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Irdla, M., Padari, A., Kurvits, V., Muiste, P. 2017. The chipping cost of wood raw material for fuel in Estonian conditions. -Forestry Studies | Metsanduslikud Uurimused 66, 65-74. ISSN 1406-9954. Journal homepage: http://mi.emu.ee/forestry.studies Abstract. In Estonia up to now the producers of wood fuels have not yet adequately analysed the production and transport costs although it is known that the share of these costs form up to half of the fi nal price of wood chips or hog fuel. With this in mind the goal of the case study was defi ned -to analyse the price formation of comminuted wood fuels in Estonian conditions. Within one year of the survey the initial data was collected from the company SLG Energy. Different types of machines (7 in total) were observed -wood chippers Jenz HEM 561, Jenz HEM 582, Heinola 910ES, and Doppstadt DH 608. All machines were equipped with a GPS tracking device which recorded the route and the fuel consumption and during the observation period all costs and revenues related to the concerned machines were accounted. It was determined that due to frequent repairs the maintenance costs of older machines were higher and productivity lower compared with new machines. The biggest item of expenditure turned out to be the fuel consumption. The second was the cost of repairs in the case of older machines and price in the case of new machines. Also the type of chipper had an impact on the production cost. Under the cumulative effect of various factors the production cost turned out to vary widely from 1.03 to 2.38 €/m l 3 .

The properties of biomass-based fuel and combustion tests showed that logging residues are promising renewable energy sources. The data used in this study were collected from four clear-felling areas in Järvselja Training and Experimental Forest Centre, Southeast Estonia in 2013–2014. Logging was carried out by harvesters in Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.), Norway spruce (Picea abies [L.] Karst.), silver birch (Betula pendula Roth.) and black alder (Alnus glutinosa L. Gaertn.) dominated stands with a small admixture of other tree species according to the cut-to-length method and logging residues were placed in heaps. The aim of this research is to assess different characteristics of logging residues (quantity, moisture content, energetic potential, ash content and amount) in clear-felling areas. The highest load of slash was measured on the birch dominated study site, where the dry weight of the logging residues was 29 t ha−1. Only the branch fraction moisture content on the black alder dominated site (35.4%) was clearly different from respective values on other sites (21.6–25.4%). The highest calorific value of the residues was assessed with the residues from the birch dominated site, where in moist sample it was 365 GJ ha−1 and in dry matter 585 GJ ha−1. The heating value of the fresh residues is highest in coniferous trees. The highest ash content in branch segments was registered for the black alder dominated site. Järvselja data indicate higher quality in conifer dominated sites, yet a higher load of logging residues in broadleaf dominated stands.

I. OSTONEN *(a) , K. LÕHMUS (a) , S. ALAMA, J. TRUU (b) , E. KAAR (c) , A. VARES (c) , V. URI (c) , V. KURVITS (c)