Whether you read your book in a physical or digital copy, social reading services help you to share your experiences and to get feedback and tips for further reading. VTT has studied the attitudes, needs and values of readers towards different aspects of digital social reading. The new knowledge contributes to the future development of such reading services. The results show that the popularity of the concept increases, if it provides effective solutions and help for practical problems like finding new interesting books.

Biofuels can be produced from sugars of forest biomass or side-streams of wood processing industry. Forest biomass and side-streams are responsible and sustainable raw materials for fuel production. However, todays bioprocessing and utilization routes are considered costly. VTT has developed feasible sugar platform processes by intensifying the processing and developing new options for the process concept.

Nano-silica produced from the olivine of mining side streams has potential use in matt ink-jet papers. VTT verified that new matt coated silica papers have similar ink-jet absorption and print quality than papers produced with commercial coating pigments. The opportunity is to get the raw material with lower cost from the industrial side streams and simultaneously lower the environmental burden of mining and pigment production.

Industrial biomaterials 2009—2012 publication summarises the key findings and inventions developed during the VTT’s Industrial biomaterials spearhead programme.  The programme focused on renewing industry by means of emerging technologies of materials and chemicals based on non-food biomass, including food side streams, agricultural leftovers and natural material waste fractions.

Biocomposites challenge chipboard as furniture material. Researchers at VTT have developed a kitchen furniture framework material from plastic polymers reinforced with natural fibre. The new material reduces raw materials consumption by 25–30 per cent and the carbon footprint of production by 35–45 per cent.