Behind the scenes
Tuesday, June 11, 2013 - 12:15
A couple of weeks ago we had the chance to dive into the world of Ruukki’s steel making at the Raahe steel mill through a TV programme, Megafactories in Finland. The Raahe steel mill is a gigantic production site that produced 2.3 million tonnes of steel and was responsible for 94% of Ruukki’s 12 terawatt hour energy consumption in 2012.
Bond financing for clean energy projects – an outdated dream or a real-life alternative?
Wednesday, May 15, 2013 - 21:30
Bank lending has been challenging and uncertain since the financial crisis kicked off in 2007-08. Currently new banking regulation is causing more uncertainties, and it is expected that project financing of clean energy investments could become more challenging. In addition to banks, the other traditional sources of funding for energy projects – especially utilities and governments – are also struggling and rather trying to strengthen their balance sheets.
Improving energy efficiency with VSD motors
Monday, May 6, 2013 - 10:30
The saving opportunities in motor driven systems are huge considering that the energy consumed by electric motors costs industry globally close to 2.3 billion Euros, and produces close to 37 million tons CO2 produced by burning fossil fuels to run the generators that power motors.
Towards environmental hygiene: wastewater disinfection
Tuesday, April 30, 2013 - 09:30
Wastewater disinfection aims at reducing health risks arising from pathogenic microbes. It has been stated that infectious microbes are currently globally greater health risk than chemicals in water: microbes result constantly deaths that could be avoided with proper sanitation and environmental hygiene.
Energy efficiency is the new black
Wednesday, April 24, 2013 - 13:45
In the fashion world when the industry wants to introduce a new classic colour, they introduce it as the “new black”. Basically, the idea is to convince people that it’s alright to wear the new classic colour (new black) on all those occasions where they have typically relied on black.
The mission of the modern steel industry
Saturday, April 6, 2013 - 08:30
In order to succeed one needs to have a mission. Martin Luther King said: “I have a dream”, not “I have a plan”. The modern steel industry needs to redefine its mission as the whole environmental and economic landscape has transformed rapidly. To find the new framework for innovation we must look to the emerging economies.
Fighting against humus
Wednesday, April 3, 2013 - 11:45
Finnish surface waters have one special characteristic: high humus concentration. Humus, or humic substances, is rather wide group of compounds which result from decomposition of organic material of plant or animal origin.
Mare Incognita - Do we really care?
Tuesday, April 2, 2013 - 10:30
During my marine science classes I took as an exchange student at the Wellington High School in Florida, I particularly “fell in love” with one marine animal - sea turtles.
Being an engineer – a curse or a blessing
Monday, March 18, 2013 - 10:00
Often developing new products is quite time consuming – it can take several years for a new idea to be ready for customer deliveries. During all these years a huge amount of work is done both in laboratory, offices and in factory. In this respect it is a really a good opportunity for an engineer to be able to work in such a small steel mill as Ruukki Raahe steel works are. Being such a small and agile producer gives us a good opportunity to test our ideas in full scale production quite e...
Will we see foreign investors in the Finnish wind power market?
Monday, March 11, 2013 - 12:00
Finland introduced the current feed-in tariff system for renewable energy in 2011. Now, two years later, we are seeing wind power projects coming through the burdensome permitting process in increasing amounts.
