Biorefineries' impacts on the Austrian forest sector: A system dynamics approach

Stern, Tobias; Ledl, Caroline; Braun, Martin; Hesser, Franziska; Schwarzbauer, Peter

doi:10.1016/j.techfore.2014.04.001

Cited by 31 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 55 publications

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“…There are few comparable studies available in terms of scope and research problems (e.g., Schipfer et al 2017). However, the current study supports the finding of Stern et al (2015) that the limitations for the use of hemicellulose (and extracts) relate to markets rather than technology, while the opposite holds for lignin . Even products such as activated lignin for adhesives to substitute phenolic resin show a low technological readiness level, let alone platform or fine chemicals based on the thermochemical conversion of lignin (Kruus and Hakala 2017).…”

Section: Sectorsupporting

confidence: 80%

Diversification of the forest industries: role of new wood-based products

et al. 2018

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This study identifies new wood-based products with considerable potential and attractive markets, including textiles, liquid biofuels, platform chemicals, plastics, and packaging. We apply a mixed-methods review to examine how the position of the forest industry in a given value chain determines the respective production value. An assessment is provided as to the degree to which these emerging wood-based products could compensate for the foreseen decline of graphic paper markets in four major forest industry countries: USA, Canada, Sweden, and Finland. A 1%-2% market share in selected global markets implies a potential increase in revenues of 18-75 billion euros per annum in the four selected countries by 2030. This corresponds to 10%-43% of the production value of forest industries in 2016 and compares with a projected decline of graphic paper industry revenue of 5.5 billion euros by 2030. The respective impacts on wood use are manifold, as many of the new products utilize by-products as feedstock. The increase in primary wood use, which is almost entirely attributed to construction and to some extent textiles markets, would be in the range of 15-133 million m 3 , corresponding to 2%-21% of the current industrial roundwood use in the selected countries.

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Section: Sectorsupporting

confidence: 80%

Diversification of the forest industries: role of new wood-based products

et al. 2018

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“…Profitability can also be increased by tree-derived commodity flexing; using the case of Austria, Stern et al (2015) argue that biorefineries would secure higher profits for the whole forest sector as sawmills, for example, could sell their residues to biorefineries and thus become more competitive. But other researchers emphasize that profitability depends on low biomass cost and/or a large-volume production plant: for example Pettersson et al (2015) argue, using the case of Sweden as illustration, that siting is a key issue in securing a low biofuel cost structure.…”

Section: Gm Trees: Low-and High-lignin Flexing Pathsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The political economy of ‘flex trees’: a preliminary analysis

Kröger

2016

The Journal of Peasant Studies

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With the rise of 'bioeconomy', trees are receiving increasing attention. This contribution conducts a preliminary analysis of the trajectories and the main drivers of change in the rise of new, flexible and multiple uses of trees. It assesses the political dimensions involved in this transformation, which is simultaneously ongoing, anticipated and imagined. Notes are offered on the issues to be considered when the flex-crop framework is operationalized to include the study of trees, and additional conceptualizations that help in analyzing the political economy of tree uses are provided. Areas needing further empirical study are identified and a preliminary research agenda is suggested. The flexible and multiple use of trees and tree-derived commodities is having a large impact on power relations in the global political economy of forestry and the forest industry, the asymmetry of which is based on who is best able to flex or de-multiply, thereby controlling commodity webs and processing technology. It is argued that while flexing seems to increase diversity, in practice it typically increases this only for the processing industry; the converse occurs in terms of the unification of the productive base into monocultures. However, these two processes go hand in hand, and illustrate how flexing is a deeply capitalist process.

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“…The model is first run with the base input data (a) for different combinations of technologies and hosts (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19); see Table 8.…”

Section: Description Of Model Runsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Forest industries in Europe as well as in North America are facing challenging times, with profitability problems and recurrent mill closures. As discussed by among others Näyhä and Pesonen [2] and Stern et al [3], business development and industry redefinition are needed, and development towards new value chains and biorefineries could provide new vitality and added value to existing industries. Integration of biofuel production into existing forest industry has previously been studied for different geographical conditions by e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%