Energy cannot be produced without consumption of some part of the energy, and the proportions in which this occurs are a key indicator of the efficiency of the production process. Energy return on investment (EROI) of energy production shows the relationship between obtained and invested energy in the production process. This relationship is a key factor in sustainable global energy supply. Wood chips and onemetre firewood are used to produce thermal energy. Amount of energy obtained by burning depends on the moisture content and the features of the energy plant. This chapter deals with the issue of the amount of energy required to produce in the process of wood chips and one-metre firewood production and its transport to the heating plant. When calculating the energy balance, it is important to include as many input parameters as possible (parameters of energy consumption), which represents an almost impossible task because one parameter directly binds several others. According to several authors, the relationship between obtained and invested energy or EROI for energy wood is 30:1 which is a better ratio than the production of oil, for which relationship between obtained and invested energy is about 20:1. The results of study show that most of the energy during the production and supply of energy wood products from final felling of oak stands is used for fuel for machinery and vehicles in the production process. Ultimately, the relationship between obtained and invested energy is approximately 25:1 in the case of moisture content in the wood chips in the limit (market) value of 35% and the mean distance truck transportation of wood chips of 50 km. The relationship of obtained and invested energy used for one-metre firewood is bigger than 25:1 because of less invested energy which does not include machines like wood chipper. This is a satisfactory relationship, but it decreases with a greater transport distance. Such is the case when chips manufactured in Croatia, due to the lack of heat plants, are transported over long distances to neighbouring countries.

background and Purpose: Fuel consumption in timber harvesting operations is significant for both economic and environmental reasons. In economic sense, one significant part of timber harvesting costs is reduced to fuel costs, and in environmental sense 80% to 95% of exhaust emissions and soot particles in forest machinery are in fact associated with fuel consumption. Materials and Methods: The research object was a 6-wheel Valmet 840.2 forwarder and research was conducted in Forest Administration Vinkovci (lowland part of Croatia) during seeding felling in a stand of pedunculate oak and narrow-leafed ash. For the purpose of measuring fuel consumption on the researched forwarder a differential flow device was installed together with FMS (Fleet Management System) which was used for data transfer. results: Fuel consumption is expressed in six different ways concerning: cycle, extraction distance of 100 m, time (hour), load mass (tons), gross load volume (m 3) and product of mass and transporting distance (tkm). Fuel consumption amounted to 0.56 l•tkm-1 during the extracting of logs and 0.78 l•tkm-1 during the extraction of energy wood. The results also show an increasing trend of fuel consumption expressed per ton of transported load with the increase of travelled distance during the extraction. Conclusions: Fuel consumption expressed in l•tkm-1 is the most accurate fuel consumption indicator because it allows a realistic comparison of different types of machines with different loads (t, m 3) at different extracting distances. The higher fuel consumption of an unloaded forwarder compared to a loaded forwarder can be explained with an increased wheel slip of an unloaded forwarder due to reduced traction between wheels and the soil both in the extraction of logs and energy wood.

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Fuel consumption of forest machinery and vehicles depends mainly on terrain conditions, working methods, drivers' skills, engine load under working conditions, engine speed, type and technical characteristics of the machine. In timber harvesting operations, fuel consumption is significant for both, economic (costs), and environmental issues (80-95% of exhaust emissions and soot particles are associated with fuel consumption). The objective of this study was to compare fuel consumption in two different forwarders and to analyse two different measuring devices for fuel consumption. Fuel consumption was measured on a 6-wheeled Valmet 840.2 forwarder and an 8-wheeled Valmet 860.4 during roundwood and energy wood extraction in winter period. A differential fuel flow meter and a fuel measuring probe were used for measuring fuel consumption as well as a Fleet Management System (FMS) for transmitting measured data. Fuel consumption was expressed in six different ways depending on the stage of the working cycle, time, travelled distance, load volume and load mass. Finally, both the advantages and disadvantages of the used fuel measuring devices were gained. The results indicated higher fuel consumption of the smaller Valmet 840.2 forwarder due to lower soil bearing capacity and longer extraction distances. For both forwarders, higher fuel consumption (expressed in l t -1 km -1 ) was observed while extracting energy wood due to its lower overall mass. © SISEF https://iforest.sisef.org/ 125 iForest 12: 125-131 Department of Forest Engineering, Faculty of Forestry, University of Zagreb, Svetošimunska 25, Zagreb (Croatia) @ @ Zdravko Pandur (zpandur@sumfak.hr)

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