recovery
boilers to provide steam for power and heat production. Therefore, if the lignin were
extracted, the steam production in the recovery boiler would decrease due to reduction
of organic content in the black liquor.
The extracted lignin from the kraft black liquor can be used as renewable raw material by
the chemical industry for production of dyes, food, plastics, etc. Therefore, pulp mills can
derive additional profit by selling any potential surplus of lignin. The benefits of the
LignoBoost were demonstrated by integration of this technology at commercial scale in
two pulp mills, such as at Plymount, North Carolina (United States) and Stora Enso
Sunila (Finland), this last plant having a capacity of 50 000 tonnes of dry (95 % dry solid)
lignin per year. The investment costs for a LignoBoost lignin plant of capacity of 50 000
tonnes of dry lignin/year can vary from about EUR 10.8 million (excluding drying,
pulverising, palletising and storage) (Tomani, 2010) up to EUR 32 million for a complete
plant of the same capacity including the dryer, lignin dust burners in the lime kilns and a
packing line (Tomani, 2013). As the specific investment cost decreases with the size,
about EUR 7.2*LR0.6 (LR — lignin extraction rate in kg/s) million investment cost and
EUR 5.8 /MWh annual operating cost were estimated for a lignin extraction plant (IEA,
2015).
5.2.5 Emerging drying technologies

The drying section represents the most energy-intensive process in the papermaking
stage where about 67 % of the total energy required in papermaking is used to dry paper,
the equivalent of 25-30 % of the total energy used in the pulp and paper industry (IEA,
2009). The conventional drying method uses steam heated rollers which compress and
dry the paper sheets through evaporation (circa 1-2 kg of water per kilogram of paper or
paperboard needs to be evaporated in the drying section) (Bajpai, 2016). As a
consequence of using steam to heat the metal cylinders, the paper drying accounts for
the majority of thermal energy use in papermaking. A series of technologies and new
process designs, already available or close to commercialisation, are able to improve the
38
efficiency of drying process, paper forming and recovering the heat waste. For example,
dry sheet and high consistency forming, direct drying cylinder firing, reducing air
requirements, infrared moisture profiling, shoe press and new drying techniques (steam
impingement drying, condensing belt drying and impulse drying) are considered best
available technologies for increasing water removal in the papermaking process, able to
provide large energy saving to the industry (Figure 23).
Boost dryer and microwave drying are two selected techniques often mentioned as
emerging technologies for the drying section of the paper machines, which currently are
in pilot (TRL 6-7) and development (TRL 3-4) stages, respectively. For example, the
boost dryer technology is able to improve by about 12 % the drying efficiency and drying
capacity compared to the conventional systems (Kong et al., 2016). This is achieved by
combining condensation and press drying processes through incorporating a dryer
cylinder and a pressure hood. Boost dryer technology is mostly suited for board and
packaging paper production, bringing additional benefits in terms of paper quality, drying
time, space required and specific energy consumption. In the case of microwave drying,
an electromagnetic microwave field can be applied as a drying technique in the
papermaking process. It can be applied either in the press section to preheat the web
and reduce the water load delivered to the dryer section, or directly in the dryer section
to preheat and complement the conventional heated cylinders (Bajpai, 2016). This
technique is especially suited for drying high basis weight paper grades. Overall, it
reduces the dryer energy consumption by 12 % by increasing the temperature and drying
efficiency (although higher electricity consumption is needed to produce microwaves), it
enhances the paper surface smoothness and productivity (the paper machine’s speed can
increase by 30 %), and it reduces the operation and maintenance costs based of the
reduction in number of cylinders relative to the conventional dryer section). As these
techniques are at the early stages of development, the information about the investment
costs is rather scarce.
Reducing water content in the main sections of a paper machine or replacing water as
the forming medium will also bring significant energy saving benefits. For example,
Supercritical CO2 is new process design that will potentially eliminated the need for
heat and steam in the drying section, contributing to reducing the fossil CO2 emissions by
about 45 % and with about 20 % primary energy savings by 2050 compared to 2011
baseline (CEPI, 2013).
Deep Eutectic Solvent technology came out of the ‘Two team project’ led by CEPI to be
the most promising long-term breakthrough research concept for decarbonisation of the
pulp and paper industry (CEPI, 2013). This technology could replace the traditional
chemical and mechanical pulping techniques by enabling dissolving the wood and
extraction lignin, hemicellulose and cellulose at low temperature and at atmospheric
pressure. Deep eutectic solvent could be applied to pulp production from both wood and
recovered paper with minimal energy consumption, CO2 emissions and residues (e.g.,
fossil CO2 emissions could be reduced by 20 % compared to 2011 baseline and deliver 40 %
primary energy savings to the sector by 2050) (CEPI, 2013).
These new concepts — supercritical CO2 and deep eutectic solvent — require additional
research and demonstration before being in a position to market uptake. It is yet
premature to make estimations or find data on the investment cost and potential
capacity.
39
6 Bottom-up model for the assessment of GHG emissions
and energy efficiency scenarios
This chapter introduces the bottom-up model that has been used to analyse the trends of
GHG emissions and energy consumption of the European pulp and paper industry up to
2050. Bottom-up means that the model works at facility level, and uses the cost-
effectiveness of technological improvements in each European facility to estimate the
overall trend of the whole industry.
The JRC uses the estimations of energy consumption and GHG emissions from the RISI
model to build up a random forest model that replaces the solutions provided by RISI’s
model. Both models include the technological layout of all European facilities, providing
their GHG emissions, energy and raw materials’ consumption, etc. Since the JRC’s model
leans on RISI’s model to provide its estimations, both share the same limitations. The
replacement of RISI’s model by a proxy allows the JRC to provide its own analysis and
estimations.
The random forest model is an extension of tree-based methods for regression. These
methods involve segmenting the solution space into regions, and make predictions for a
given facility, or change in that facility, based on the mean of the average of the training
facilities on the region to which that observation belongs. The random forest model
combines a large number of trees in order to improve dramatically the prediction
accuracy, at the expense of some loss of interpretation.
The JRC’s model is programmed in Python using the function ‘RandomForestRegressor’ of
the package ‘skleran.emsemble’. The interested reader can find a more detailed
description of tree-based methods and applications in the following references: (James et
al., 2013) and (VanderPlas, 2016).
In practical terms, the JRC has designed two sets of random tree models, one for the
specific energy consumption (consumption per tonne of product) that includes a
dedicated model per each product, and another set to model the electricity consumption,
again, with one model per product. The models estimating the specific energy
consumption include all fuels consumption in each pulp and paper facility, including fuels
consumed for self-generated power. Similarly, the models estimating the electricity
consumption include the consumption of self-generated power.
The following figures show the capacity of the different random tree models (one colour
per product and model) to resemble the values provided by the RISI’s model. The closer
the values to the diagonal the better is the adjustment. The root-mean-squared error
(RMSE) of these models, between 0.7 and 1.4 GJ/t for the thermal energy consumption
and 0.032 and 0.155 MWh/t for the electricity consumption, show the goodness the
adjustments. In view of the ranges of variation of the thermal energy and electricity
consumptions (see Figure 26 and Figure 27), these errors are quite reasonable.
40
Figure 26. Thermal energy consumption estimated by the random-forest model vs data from RISI’s
model
Figure 27. Electricity consumption estimated by the random-forest model vs data from RISI’s
model
6.1 Model and decision-making criterion

This section describes first the JRC’s model, leaving for next chapter the discussion of the
results of the energy consumption and GHG emissions of the European pulp and paper
industry up to 2050.
The JRC’s model uses as input the expected evolution of the demand of the European
pulp and paper industry (see Figure 16) assuming equivalence between the European
demand for pulp and paper and the European production (keeping in mind that we
consider the external trade exchange frozen at current values). The aim of the model is
to analyse the potential margin for energy end GHG emissions reduction in a cost
effective fashion at facility level.
As Figure 28 shows, the first step of the model is to adjust the annual demand with the
production.
41
Figure 28. Algorithm used in this study
For each year and product
Is it possible to
satisfy the annual No
demand with the
existing production
capacity? Add a new facility
Yes
Assign production to facilities

according to a merit ranking
For each facility
Check the machine age and

cost-effectiveness of possible
retrofits using the random
forest model
Old enough? or Yes

Retrofitting
No cost-
effective?
Update the facility
No
End
Source: JRC representation.
The model assumes that all facilities contributing to the production are operating at their
maximum capacity for 357 days a year, leaving 8 days for maintenance operations. The
facilities with highest production costs (not necessary to match the demand) are
assumed idle that year. The last facility (last, according to production costs) needed to
satisfy the demand, is used to match the production and annual demand. If the total
installed capacity for a product is not able to match the annual demand, the model will
add a new facility with the same performance as the best of the existing facilities. For the
purpose of matching production and demand, energy costs are used as a proxy for the
production costs.
42
The random forest model is used to estimate the effect of the retrofits in the overall
performance of each facility. With this information, for each year, product and facility, we
carry out a cost-benefit analysis of all possible retrofits. The payback period is used as
the decision-making criterion for accepting or rejecting investments.
The formula used to calculate the payback period is:
INVRe trofit
PayBackPeriod  (1)
COPBefore Re trofit  COPAfter Re trofit
Where, INVRetrofit is the total investment cost of retrofitting, COPBefore Retrofit is the annual
operational cost (O & M, fuels, materials, CO2 cost …) before retrofitting, and COPAfter
Retrofit is the annual operational cost (O & M, fuels, materials, CO2 cost …) after
retrofitting.
6.2 Expected life span of the paper machines in the model

Besides the decision-making criterion for the adoption of innovations, there are some
other parameters configurable by the user, such as the maximum age of the paper
machine. RISI’s database on the European pulp and paper industry contains information
about 900 machines for paper manufacture distributed in 580 mills. There is also
information about the age of the processes involved in pulp manufacture (practically all
mills include one form of production of the pulp products considered). The random forest
model combines all machines producing the same product in each facility in a single
fictitious machine whose characteristics are estimated weighting (according to capacity)
the corresponding parameter of the related machines. Figure 29 shows the age of these
representative machines (there is one histogram per product) for all paper machines.
Figure 30 shows the same information for the ages of the four processes involved in pulp
production.
Figure 29. Histogram of the average age of the paper machines of the European mills. Each colour
corresponds to one of the nine paper products included in this study
43
With this information, we selected 30 years as the maximum age reachable by any
machine; after that age, the model assumes that the corresponding machine is
automatically upgraded. Figure 30 shows that this upgrade rate does not impose a
number of upgrades at the beginning of the simulation different to the maximum number
of upgrades that would be obtained in some other years.
Figure 30. Number of simultaneous upgrades of paper machines when the maximum allowed age is
30 years
Figure 31 represents the same kind information as Figure 29, but in this case for pulp
processes. The overwhelming presence in European mills of the pulp recycling capacity is
reflected in the dominance of that pulp production process in the upper pane of Figure
31, whereas the bottom pane allows make out the age of the remaining pulp production
processes once the pulp recycling is excluded. Apparently, pulp mills last without
upgrading around two times the paper machines’ life span.
We used 60 years as the maximum life span for pulp producing processes. When
selecting 50 years, the maximum number of simultaneous retrofits (about 30) takes
place at the beginning of the simulation. Whereas using 60 years, as shown in Figure 32,
the maximum number of simultaneous retrofits occurs in 2020 and not at the beginning
of the simulation.
44
Figure 31. Average age of the pulp producing processes of European mills
45
Figure 32. Number of simultaneous upgrades of pulp processes when the maximum
allowed age is 60 years
6.3 Maximum annual implementation rate of BATs/ETs

As already mentioned, the model uses the cost-effectiveness of the investment to decide
when an investment is carried out. However, in the case that this results in an
overwhelming sudden inversion in those technologies, we need to add an additional
constraint to limit the rate of uptake of BATs or ETs in a way that resembles the
investment behaviour of the industry. We can resort to the information contained in the
database about the commissioning data and date of last upgrade to obtain a valid
maximum of simultaneous investments in a single technology in a single year.
For example, there are 327 mills with at least one turbine (out of a total of 580 mills in
RISI’s database and JRC’s model). The highest number of turbines in a single mill is five;
Each mill can combine more than one technology of turbines (see Table 2).
Table 2. Installed capacity of turbines per technology
Number of Technology Total capacity (MW)

turbines
225 Gas 3 270
86 Hydro 120
419 Steam 6 607
11 Wind 40
Source: JRC compilation with information from RISI’s database.
For some components like the turbines, the recovery and power boilers, the RISI’s
database includes the commissioning date and date of last upgrade (see Figure 33).
Based on this information, we select 20 as the maximum number of simultaneous cost-
effective investments at any single year of the simulation. For the case of new
investments in turbines, it means that if all potential new turbines were cost-effective
46
since the beginning of the simulation, it will take 12 years to install all required turbines
before fully exploiting this BAT in the industry. In any case, note that since the
investments cost depends on the capacity, it is highly unlikely that all pending
investments in any BAT are simultaneously cost-effective.
Figure 33. Histogram of commissioning dates or date of last upgrade of turbines, power boilers and
recovery boilers
47
7 Simulation results
This chapter presents the results of the model under different scenarios. The first section
shows the results of a baseline scenario that uses the same trends in prices and demand
up to 2050 according to the EU Reference Scenario 2016 (European Commission,
2016b). The second section analyses the effect of some ‘what if’ or alternative scenarios.
In them, we do not assign any credibility to the final values that some parameters reach
(mainly prices) but they are used to check their effect on the variability of energy
consumption and GHG emissions from the EU pulp and paper industry.
The prospective deployment of some technologies considered in previous sections, such
as the biorefinery concept, will depend on factors that are beyond the pulp and paper
industry. For example, the demand for — and therefore, the deployment of — new
products or biofuels, to be used in the transport or chemical sectors, might be limited by
a growing share of electrical vehicles or a sustained demand of those chemical products.
Although we checked whether the deployment of biorefineries may be cost-effective, this
deployment is considered only as an alternative to a baseline scenario that does not take
for granted their deployment.
7.1 Baseline scenario

The baseline scenario uses the trends of energy, resources and demand up to 2050
coming from the EU Reference Scenario 2016 (European Commission, 2016b). The
results for the energy consumption (thermal energy and electricity) of the baseline
scenario correspond to the blue area in Figure 34. The dashed red line shows the
increase of energy consumption due to the production of some bio fuels that occur when
we give credibility to the deployment of cost effective biorefineries; not included in the
baseline scenario. Moreover, and in order to contrast the role of the technology
innovations, we also include a scenario without retrofits (orange area) in which the new
facilities required to satisfy a growing demand have the average performance of current
facilities. The direct GHG emissions corresponding to these three cases are provided in
Figure 35.
Figure 34. Energy consumption (thermal energy(11) and electricity) in the pulp and paper industry
(11) Including fuels consumed (around 200 PJ in 2015) for self-generated power.
48
Figure 35. Direct GHG emission from the pulp and paper industry with and without retrofits
The model uses as input an overall increase in the production by 7.6 % (0.21 CAGR)
from 2015 to 2050. When no technological improvement is allowed (orange area of
Figure 34 and Figure 35), this increase goes hand in hand with an increase in the energy
consumption of just 1.1 %. The practically decoupling in the growth of the demand and
energy consumption is due to variation in the share of final pulp and paper products with
different energy intensity. The evolution of the energy consumption per each product can
be seen in Figure 36 that breaks down the energy consumption according to the final
thermal energy and electricity consumption in the processes, providing also the
contribution from each product, even for the GHG emissions. In each panel of Figure 36
the energy consumption or GHG emission for each product is the value between two
correlative curves.
The cost-effectiveness of technology innovations is such that the energy consumption in
2050 is 14.4 % lower than in 2015 (or 15.5 % lower than the energy consumption in 2050
if no retrofits were allowed) (Figure 34).
When the biorefinery concept is incorporated into the simulation, the valorisation of the
by-products in another sectors makes this technology cost-effective — as advanced by
(Larson et al., 2006) — and therefore, it is adopted by the model. Six out of the seven
configurations of the biorefineries analysed become cost-effective at some point of the
simulation, but the selection of just the most cost-effective one (e.g. producing biofuels
via Fischer–Tropsch synthesis) prevents the adoption of the other alternatives. Note in
Figure 34 that, in this case, the increase in the energy consumption compensates the
energy savings produced by the rest of the improvements, making the energy
consumption in 2050 3 % higher than in 2015. However, this increase in the energy
consumption by the pulp and paper industry is employed in the production of almost 270
PJ of biofuel (to be shipped to a conventional petroleum refinery for processing or refined
onsite into ‘clean diesel’ and naphtha fractions, and consumed in some other sectors).
Figure 35 also shows that the GHG emissions are not affected by the biorefineries as
much as the energy consumption. In both cases (with or without biorefineries) the
decrease from 2015 to 2025 is above 60 %. In both cases the fuel switching from fossil
fuels to biofuels is primarily responsible for this decrease of GHG emissions.
49
Figure 36. Evolution of thermal energy (a) and electricity consumption (b), and direct GHG
emissions (c) for the EU pulp and paper industry per product
(a)
(b)
(c)
50
7.2 Alternative scenarios
This section discusses the results of the model and how these results are affected by the
variation of some input parameters, that is, it shows how sensitive the model is. Each of
these variations are arranged in scenarios that can also be seen as ‘what if’ scenarios.
That is, we do not assign any credibility to the final value of the parameter varied, but
check its effect on the energy consumption and GHG emissions of the industry.
There are three alternative scenarios varying only one parameter each (the remaining
parameters keep the values of the baseline scenario). The varying parameter is scaled up
linearly to obtain the final price in 2050. We prove the effect of doubling the final prices
in 2050 of CO2 allowances, electricity and fuels. These scenarios are coded as ‘CO2x2’,
‘MWhx2’ and ‘FuelsX2’ in Figure 37 and Figure 38. These figures show the results for
energy consumption and direct GHG emissions.
There is an additional scenario that analysis the effect of rewarding the bio-CO2 captured
on the deployment of CCS, and its consequences in terms of energy consumption and
GHG emissions. However, note that this possibility is not contemplated in the EU ETS.
This scenario is coded as ‘CO2 with CCSneg’ in Figure 37 and Figure 38.
It is worth noting that although the baseline scenario considers the possibility to capture
the fossil CO2 emissions, e.g. from the lime kiln, this technology does not become cost-
effective under the conditions of the baseline scenario, not even in the (‘CO2x2’ scenario)
that doubles the final CO2 price in 2050. In the baseline scenario the CO2 prices vary
between 2015 and 2050 from EUR 7.2 per tonne CO2 to EUR 87.6 per tonne CO2. The
main reason is that the simultaneous increase in the cost of resources and energy
prevents CCS investments from becoming cost-effective (using as decision-making
criterion for new investments, and cost-effectiveness, a payback period lower than five
years)
However, the assignation of a monetary reward (equal to the expected price of the CO2
allowance) to the bio-CO2 captured (together with the rest of conditions of the ‘CO2x2’
scenario’) would make the CCS cost-effective from 2035 onwards (for CO2 prices higher
than EUR 92.4 per tonne). The results of this scenario are coded in Figure 37 and Figure
38 as ‘CO2x2 with CCSneg’. The retribution of bio CO2 captured would give the chance to
capture the CO2 from the recovery and power boiler (not contemplated in the usual CCS).
Figure 37 shows that the capture of CO2 emissions is not energy free; the increase of
energy consumption practically balance the energy savings delivered by the rest of BATs
and innovations. In fact, the extra energy costs associated to CCS is one of the reasons
that the CO2 price at which this technology becomes cost effective in this study is
different from the values provided in literature (Onarheim, 2017b). In any case, as
shown in Figure 38 the resulting GHG emissions in the ‘CO2x2 with CCSneg’ scenario
could turn the pulp and paper industry in a carbon sink.
It is also worth noting that the black liquor gasification would double its implementation
in the ‘MWhX2’ scenario compared to the baseline. Also in the ‘MWhX2’ scenario the CHP
is implemented in nine mills, versus the three new cases in the rest of scenarios, except
in the ‘FossilX2’ in which there are only 2 new CHP. There is an increase in the energy
consumption in the scenario ‘MWhx2’ compare to the baseline. This happens because
technologies that produce electricity at the expense of higher consumption of final energy
are favoured by higher electricity prices. The GHG emissions are not affected because of
the fuel switching neutralises the emissions from the increased energy consumption. In
fact, this last technology equals the CO2 emissions of all the alternative scenarios (with
the logical exception of the ‘CO2x2 with CCSneg’).
Even though in the baseline scenario none of the drying technologies become cost
effective, the ‘drying infrared moisture profiling’ is adopted in 12 mills in the ‘FossilX2’
scenario and in 2 mills in the ‘CO2x2’ scenario.
51
Figure 37. Energy consumption (thermal energy and electricity) in the alternative scenarios
Figure 38. Direct GHG emissions in the alternative scenarios
52
8 Conclusions
The main aim of this study is to analyse the role of the technological innovation in the
European pulp and paper industry and how it can contribute to decreasing the energy
consumption and GHG emissions up to 2050. This was achieved using a bottom-up model
that takes into account the technological detail of each facility, by checking the cost
effectiveness of the technological options available and the uptake of breakthrough
innovations. The results reveal the cost effectiveness of achieving savings of around 14 %
in energy consumption and 63 % decrease in GHG emissions from 2015 to 2050. This
decrease could take place in the context in which the demand grows by 7 % in the same
period. These estimations rely on a growth of the European pulp and paper demand, as
well as an evolution of fuels and resources prices in line with the reference scenario 2016
of the European Commission. If the contribution from the technological improvement is
disregarded, the combination of the growth in the demand with the energy intensity of
the different products would produce an increase in the energy consumption and GHG
emissions by 1 % and 5 %, respectively.
The emerging technologies are considered available during the whole simulation.
However, the model set aside technologies such us the boost dryer, microwave drying,
supercritical CO2 and deep eutectic solvent for which the public information available is
very limited. Although it is acknowledged that in some cases, several of those emerging
technologies may have a high potential impact in the long-term.
This study also includes an analysis of the cost effectiveness of some biorefineries
concepts as well as of the CCS technology. For this last technology we also estimate the
effect of rewarding for the bio-CO2 captured (option not contemplated currently in the EU
ETS). The effect on the results of doubling the prices of electricity, fuels and CO2
allowances by 2050 was also investigated. Assigning a monetary reward (equal to the
expected price of the CO2 allowance) to the bio-CO2 captured (together with the rest of
conditions of the ‘CO2x2’ scenario’) would make CCS cost-effective from 2035 onwards
(for CO2 prices higher than EUR 92.4 per tonne), those conditions could turn the pulp and
paper the industry into a carbon sink (capture more CO2 than the purely coming CO2
from fossil origin).
All but one of the seven configurations of biorefineries considered in this study are able
to recover the investment in a shorter time than the payback period of five years that is
used as decision-making criterion for considering the investments cost-effective. The
model also limits the simultaneous number of annual investments per technology, and
automatically upgrades facilities once they reach certain age. The aim of this
constrains/upgrades is to resemble the historical rate of renewal/investments from the
industry. When including biorefineries, the pulp and paper industry is able to produce
270 PJ of biofuels (6.4 Mtoe) equivalent of around 1.6 % of total energy consumed by the
transport sector in 2015. In this case, the biorefineries of the pulp and paper sector
would be contributing to a decrease in GHG emissions in the transport sector. The
alternative scenarios, which show the effect of varying final prices of fuels, electricity and
CO2 are quite consistent with the results of the baseline scenario, showing that the
implementation of the technological improvement in the baseline hardly leaves any
improvement margin to the industry.
The technological options included in the model are constrained in some cases by the
availability of detailed information about their presence at facility level. Moreover, the
lack of energy and mass balances, and economical details of some potential
breakthrough technologies, which are in early stages of research, the dependence (and
consequences) of some technologies (such as biorefineries) on factors that are beyond
the scope of the pulp and paper industry, together with the potential contribution from
the CCS when rewarding the capture of bio-CO2 are factors that may affect the results
and it may make worthy to revisit this study once more information becomes available.
53
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European Union, Luxembourg, doi:10.2791/370629.
Tomani, P. (2010), ‘The LignoBoost process’, Cellulose Chem. Technol., Vol. 44, No 1-3,
pp. 53-58.
Tomani, P. (2013), Update on LignoBoost lignin and applications, Innventia, SPCI,
Stockolm, September 2013. Available at:
http://www.spci.se/shared/files/Per_Tomani_SPCI_2013_UT.pdf
Ullmann’s Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry (2005), Pulp and Paper, 7th edition,
Wiley-VCH.
VanderPlas, J. (2016), Python Data Science Handbook, Essential tools for working with
data, O’Reilly Media Inc. 2016.
56
List of abbreviations and definitions
BAT best available technology
BLG black liquor gasification
CAGR compound annual growth rate
CCGT combined cycle with gas turbine
CCS Carbon capture and storage
CEPI Confederation of European Paper Industries
CHP combined heat and power
CTMP chemi-thermomechanical pulping
ET emerging technology
GHG greenhouse gas emissions
GJ gigajoule, 109 joules
GWh gigawatt hours, 109 watt hours
MW megawatt, 106 watts
MWh/t megawatt hours per tonne
O&M operation and maintenance
PGW pressure groundwood
PJ petajoule, 1015 joules
TMP thermomechanical pulping
toe tonne of oil equivalent
SGW groundwood pulping
57
List of figures
Figure 1. Main elements of the EU industrial policy strategy........................................ 4
Figure 2. Estimation of final energy consumption in industry (left) and possible cut in
greenhouse gas emissions in the EU main sectors (right) ........................................... 5
Figure 3. The bottom-up approach used in this report — Methodology overview used in
this study ............................................................................................................ 6
Figure 4. CEPI pulp and paper industry in 2016 ........................................................ 7
Figure 5. Major steps in pulp and paper manufacturing processes () ............................ 8
Figure 6. Average energy consumption (GJ/tonne) estimated for pulp and paper
manufacturing processes. .................................................................................... 11
Figure 7. Type of mills for pulp and paper products in the EU .................................... 14
Figure 8. Distribution of pulp and paper mills per EU Member State ........................... 14
Figure 9. Geographically location of pulp and paper mills in the EU ............................ 15
Figure 10. Production capacity of pulp and paper products in the EU, 2015 ................. 16
Figure 11. Production capacity of chemical pulping per EU Member State ................... 17
Figure 12. Production capacity of mechanical and chemi-mechanical pulping per EU
Member State () ................................................................................................ 17
Figure 13. Production capacity of repulping of imported pulp and pulp substitutes (a),
mechanical cleaning of recovered paper (b) and deinking equipment for recovered fibre
(c) ................................................................................................................... 18
Figure 14. Production capacities of paper products .................................................. 19
Figure 15. Production of pulp (a) and paper (b) products by CEPI member countries,
2008-2016 ........................................................................................................ 20
Figure 16. Assumption of production growth rates of pulp and paper in the EU by 2050.
....................................................................................................................... 21
Figure 17. Sankey diagram of final energy consumption in the EU industrial sectors in
2014 ................................................................................................................ 22
Figure 18. Fossil CO2 emissions per production capacity of pulp and paper products in the
EU ................................................................................................................... 23
Figure 19. Specific thermal energy consumption per pulp and paper capacities in the EU.
Circles denote the average energy consumption ..................................................... 24
Figure 20. Specific electricity consumption per pulp and paper capacities in the EU.
Circles denote the average power of the electricity consumption ............................... 25
Figure 21. Average specific electricity consumed (bars) and produced (horizontal lines)
on site per product capacity ................................................................................. 25
Figure 22. Energy saving potential (bars) and investment costs (circles) for pulp
production by chemical (a), mechanical (b) and from recovered fibres (c) .................. 28
Figure 23. Energy saving potential (bars) and investment cost (circles) for papermaking
....................................................................................................................... 30
Figure 24. Biorefinery concepts within pulp and paper mills ...................................... 36
Figure 25. Number of kraft mills with a certain percentage of thermal energy from
biofuels............................................................................................................. 38
Figure 26. Thermal energy consumption estimated by the random-forest model vs data
from RISI’s model .............................................................................................. 41
58
Figure 27. Electricity consumption estimated by the random-forest model vs data from
RISI’s model...................................................................................................... 41
Figure 28. Algorithm used in this study.................................................................. 42
Figure 29. Histogram of the average age of the paper machines of the European mills.
Each colour corresponds to one of the nine paper products included in this study ........ 43
Figure 30. Number of simultaneous upgrades of paper machines when the maximum
allowed age is 30 years ....................................................................................... 44
Figure 31. Average age of the pulp producing processes of European mills ................. 45
Figure 32. Number of simultaneous upgrades of pulp processes when the maximum
allowed age is 60 years ....................................................................................... 46
Figure 33. Histogram of commissioning dates or date of last upgrade of turbines, power
boilers and recovery boilers ................................................................................. 47
Figure 34. Energy consumption (thermal energy() and electricity) in the pulp and paper
industry ............................................................................................................ 48
Figure 35. Direct GHG emission from the pulp and paper industry with and without
retrofits ............................................................................................................ 49
Figure 36. Evolution of thermal energy (a) and electricity consumption (b), and direct
GHG emissions (c) for the EU pulp and paper industry per product ............................ 50
Figure 37. Energy consumption (thermal energy and electricity) in the alternative
scenarios .......................................................................................................... 52
Figure 38. Direct GHG emissions in the alternative scenarios .................................... 52
59
List of tables
Table 1. Pulp and paper products included in this analysis. ....................................... 12
Table 2. Installed capacity of turbines per technology .............................................. 46
60
Annexes
Annex 1. BATs applicable in the pulp and paper industry according to the BREF
Processes and BAT Applicability

activities
1. Energy management system
General Generally applicable
General 2. Recovery of energy by incinerating the wastes Only applicable if the

and residues from the production of pulp and recycling or reuse of
paper that have high organic content and calorific wastes and residues from
value the production of pulp
and paper with a high
organic content and high
calorific value is not
possible
General 3. Cover the steam and power demand of the Applicable for all new
production processes by cogeneration of heat and plants and for major
power (CHP) refurbishments of the
energy plant. Applicability
in existing plants may be
limited due to the mill
layout and available
space
General 4. Use excess heat for the drying of biomass and Applicability of this
sludge, to heat boiler feedwater and process technique may be limited
water, to heat buildings, etc. in cases where the heat
sources and locations are
far apart
General 5. Use thermo compressors Applicable to both new

and existing plants for all
grades of paper and for
coating machines, as long
as medium pressure
steam is available
General 6. Insulate steam and condensate pipe fittings Generally applicable
General 7. Use energy efficient vacuum systems for Generally applicable

dewatering
General 8. Use high efficiency electrical motors, pumps Generally applicable

and agitators
General 9. Use frequency inverters for fans, compressors Generally applicable

and pumps
General 10. Match steam pressure levels with actual Generally applicable
pressure needs
Kraft and 11. High dry solid content of bark, by use of n.a.
sulphite pulping efficient presses or drying
Kraft and 12. High efficiency steam boilers, e.g. low flue- n.a.
sulphite pulping gas temperatures
Kraft and 13. Effective secondary heating systems n.a.
61
activities
sulphite pulping
Kraft and 14. Closing water systems, including bleach plant n.a.
sulphite pulping
Kraft and 15. High pulp concentration (middle or high n.a.

sulphite pulping consistency technique)
Kraft and 16. Recovery and use of the low temperature n.a.
sulphite pulping streams from effluents and other waste heat
sources to heat buildings, boiler feedwater and
process water
Kraft and 17. Appropriate use of secondary heat and n.a.

sulphite pulping secondary condensate
Kraft and 18. Monitoring and control of processes, using n.a.

sulphite pulping advanced control systems
Kraft and 19. Optimise integrated heat exchanger network n.a.

sulphite pulping
Kraft and 20. Ensuring as high a pulp consistency as n.a.

sulphite pulping possible in screening and cleaning
Kraft and 21. Optimised tank levels n.a.

sulphite pulping
Kraft and 22. High recovery boiler pressure and n.a.

sulphite pulping temperature (in new recovery boilers used in
Kraft pulping, the pressure can be at least 100
bars and the temperature 510 °C)
Kraft and 23. Outlet steam pressure in the back-pressure n.a.

sulphite pulping turbine as low as technically feasible
Kraft and 24. Condensing turbine for power production from n.a.
sulphite pulping excess steam
Kraft and 25. High turbine efficiency n.a.

sulphite pulping
Kraft and 26. Preheating feedwater to a temperature close n.a.

sulphite pulping to the boiling temperature
Kraft and 27. Preheating the combustion air and fuel n.a.
sulphite pulping charged to the boilers
Kraft pulping 28. High efficiency evaporation plant n.a.
Kraft pulping 29. Recovery of heat from dissolving tanks e.g. by n.a.
vent scrubbers
Kraft pulping 30. Heat recovery from the flue gas from the n.a.
recovery boiler between the ESP and the fan
Kraft pulping 31. Use of speed control of various large motors n.a.
62
activities
Kraft pulping 32. Use of efficient vacuum pumps n.a.
Kraft pulping 33. Proper sizing of pipes, pumps and fans n.a.
Kraft pulping 34. High black liquor dry solid content (increases n.a.
boiler efficiency, steam generation and thus
electricity generation)
Mechanical and 35. Use of energy efficient refiners Applicable when

chemi- replacing, rebuilding or
mechanical upgrading process
pulping equipment
Mechanical and 36. Extensive recovery of secondary heat from Generally applicable
chemi- TMP and CTMP refiners and reuse of recovered
mechanical steam in paper or pulp drying
pulping
Mechanical and 37. Minimisation of fibre losses by using efficient Generally applicable
chemi- reject refining systems (secondary refiners)
mechanical
pulping
Mechanical and 38. Installation of energy saving equipment, Generally applicable

chemi- including automated process control instead of
mechanical manual systems
pulping
Mechanical and 39. Reduction of fresh water use by internal Generally applicable
chemi- process water treatment and recirculation
mechanical systems
pulping
Mechanical and 40. Reduction of the direct use of steam by Generally applicable
chemi- careful process integration using e.g. pinch
mechanical analysis
pulping
Paper processing 41. High consistency pulping for disintegrating Generally applicable for
for recycling paper for recycling into separated fibres new plants and for
existing plants in the case
Paper processing 42. Efficient coarse and fine screening by of a major refurbishment
for recycling optimising rotor design, screens and screen
operation, which allows the use of smaller
equipment with lower specific energy
consumption
Paper processing 43. Energy saving stock preparation concepts

for recycling extracting impurities as early as possible in the
repulping process, using fewer and optimised
machine components, thus restricting the energy
intensive processing of the fibres
Papermaking 44. Energy saving screening techniques Applicable to new mills or

(optimised rotor design, screens and screen major refurbishments
operation)
63
activities
Papermaking 45. Best practice refining with heat recovery from

the refiners
Papermaking 46. Optimised dewatering in the press section of Not applicable to tissue
paper machine (wide nip press) paper and many speciality
papers grades
Papermaking 47. Steam condensate recovery and use of Generally applicable

efficient exhaust air heat recovery systems
Papermaking 48. Reduction of direct use of steam by careful Generally applicable

process integration using e.g. pinch analysis
Papermaking 49. High efficient refiners Applicable to new plants
Papermaking 50. Optimisation of the operating mode in existing Generally applicable

refiners (e.g. reduction of no load power
requirements)
Papermaking 51. Optimised pumping design, variable speed Generally applicable

drive control for pumps, gearless drives
Papermaking 52. Cutting edge refining technologies Generally applicable
Papermaking 53. Steam box heating of the paper web to Not applicable to tissue
improve the drainage properties/dewatering paper and many speciality
capacity papers grades
Papermaking 54. Optimised vacuum system (e.g. turbo fans Generally applicable
instead of water ring pumps)
Papermaking 55. Generation optimisation and distribution Generally applicable

network maintenance
Papermaking 56. Optimisation of heat recovery, air system, Generally applicable

insulation
Papermaking 57. Use of high efficient motors (EFF1) Generally applicable
Papermaking 58. Preheating of shower water with a heat Generally applicable

exchanger
Papermaking 59. Use of waste heat for sludge drying or Generally applicable
upgrading of dewatered biomass
Papermaking 60. Heat recovery from axial blowers (if used) for Generally applicable
the supply air of the drying hood
Papermaking 61. Heat recovery of exhaust air from the Yankee Generally applicable
hood with a trickling tower
Papermaking 62. Heat recovery from the infrared exhaust hot Generally applicable
air
Source: JRC compilation with information from Suhr et al., 2014.
64
Annex 2. Emerging energy efficiency technologies of the pulp and paper industry according to selected literature sources
Processes and Energy Start International CEPI’s Two BREF* (Suhr, 2015) Kong et al., 2016 Bajpai, 2016
activities guide (Kramer et Energy Agency team project
al., 2009) (IEA, 2009) (CEPI, 2013)
General Magnetically- CO2 capture and Toolbox to Direct drive systems (+ +)
coupled storage (CCS) replicate
adjustable-speed
drivers
More precise dimensioning
(+ +)
Forward-looking control
methods (+ +)
Low friction materials (+ +)
New vacuum system (+ +)
Raw materials Directed green Fractionation methods to Directed green Directed green
pre-treatment liquor utilisation add value (+ ) liquor utilisation liquor utilisation
pulping pulping pulping
Microwave logs Fibre modification methods Chemical pre- Chemical pre-
(+ ) treatment with treatment with
oxalic acid oxalic acid (for
mechanical pulping)
Biotreatment Higher consistency Biological pre- Bio-pre-treatment
processing (+ ) treatment for mechanical
pulping
Enzymes (to reduce the size Microwave pre- Enzymatic debarking
and tackiness of treatment
stickies)/biochemical (+ +)
Pulping Steam cycle Deep eutectic New mechanical pulping Enzymatic refining
washer for solvents (+ ++)
unbleached pulp
Efficient pulp washing Enzymatic pre-
technology (+ ) bleaching
New energy-efficient TMP Enzymatic removal
65
al., 2009) (IEA, 2009) (CEPI, 2013)
Processes (e.g. high-speed of shives
Pulping — and high-intensity TMP
continued refining and chip pre-
treatment)
New energy-efficient Enzymes for
bleached CTMP processes reduction of vessels
in tropical
hardwoods
Use of enzymes during the
refining of TMP
Recovered fibres Electrohydraulic Processing paper for Recycled paper New flotation
contaminant recycling for quality fractionation deinking
removal improvement (+ ) processes***
Surfactant spray Surfactant spray
deinking deinking
Pulsed power
technology for
decontamination of
recycled paper
Enzymes for
drainage
improvements
Enzymatic deinking
Papermaking and Impulse drying Flash New web-forming Impulse drying in Impulse drying
finishing condensing techniques (+ +) wet pressing
with steam process
Advanced fibrous Dry pulp for Simplified shoe press New fibrous fillers Advanced fibrous
fillers cure-formed concept (+ ) fillers
66
al., 2009) (IEA, 2009) (CEPI, 2013)
paper
Lateral corrugator Functional Use of cooling water as Aq-vane technology Aq-vane technology
surface process water (+ +)
Papermaking and Laser-ultrasonic Simplified runnability High consistency Laser-ultrasonic
finishing — web stiffness systems (+ ) papermaking stiffness sensor
continued sensor
Multilayer forming Displacement Displacement
technologies (+ +) pressing pressing
HC forming technologies
(+ +)
Curtain coating (+ ) Dry sheet forming
Spray coating (+ )
Metal belt calender (+ )
High solid sizer (+ )
Powder coating (+ +)
Drying Multiport dryer Paper drying Supercritical Condebelt drying Multiport dryer
technologies CO2
Gas-fired paper Superheated Gas-fired dryer Gas-fired paper
dryer steam drying dryer
Boost dryer Boost dryer
Microwave drying Microwave drying
Air/steam
impingement drying
Infrared drying
Utilisation of by- Black liquor Black liquor 100 % Heat recovery with heat Black liquor Black liquor
product, heat, gasification gasification electricity pumps (+ +) gasification gasification
67
al., 2009) (IEA, 2009) (CEPI, 2013)
renewable energy Lignin production Enhanced generation of Dual-pressure Dual-pressure
and biomass from black liquor electricity, biomass-based reheat recovery reheat recovery
Utilisation of by- products and the utilisation boiler boiler
product, heat, of excess heat
renewable energy
and biomass — Biomass Gasification of black liquor Biomass Membrane
continued gasification with gasification concentration of
synfuels black liquor
production
Biorefinery Biorefinery Steam cycle Steam cycle washing
concepts washing
Selective removal of Borate Borate
chloride and potassium by autocausticizing autocausticising
ESP ash treatment
Partial borate LignoBoost LignoBoost
autocausticising
SNCR or SCR** for reducing Extraction of Extraction of
NOX emissions from the hemicellulose hemicellulose
black liquor recovery boiler extraction before extraction before
chemical pulping chemical pulping
Removal of chelating agents Other biorefinery Utilisation of
by modest alkaline biological concepts residuals in concrete
treatment or its recovery by production
use of kidneys
Increased system closure
combined with the use of
kidneys
(*)
+ positive energy efficiency effect; ++ medium positive energy efficiency effect; +++ large positive energy efficiency effect.
(**)
SNCR: selective non-catalytic reaction; SCR: selective catalytic reaction.
(***)
e.g. OptiCell flotationTM, Deaeration foam pump 4000TM, Low energy flotationTM, MAC flotation cell.
Source: JRC compilation with information from Kramer et al., 2009; IEA, 2009; CEPI, 2013; Suhr et al., 2014; Kong et al., 2016 and Bajpai, 2016.
68
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Energy efficiency and GHG emissions:

Prospective scenarios for the pulp and

Moya, J. A., Pavel, C. C.

JRC Science Hub

PDF ISBN 978-92-79-89119-9 ISSN 1831-9424 doi:10.2760/035301

Print ISBN 978-92-79-89118-2 ISSN 1018-5593 doi:10.2760/639741

Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2018

© European Union, 2018

Figure 1. Main elements of the EU industrial policy strategy

Source: European Commission, 2017a.

Source: JRC representation.

Figure 4. CEPI pulp and paper industry in 2016

Source: CEPI, 2017.

Figure 5. Major steps in pulp and paper manufacturing processes (4)

Source: JRC representation with information from Bajpai, 2016.

Source: JRC representation with information from Bajpai, 2016.

3.2 Pulp and paper products

Paper and paperboard (**)

Sulphite pulp, thermo-mechanical and mechanical pulp Integrated

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200

Source: JRC representation with information from RISI, 2016.

Figure 8. Distribution of pulp and paper mills per EU Member State

Source: JRC representation with information from RISI, 2016.

Source: JRC representation with information from RISI, 2016.

and mechanical pulp

Recovered paper pulp

Coated fine paper

Uncoated fine paper

Testliner and fluting

Source: JRC representation with information from RISI, 2016.

Source: JRC representation with information from RISI, 2016.

Source: JRC representation with information from RISI, 2016.

Source: JRC representation with information from RISI, 2016.

Figure 14. Production capacities of paper products

Source: JRC representation with information from RISI, 2016.

3.3 Production of pulp and paper in the EU and prospective

CAGR (2010-2016) = -0.99%

-0.84 Other paper and board

-2.12 Uncoated mechanical and woodfree

-12 Other pulp

Source: JRC representation with data from CEPI statistics.

Source: JRC analysis.

Source: Eurostat, 2016.

Source: JRC representation with information from RISI, 2016.

Source: JRC representation with information from RISI, 2016.

Source: JRC representation with information from RISI, 2016.

Source: JRC representation with information from RISI, 2016.

Source: JRC representation with information from the IEA, 2014.

Source: JRC representation with information from IEA, 2014

5.2 Emerging technologies (ET)

5.2.1 CO2 capture and storage (CCS)

5.2.2 Black liquor gasification (BLG)

Source: Suhr, 2015.

An optimal biorefinery design depends on several mill characteristics such as type of

Source: JRC analysis.

5.2.5 Emerging drying technologies

Source: JRC analysis.

Source: JRC analysis.

6.1 Model and decision-making criterion