In Sweden, Finland and to an extent Norway, much of the land area is forested, the pulp and paper industry is one of the most significant industrial sectors.
Chemical pulping produces an excess of energy, since the organic matter in black liquor, mostly lignin and hemicellulose breakdown products, is burned in the recovery boiler.
Thus, these countries have high proportions of renewable energy use (25% in Finland, for instance). Considerable effort is directed towards increasing the value and usage of forest products by companies and by government projects.
