Research into future forestry products at Chalmers and KTH Royal Institute of Technology has been granted SEK 100 million for two years by the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation. The goal is that Wallenberg Wood Science Center (WWSC) should become a world leader in forestry-related materials research.
“This research is very important for the future. Forestry has great potential, which it is important to develop, and the funding is, of course, very welcome,” says Peter Gudmundson, President of KTH Royal Institute of Technology.
Chalmers’ President Karin Markides agrees:
“Now our researchers will get a good basis for succeeding in developing completely new bio-based products, but also production processes that are efficient in terms of energy and materials, which is essential for the transition to a bio-based economy.”
Peter Wallenberg Jr, Vice President of the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, explains why the Foundation has made such a big grant to the center:
“The Foundation supports what will develop Sweden as an R&D and industrial nation. It is important that Sweden retains its prominent position in the world market, not least in view of the fact that the industry employs so many Swedes. The forestry industry is facing structural change where the need for high-tech processes and products is important for the future. Wallenberg Wood Science Center aims to contribute basic research and innovation, which will hopefully boost the competitiveness of Sweden's forestry industry.”
Forestry-related materials research
Wallenberg Wood Science Center was founded in 2009, and has since made an impression in international research. The research is aimed at creating new knowledge about how material from trees can be produced and developed.
“We cooperate and have many researchers from ’new’ areas which means that we can work in an interdisciplinary manner. We are also educating a new generation of researchers who can be at the forefront of innovation in the forestry sector. Sweden must simply get better at developing new products,” says Lars Berglund, Professor at KTH Royal Institute of Technology and Director of WWSC.
These hundred million kronor should, according to Berglund, be used for research to exploit more than pulp from trees, for example, bioplastics. In addition, researchers are to develop nanotechnologies based on cellulose.
Styrofoam and biocomposites from trees are examples of new materials, which in the long term can compensate the losses of the Swedish forestry industry in recent years due to a reduction in the sales of, for example, newsprint. New environment-friendly materials for cars, trains and aircraft, as well as in packaging and the construction industry, are also in demand. In addition, the research can lead to new niche products such as transparent paper or fibers that are magnetic, electrically conductive or antibacterial.
Facts: Wallenberg Wood Science Center
Wallenberg Wood Science Center is a joint research center and collaboration between KTH and Chalmers University of Technology. The Center started in 2009, and the aim is to develop new materials from Sweden's forests as a complement to traditional uses, where the forest is turned into timber and paper. The forestry industry plays an important role in the Swedish economy and accounts for 10–12 per cent of Swedish industrial employment, exports, sales and value added. About 200,000 people across the country work in the forestry industry if you include subcontractors.
The Center has the vision of becoming a world leader through its research program “New materials from trees”.
Read more at www.wwsc.se
Contacts:
Lars Berglund, Professor at KTH Royal Institute of Technology and Director of WWSC +46(0)8-7908118 or blund@kth.se.
Hans Theliander, Professor at Chalmers, Deputy Director of WWSC
+46(0)31-772 29 92 or hanst@chalmers.se
Peter Wallenberg Jr, Vice President, Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation
+46(0)8-545 017 80.
Göran Sandberg, Executive Director of the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation
+46(0)8-545 017