The Use of Forest Biomass for Energy Purposes in Selected European Countries

Abstract

The utilization of primary and secondary woody biomass resources, despite controversies, is being promoted to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and due to the need to diversify energy sources and ensure energy security in European Union countries. Forest biomass is one of the renewable and sustainable energy sources that can be used for electricity, heat, and biofuel production. In the context of the ongoing energy crisis in Europe, an attempt was made to analyze the production and consumption of woody biomass for energy purposes (fuel wood, chips, and pellets). Specifically, an analysis of similarities between European countries in terms of biomass utilization was conducted. The analysis was complemented by a forecast of primary biomass production in selected European countries. The similarity analysis was conducted using the Ward method. Artificial neural networks (ANNs), including multi-layer feedforward perceptron (MLP) and radial basis function (RBF) models, were used to predict fuelwood extraction. The study showed that woody biomass remains an important source of bioenergy in Europe, and its significance as a strategic resource guaranteeing energy security is likely to increase. Fuel wood harvesting in Europe generally shows an upward trend, particularly in the Czech Republic, Germany, Estonia, Denmark, and the UK. A decreasing trend was observed in France, Spain, Greece, and Cyprus. The analysis revealed differences between countries in terms of woody biomass consumption. The ANN-based forecasts of fuelwood supply generally showed an increase in primary biomass harvesting.

Overview of Health and Safety Risks in the Process of Production and Storage of Forest Biomass for Energy Purposes—A Review

“…Potential sources for the production of biomass and forest chips from it are mainly harvesting slash, purpose-grown plantations of fast-growing trees, or energy stands, Smallwood from cuttings and thinnings, or the crown parts of harvested trees, unsuitable for the production of higher-quality raw-wood assortments [18][19][20][21]. Obtaining wood chips from trees grown for energy purposes, but also from harvesting slash, is a complex technological process and requires certain technical equipment.…”

Optimizing Forest-Biomass-Distribution Logistics from a Multi-Level Perspective—Review

“…Most of them considered the business objective function. Optimization efforts for many of the targets included business outcomes, environmental impacts and indicators of forest-biomass-distribution-logistics optimization studies [117][118][119][120][121] (Figure 2).…”

“…In the references reviewed to date, most of the research has focused on strategic decision making to support investment allocation and policy in the forestry, timber, or energy sectors. The dominant trend is to adopt optimization methods for logistics, production, and distribution planning and for product-life-cycle scheduling [41,117,118,[126][127][128].…”

Forest Supply Chain for Bioenergy: An Approach for Biomass Study in the Framework of a Circular Bioeconomy

“…Forest biomass value chains have been heavily criticized in recent decades, associating the use of woody biomass for energy with over-exploitation of forests, including permanent deforestation and tree burning [21,57], which run contrary to global goals regarding climate change, sustainable development, and biodiversity conservation. However, the greatest impacts on ecosystems would probably come from excessive land-use change that lacks planning and environmental assessments [32].…”