Kick-off event: Future Energy and Biomass Solutions

The Research Council of Finland will organise the kick-off event “Future Energy and Biomass Solutions” on 15 April 2026 at 9:30–15:45 in Helsinki as part of the Chemistry Days 2026 programme.

The event is open to everyone – projects funded under the calls Research into Sustainable Energy Solutions of the Future and Research into Forest Biomass in Finland, researchers, stakeholders, and all visitors of Chemistry Days 2026 and ChemBio Finland 2026.

Programme  

9.30 – 9.45 Opening of the seminar, Floora Ruokonen, Research Council of Finland  

9.45 – 10.30 Keynote: The future of sustainable energy and why technology may be failing us, Mark O’Malley, Imperial College London

10.30 – 11.00 Keynote: Valmet’s Contribution to Biomass Conversion: Advanced Biofuel Pathways, Tooran Khazraie, Valmet Oy 

11.00 –11.15 Flexible Energy Systems program, Jussi Åkerberg, Business Finland 

11.15 – 12.35 Lunch and posters

12.35 – 14.45 Facilitated panel discussions 

Each panel includes 3-minute pitches per project, followed by a brief discussion on common questions.

12.35 – 13.05 Panel 1: From Distribution to Demand: Managing Flexibility in Electrified Systems 

These projects examine how people and institutions shape sustainability transitions through incentives, decision-making, and acceptance. They ask what governance and market designs enable actors (e.g., citizens, forest owners, grid operators) to adopt low-carbon solutions and coordinate change. The focus is on behaviour, value creation, legitimacy, and workable policy/decision frameworks. 

Facilitator: Peter Lund, professor emeritus 

Panellists:  

• Leveraging individual tree level biomass data to guide forest use that safeguards biodiversity, nature-based recreation, and carbon sinks, Mari Myllymäki, Natural Resources Institute Finland 
• Versatility of value creation solutions: economic choices among resource owners, industry actors and consumer-citizen, Eija Pouta, LUKE
• DSOs facilitating energy transition – the Carbon handprint of flexibility, Jean-Nicolas Louis, VTT Oy 
• Citizens’ behaviour change towards sustainable energy transition through social interactions, Kari Mäki, VTT Oy 

13.10 – 13.40 Panel 2: Balancing the Bioeconomy Equation: Natural Capital, Tracing and Value  

These projects follow the pathway from forest/biomass resources to higher-value products, including how to trace and verify origins and sustainability. They explore cascading use and valorisation of biomass and develop bio-based functional materials that can substitute or capture fossil-based alternatives. The shared question is how to build credible, efficient, and sustainable value chains from resource to end product. 

Facilitator: Eva-Mari Aro, University of Turku 

Panellists: 

• Enhanced Wood Tracing Systems for Sustainable Forestry and Improved Food Utilization, Jiri Pyörälä, University of Helsinki 
• High-value products from forest resources: a cascade pathway to biochar and biopigments for climate and soil, Suvi Kuittinen, University of Eastern Finland 
• Unexplored potential of diverse plant metabolites to enhance sustainable bioeconomy and carbon sinks from forest biomasses, Virpi Virjamo, University of Eastern Finland 
• High-Performance Bioinspired Conducive Cellulose Films for Thin Film Solar Cells, Kati Miettunen, University of Turku 
• Chemical pulp foams for water-assisted CO2 capture, Eero Kontturi, Aalto University 

13.45 – 14.15 Panel 3: Cold-Climate Renewables: Materials and Forecasts  

Facilitator: Jussi Åkerberg, Business Finland 

These projects tackle how renewable energy and storage can be operated reliably under Nordic seasonality and weather/hydrology variability (e.g., snow impacts, forecasting, and resource constraints). They develop methods to predict, optimize, and schedule generation and storage to reduce costs and emissions. The common thread is operational performance and system integration under variable conditions. 

Panellists: 

• Optimal Thermal Storage Operation using tailored long-range weather forecasts, Anders Lindfors, Finnish Meteorological Institute 
• Long-Term Thermal Energy Storage with Salt-Based Composite Materials, Ari Seppälä, Aalto University 
• Snow effect on the solar power generation in Finland, Roberta Pirazzini, Finnish Meteorological Institute 
• Solar power on cutaway peatlands – combining renewable energy generation and soil carbon sequestration, Annalea Lohila, Finnish Meteorological Institute 
• Sustainable hydropower via hybrid cluster operation and hydrological forecasts under uncertainties, Noora Veijalainen, SYKE 

14.15 – 14.45 Panel 4: Carriers and Captures: Technologies for Deep Carbonization  

Facilitator: Helena Sarén, Business Finland 

These projects develop technologies and system solutions for a low-carbon industrial future, spanning hydrogen and batteries alongside supporting infrastructures, optimisation, and circularity. They also include geochemistry expertise to assess how hydrogen behaves in subsurface environments informing storage potential, key reactions, and associated risks for viable deployment. The emphasis is on scalable industrial transition pathways that connect engineering, earth-science evidence, and circular-economy system design. 

Panellists: 

• Finding H2 – Geological hydrogen reservoirs for sustainable energy production in Finland, Malin Bomberg, VTT Oy 
• Industrial energy systems as part of resilient climate neutral society, Timo Laukkanen, Aalto University 
• Energy-centric optimization for large-scale additive manufacturing deployment for sustainability through electrification, Humberto Almeida, LUT University 
• Circular Battery Futures: Recyclable Bio-Based Binders for a Sustainable Lithium-Ion Battery Lifecycle, Liu Haidong, University of Eastern Finland 

14.45 – 15.45 Posters and snacks