Conclusions

The PELLETime project encouraged the sustainable expansion of the raw material resource through increasing the awareness and information to facilitate market development. PELLETime aimed to provide new tools for designing sustainable pellet supply chain and examining the new potential raw materials for pelletizing. Various solutions for raw material fuel supply for pellet production are available and greatly depend on each specific situation. Supply of raw materials to pellet units can ensure an efficient use of existing available materials. Different logistic systems and solutions have been developed for raw material supply of pellet and other end-using facilities across the Northern Periphery area. The Best Practice Guideline provides information about such logistical solutions and highlights the importance of quality measures within the fuel supply for pellet production.

An availability analysis conducted in a certain area shows the potential in that area and the supply- and procurement options for an existing or potential new end-using facility. This studies have to be conducted case specific, general conclusions are difficult to make from a broader view. Based on the availability of material in a certain area, cost calculations can then predict costs and deliver productivity information as a useful analytical planning tool for the support of decisions.

A very important factor of raw material supply for pellet production is quality. This is of great interest in the small and medium scale of pellet production where the use of high quality raw materials is essential for a successful pellet production. Quality factors are the contents of bark, needles and other particles or elements that affect the pelletizing process and the combustion of such pellets. Ash forming elements that create slag within the combustion unit and cause higher emissions should be avoided and have an effect of raw material quality. Moisture content as a quality factor mainly effects the costs of transportation and artificial drying. Therefore, measure for increased natural drying are considered as very important and improve the raw material supply conditions for pellet production.

References

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Metlan työraportteja 289: 194–202

22 Development and Harmonization of New Operational Research and Assessment

Procedures for Sustainable Forest Biomass Supply - COST Action FP0902

Dominik Röser ja Robert Prinz

Abstract

The COST framework of the European Union decided to support the modernization of forest biomass operations research in Europe to strengthen Europe’s leading role as the world leader in the utilization of forest biomass for energy.

Forest biomass is a major contributor to meet the ambitious 20/20/20 targets of the EU. However, the cost-effective and sustainable procurement of forest biomass remains a challenge in countries around the globe. To tackle that challenge the COST Action “Development and Harmonization of new operational research and assessment procedures for sustainable forest biomass supply” was initiated in October 2009.

The overall objective of the Action is to harmonize forest energy terminology and methodologies of forest operations research and biomass availability calculations thereby building the scientific capacity within forest energy research and supporting the technology transfer of the forest biomass procurement chain and sustainable forest management.

Tiivistelmä

EU:n COST –ohjelma päätti tukea metsäbiomassan korjuuoperaatioiden tutkimusta Euroopassa vahvistaakseen Euroopan johtavaa roolia metsäbiomassan energiakäytössä. Metsäbiomassa on tärkein uusiutuvan energian muoto vuoden 2020 EU energiatavoitteiden saavuttamisen kannalta.

Kuitenkin metsäbiomassan hankinnan kustannustehokkuus ja kestävyys ovat kehityksen haasteena.

Lokakuussa 2009 Metla yhteistyökumppaneineen käynnisti ”Kestävän biomassan hankinnan tutkimus- ja arviointimenetelmien kehitys ja harmonisointi” hankkeen. Sen tavoitteena on harmo-nisoida metsäenergiaterminologia sekä metsäoperaatioiden tutkimusmenetelmät ja biomassan saata-vuuslaskelmien menetelmät. Samalla rakennetaan alan tutkimuskapasiteettia ja tuetaan metsäbio-massan hankintateknologian siirtoa ja kestävää metsänhoitoa.

22.1 Introduction

At present the use of forest and agricultural biomass for energy is an increasingly important topic particularly in the light of the recent debate on climate change and of employment in rural areas.

In order to combat climate change, the EU commission, as well as other countries outside the EU, has set ambitious targets to increase the share of renewable energy sources, the so called 20/20/20 targets. Furthermore, the ”Directive for renewable energy” also promotes the use of forest biomass for energy. In order to meet these objectives, a large share of this increase has to come from forest biomass. In the European context, forest biomass offers the largest and most economic potential as a renewable fuel when managed on a sustainable basis. Moreover, forest biomass has clear advantages in comparison to agricultural crops since it does not compete with food production. At the current state of the forest biomass development, the targets set by the EU Commission are a great challenge for the sector. In order to ensure the reliable and sustain-able supply of forest fuel new technological solutions to procure and process forest biomass are needed. The Cost Action addresses this challenge and will contribute to the harmonization and implementation of forest biomass supply and utilization technology.

Forest biomass is also a central tool in the decentralization of energy systems and contributes to the development of rural areas, another objective of the EU strategy. In addition, forest biomass for energy contributes to the security of energy supply and promotes the energy independence of fossil fuels. The forest biomass procurement chain from the forest site to the power plant or biofuel refinery promotes new and innovative enterprise solutions, jobs in the procurement chain and also earning possibilities for forest owners in rural areas. However, one of the biggest chal-lenges to increase the use of forest biomass is the availability and proper use of suitable harvesting technology to meet the growing demand for raw material and at the same time ensure the sustain-able use of the forest ecosystems. Currently, forest biomass technology and supply systems are still under rapid development and in some countries experimental trials have only started recently.

On the contrary, research on this topic has a long tradition in several countries that lead develop-ment in the sector and have produced a large corpus of specific knowledge. However, there is a wide variability in the terminology, the organization of the experimental design, the data collec-tion methods and the data processing techniques used by different research groups in different countries: this makes it difficult not only to transfer experience where this is lacking, but espe-cially to compare data when more studies are already available on a given aspect. As a result, information about the biomass supply systems is fragmented and often contrasting: a great inter-national synergy could be developed if all could agree on a common study method, or a set of common methods among which to choose. To date, the fragmentation, variability and - at times - inconsistency of study methods has prevented both practitioners and the international academic community to fully profit from the already large amount of information about the supply systems in place. For example, forest machine cost calculations (cost/hour) are carried out in each country but vary significantly and results are therefore often not comparable. In order to build trust and confidence in the wood biomass markets the supply systems in place have to function properly and have to be economically viable both in the short and long term. Work and method studies are an essential component in increasing the efficiency of such systems and contribute to a large extent to successful promotion and implementation of existing as well as new and innovative technologies.

Research organizations dealing with wood supply topics have developed a wide variety of modelling tools to examine and forecast the impacts of changing wood flows from local to global levels of woody biomass harvesting and supply. The structured platform for comparison

of methods, exchange of information and further joint development of modelling methodology is, however, lacking. As a result, existing human resources are not used effectively to support the information need of the sector’s industry in the rapidly changing situation. The above mentioned problems are causing a serious fragmentation of research efforts and problems in Europe, in terms of communication and exchange of research results among researchers but also among other players in the field such as forest industries, machine manufacturers, forest owners and finally small and medium enterprises working the field of forest biomass for energy. Since the forest energy technology development and associated time studies are a recent phenomenon it provides the opportunity to develop a joint work study methodology right from the beginning. Cost is the best mechanism for support since it allows building on the already existing scientific knowledge of each partner country. Furthermore, through the possibilities of the networking concept, the most suitable research methods can be identified, harmonized and then standardized throughout the European Union. This would also contribute greatly to capacity building with the EU and strengthen the entire sector. The term forest biomass operations research includes work studies, measurements of inputs and outputs and logistics research of the whole supply chain.