Harvesting alternatives, accumulation and procurement cost of small-diameter thinning wood for fuel in Central Finland

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Highlights• With artificial drying and quick delivery, avoiding dry material losses of harvested timber, it could be possible to reduce the current costs of the prevailing procurement system based on natural drying of stored timber at roadside landings.• The maximum cost for the prospective drying process of fresh chips corresponds to, e.g., organization costs or stumpage price of delimbed stems. AbstractThis study was aimed at determining the maximum cost level of artificial drying required for cost-efficient operation. This was done using a system analysis approach, in which the harvesting potential and procurement cost of alternative fuel chip production systems were compared at the stand and regional level. The accumulation and procurement cost of chipped delimbed stems from young forests were estimated within a 100 km transport distance from a hypothetical end use facility located in northern Finland. Logging and transportation costs, stumpage prices, tied up capital, dry matter losses and moisture content of harvested timber were considered in the study. Moisture content of artificially dried fuel chips made of fresh timber (55%) was set to 20%, 30% and 40% in the comparisons. Moisture content of fuel chips based on natural drying during storing was 40%. Transporting costs were calculated according to new higher permissible dimensions and weight limits for truck-trailers. The procurement cost calculations indicated that with artificial drying and by avoiding dry material losses of timber, it could be possible to reduce current costs of the prevailing procurement system based on natural drying of timber at roadside landings. The maximum cost level of artificial drying ranged between 1.2-3.2 € MWh -1 depending on the supply chain, moisture content and procurement volume of fuel chips. This cost margin corresponds to, e.g., organization, forwarding and transportation costs or stumpage price of delimbed stems.

Section: Harvesting Conditions and Estimation Of The Potential Supplymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Productivity and Cost Parameters Of The Procurement Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pre-feasibility study of supply systems based on artificial drying of delimbed stem forest chips

Laitila¹,

Ahtikoski²,

Repola³

et al. 2017

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“…The models are based on a medium-size forwarder. We specified the load size to 6 m 3 for whole trees, and 9 m 3 for stemwood (pulpwood and delimbed stems), respectively (Laitila et al 2010;Laitila and Väätäinen 2011). To acquire the gross effective-time productivity (E15), we multiplied the effective-time productivity (E0) with 1.393 and 1.302 in harvesting and forwarding, respectively, as suggested by Laitila and Väätäinen (2011).…”

Section: Estimating Incomes Costs and Financial Performancementioning

confidence: 99%

“…This integrated harvesting generally reduces procurement costs of small-diameter wood (Rummukainen et al 2003;Kärhä 2011;Petty and Kärhä 2014), and for instance Heikkilä et al (2009) found the total stand management to be more profitable with integrated first thinning than with whole-tree first thinning in young pine or spruce stands. Whole-tree harvesting, where all trees including branches and tops are considered energy wood, may decrease the costs of cutting (no delimbing) but, on the other hand, increase the cost of forwarding due to the decreasing load size (Laitila et al 2010;Laitila and Väätäinen 2012). Preliminary studies concerning downy birch stands on drained peatlands have also shown that whole-tree energy wood harvesting, especially, may have poor profitability (Kojola et al 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

From useless thickets to valuable resource? – Financial performance of downy birch management on drained peatlands

Niemistö¹,

Kojola²,

Ahtikoski³

et al. 2017

Highlights• The most profitable management regimes for pulpwood and energy wood production in dense downy birch stands on drained peatlands include no thinnings, but final cutting at the stand age of 40-45 years as whole-tree harvesting, or as integrated harvesting of pulpwood and delimbed energy wood stems about 10 years later depending on applicable harvesting method.• A competitive management regime is early precommercial thinning at 4 m dominant height to a density of 2500 stems per hectare and production of pulpwood with a rotation of 55-65 years. Equal profitability is achieved with or without traditional first thinning, which can thus be included for other reasons, for example to improve regeneration of spruce. AbstractDowny birch (Betula pubescens Ehrh.) stands on drained peatlands are often considered useless because they typically do not yield good-quality sawn timber. However, covering an area of ca. 0.5 million hectares and with total yields of up to 250 m 3 ha -1 , downy birch stands on peatlands in Finland have a potential for pulpwood and/or energy wood production. We examined the financial performance of alternative management regimes (with or without thinnings, different thinning intensities, several rotation lengths) combined with alternative harvesting methods (pulpwood, energy wood, or integrated, energy wood being delimbed stems or whole trees). We used data from 19 experimental stands, monitored for 20-30 years. For harvesting removals we considered both actual thinning removals and final-cutting removals with alternative timings that were based on the monitoring data. We assessed the profitability as a combination of the net present value of the birch generation and the bare land value of future generations of Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.). The most profitable management was growing without thinnings until wholetree final cutting at the stand age of 40-45 years with an advanced multi-tree harvesting method. In contrast, the standard method in whole-tree final cutting resulted in the lowest profitability, and an integrated method with the energy wood as delimbed stems was the best of the standard methods. Thinnings were unprofitable especially when aiming to produce energy wood, whereas aiming for pulpwood, light precommercial thinning was competitive. Commercial thinning at the traditional "pulpwood stage" had little effect on profitability. The best stand age for final cutting was 40-65 years -earlier for very dense stands and whole-tree energy wood harvesting with advanced method, later for precommercially thinned stands and pulpwood harvesting.

“…Of these assortments, the supply costs of small trees are the highest because there is an additional cost of felling compared to the supply of crown biomass or sub-quality stemwood. Obtaining a supply of stump biomass also involves the additional cost of pulling the stumps out of the ground, but this is typically lower than the cost of felling small trees (Laitila et al 2010). Crown biomass, stumps and sub-quality stemwood are by-products of harvesting industrial roundwood, whereas small trees can be procured either in separate operations or as integrated with the pulp wood supply.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Estimating the bioenergy potential of forest chips from final fellings in Central Finland based on biomass maps and spatially explicit constraints

Muinonen¹,

Anttila²,

Heinonen³

et al. 2013

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The technical potential of forest chips from final fellings in Central Finland was estimated using a method based on biomass maps derived from a multi-source forest inventory technique. Image segmentation techniques were applied to a satellite image mosaic to detect stand boundaries. The technical potential of forest chips was computed based on primary forestry residues, i.e. logging residues and stumps from final fellings. Harvesting level definitions for final fellings were established using realized statistics for roundwood at the municipality level as well as larger area statistics. The sensitivity of the potential to ecological and technical constraints in the model was also examined. The technical recovery rate of stump harvesting according to biomass harvesting guidelines was evaluated separately. The critical prerequisites for using the advanced, spatially explicit approach to analysing forest energy potentials may lie in the existence of spatially explicit forest inventory data and the biometric models for tree biomass assortments. The method applied was capable of taking into account the constraints that rely upon map data, such the actual forwarding distance or steepness of the slope in the terrain. The calculation results can be used for strategic decision making in the field of forest bioenergy production.