Editor's note
Readers keep showing up.
The subscriber count keeps climbing, and I want to start by saying thank you. Every week I hear from more of you, whether it is a tip about a company I missed, a correction on something I got wrong, or a comment that sends me down a rabbit hole I had not considered. Last week's piece on root rot did exactly that, and it led directly to this issue's top pick.
If you find something worth covering, send it my way. If you know someone who would get value from this, forward it along. The best stories come from readers who are closer to the work than I am.
This week: biochar at industrial scale, gaming as a recruitment pipeline, and a web shop for forestry services.
Axel
WHAT GOT ME THINKING
Nordic BioPower Receives Permits and Starts Biochar Production in Höganäs
Nordic BioPower, a Swedish company owned by Averra Group, has received regulatory approval and started production at its biochar and energy facility in Höganäs, Sweden, in April 2026. The plant, acquired from Cortus AB, produces biochar and renewable energy from wood-based residues. At full capacity, the facility will deliver 5,000 to 8,000 tonnes of biochar per year, equivalent to 20 to 25 GWh of energy output. A second plant in Davidstad, Finland is commissioning in parallel, with production scheduled for H1 2026.
Axel's notes: Last week's issue on root rot prompted an unexpected comment. A reader pointed out that biochar has been studied as a carrier for biological control agents, and separately, that certain bio-agents can suppress Heterobasidion. The porous structure gives beneficial microbes a stable habitat in the soil, and research shows it can stimulate enzyme activity that contributes to disease resistance.
I knew biochar as a carbon sink and soil amendment. I did not know it had a potential role in root rot suppression, or that a Nordic producer was operating at industrial scale.
Nordic BioPower just started production at its Höganäs facility this month, with a second plant commissioning in Finland. The process produces both biochar and renewable energy, so the economics do not depend on biochar alone.
The missing piece is specificity: what should the biochar be loaded with to target Heterobasidion in boreal conditions? If you work on this, or know someone who does, I would like to hear from you.
Jobba Grönt Uses Gaming to Recruit the Next Generation of Forest Machine Operators
Swedish industry initiative Jobba Grönt, run by Gröna arbetsgivare and Arbio, has secured 1.85 MSEK from the Seydlitz Foundation to scale "Level Up in the Forest", a project that recruits gamers into forestry careers. A pilot during spring 2026 put two well-known gamers through simulator training and coaching at naturbruksgymnasier, culminating in a competition at Elmia Wood Masters. The pilot reached over two million social media views. The logic is direct: problem-solving, multitasking, precision, and technical understanding are trained daily in gaming and required daily in a modern harvester cab.
Five Forestry Startups Join Alabama's First Sector-Specific Accelerator
Gener8tor and Grow Southeast Alabama have selected five startups for the inaugural Alabama Forestry Accelerator, hosted at the Wiregrass Innovation Center. The standout is TreeTracker (Starkville, Mississippi), which offers a mobile and web platform that replaces the five to seven fragmented tools forest operations typically juggle for GPS navigation, project tracking, and data collection. The platform consolidates everything into a single interface built for field conditions, targeting a workflow problem that scales across contractors and landowners. The remaining cohort includes Druid, which brings a patented smart camera system for wildfire detection, alongside startups working on pecan shell biomaterials, biofertilizers, and reforestation services.
Mellanskog's Skogstorget Captures 25% of Clearing Business Within One Month of Full Launch
Mellanskog's Skogstorget, mentioned in BTB #038, opened its full clearing service in February 2026. By March, 25 percent of all clearing business ran through the platform. It is essentially a webshop for forestry services: forest owners browse, configure, and order silviculture operations online, with automatic management plan updates included. CDO Henrik Boström announced that thinning and regeneration felling will be added in Q2 2026. The platform is free for all 77,000 private forest owners in central Sweden. The e-commerce layer is what sets it apart. Forestry has had digital planning tools for years, but letting owners purchase services the way they buy anything else online is new.
Canada Invests C$4M in Robotics-Powered Wood Truss Facility in Ontario
Natural Resources Canada has directed over C$4 million through the Investments in Forest Industry Transformation (IFIT) program to Atlas Engineered Products, a Nanaimo-based manufacturer building a new robotics-powered wood truss facility in Clinton, Ontario. The facility will use advanced robotics for precision cutting and assembly, reducing waste while scaling production of engineered wood trusses for residential construction. The investment was announced at the BC Council of Forest Industries convention on April 9 and is part of over C$2.35 billion in forest sector measures introduced since August 2025.