Hello from the sky! I am currently writing this on one of the planes we are taking to Finland. Yesterday we visited Skellefteå and Northvolt. The presentations from the municipality were interesting to say the least. They want to expand their town by about 13,000 residents and bring in Americans. Northvolt has helped them grow in the past, but they want to grow even more. Skellefteå hopes to create a new ecosystem of flourishing business in every sector with the help of Americans and people from other parts of the world.
Skellefteå
One of the presentations was about an office building that was mostly made from recycled materials, creates energy, and is sustainable. One of their main materials will be wood, but it is taking a long time to get these materials and build the building. They are getting grants to help pay for this building and the rest will be funded by the city. The municipality plans to charge rent for use of the office buildings. Another presentation was about green aircrafts. They currently have 3 aircraft that run on electricity and hope to build better ones in the future as well as train pilots to fly these planes. These projects show that the municipality is very environmentally friendly.
I do not believe any of this is a good idea. The building seems to be taking a long time to build and is costing them a lot of money and resources that could be used to fund other projects. There is also no way of knowing if businesses would be willing to pay a premium for the use of a green building in such a small town. When I asked what the financial end goal was for the green planes, the speaker just talked about how they are getting grants to help build these planes and said nothing on how this will bring money into the municipality or help them grow. The projects are environmentally sustainable but not economically sustainable. The building and plane projects seem like they are going to drain finances and bring nothing back to the municipality. Skellefteå just wants to create something that they can be known for.
I believe that a better strategy would be to invest in building homes if they want to attract Americans and helping small businesses start and grow in Skellefteå. Americans want to own homes, and that is something that is hard to do right now in the USA. Small businesses will bring in many people and services that a city would need to grow. Once the municipality is big enough and has the financial resources then these projects should be explored.
Northvolt
After the presentation we got a quick tour of Northvolt. Like every other business in Sweden we visited, Northvolt is interested in the environment and wants to take care of their employees. Northvolt teamed up with one of their suppliers and started to recycle some of their battery parts. They plan that in 2030 about half of their batteries will be made from recycled parts. This will help minimize the environmental footprint that their batteries have.
Our Clumsiness
Now to the fun part. After our plane ride to Lulea, Nikki had a little mishap. Anybody who has seen her knows that she suffers from severe shortness. After the plane landed, she tried to get her bag from the overhead bin, but she had a hard time reaching it. When she finally was able to get a hold of it, she pulled it a little too hard so it ended up falling on her face. Unfortunately, I did not see it, but I was told that it was funny.
Later that day, we went on a hike in the woods next to some rapids. The hike was beautiful, and we ended it near a spot where we could go swimming. I did not bring a swimsuit, but I still wanted to put my feet in the water. When I had my feet in the water I saw some really cute fish. I wanted to catch one. A good number of people were annoying me and telling me to be careful, but I had good balance and was watching my step. I was doing fine. Until I wasn’t. Gravity decided to push me into the water. So many people were laughing at me, including Nikki. At least I have a story to tell.
Unfortunately none of us got a video of Nicole falling into the water, despite me literally saying it was going to happen. But I at least took pictures of the aftermath! Doesn’t she look like a mythical creature caught on camera 😂
