Paulownia - A new possibility for energy and climate mitigation in Sweden

Paulownia is a deciduous tree species with exceptional growth and similar carbon dioxide uptake capacity, which is successfully grown in several EU countries in similar climate zones in ex. Germany, Poland. Several players have developed cold-resistant varieties of Paulownia that have about 3 times as high biomass growth as Salix and about 10 times as high biomass growth as spruce and pine.

This species is not grown in Sweden today but is found as solitaires in gardens and parks in southern Sweden. Which creates new opportunities for cost-effective and surface-efficient production of biomass, which can be used for substitution of fossil fuels and contribute to increased security of supply of bio-based energy in Sweden.

Within the framework of a feasibility study, we want to investigate what is required to succeed in cultivating Paulownia commercially in collaboration with larger and smaller landowners in Sweden.