At the pinnacle
But we should. We come from a country whose natural wealth lies predominantly in its forests. And even their competitiveness as a raw material is becoming threatened. Our national masterminds have already for a long time exhorted, that in order for us to maintain our position as a wealthy country we should look for new sources for success. Even our nature might have something new to offers us, since we have a plenty of water in our lakes, rivers and seas, and as groundwater. There is global demand on clean water, and on water on the whole – and in the future there will be more. Similarly, there is lack of peace found in nature, which comes as self-evident to us Finns.
We can look for future sources of wealth also from product innovations, of which the ongoing success of Nokia is the best known example. Alongside Nokia, the 1990s produced a whole crowd of service innovations within the electronics sector that succeeded for a time, but have now nearly disappeared from the country. However, they were important employers, wealth builders and boosters of our self-esteem in a time which saw us rise out of the previous recession with world record speed.
I am involved in bringing yet another Finnish innovation to the pinnacle of world success. Nest Oil has used renewable raw materials in developing top diesel, which in the petroleum wholesale market is known by the complicated name NExBTL diesel. The quality of this new diesel beats that of all other biodiesels launched this far, including fossil diesel. In addition, a wider spectrum of raw materials can be used in the manufacturing process, than in that other biofuels. The goal is to utilize a wider range of by-products and actual waste as a raw material. For instance, last year approximately 11 million litres of NExBTL diesel were manufactured out of waste animal fat.
The biofuel market is growing under the obligations of the EU directives. Fortunately the EU creates also regulations, which, according to the principles of sustainable development, deal with the entire lifespan of biofuels. Neste Oil is one of the global leaders also in these issues. And it is often the leader that hits the worst headwind, which however can be beaten by the knowledge that the goal is good, and right.
Since the end of April I have been driving an ordinary diesel car using solely fuel manufactured from renewable raw materials. One of life’s amusing paradoxes is that an oil company man drives with a bumper sticker proudly stating: “Not a drop of oil”.
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