Influence of Characteristics and Extension of a Forest Road Network on the Supply Cost of Forest Woodchips (original) (raw)

Evaluating the Effects of Improving Forest Road Standards on Economic Value of Forest Products

Croatian journal of forest engineering, 2021

Forest roads are the key infrastructures that provide access to forest areas for sustainable management, protection, and utilization of forest resources. In order to benefit from the important functions of forest roads, they should be built in with adequate technical road standards. The road network with low technical standards require more frequent major repairs to ensure continues access to forest resources. In addition, only small trucks with low load capacity can move on the low standard roads. Furthermore, the low road standards limit the truck speed that increases vehicle travel time. These negative effects increase the transportation costs which are an important part of the timber production costs in Turkey. Thus, improving the road standards and developing forest transportation planning should be evaluated together in the most appropriate way. Large logging trucks with high load capacity are generally preferred for efficient transportation of wood-based forest products. In T...

The short wood supply chain: an opportunity for the forest bio-economy in Italy

Forest@, 2021

The short wood supply chain: an opportunity for the forest bio-economy in Italy The motivations for the National Research Project on the Short Wood Supply Chain stem from the recognition of the great importance of the wood-based bio-economy for the future carbon-free society. In addition to the essential ecological benefits provided by forests, natural wood resources are expected to play a significant role due to the increasing wood demand for structural and non-structural uses. However, in Italy most industrial wood products are made from imported timber, which results in poor attention to local forestry, loss of traditional silvicultural know-how and reduced forest employment in most mountain areas. The project specifically aims: (i) to assess the feasability and sustainability of wood short supply chains; (ii) to promote new models of environmental certification and energy efficiency analysis; (iii) to create innovative products for bio-building (CrossLam, laminated timber, wood panels) using wood assortments from sustainable forest management in Italy; (iv) to characterise the functionality of wood products (with attention paid to architectural issues), predict wood degradation rate and assess conservation methods. Attention is specifically devoted to most common forest species in Italy, such as beech, pines, chestnut, deciduous oaks and poplar and to test thermal and surface treatments with natural substances and nano-materials.

Variability of energy woodchips and their economic effects

Folia Forestalia Polonica, 2016

The main aim of the work is to assess physical parameters of forest woodchips and their impact on the prices achieved by the supplier in transactions with a power plant. During fragmentation of logging residue, high content of green matter and contaminants negatively impacts the quality parameters that serve as basis for settlements. The analysis concerns data on the main parameters - water content, fuel value, sulphur and ash content - from 252 days of deliveries of forest chips to a power plant. The deliveries were realised from forested areas on an average about 340 km from the plant. Average water content and the resultant fuel value of forest chips was within 27-47% and 8.7-12.9 GJ×Mg-1 (appropriately), respectively. They depend on the month in which they are delivered to the power plant. The threshold values for the above-mentioned parameters are set by the plant at a real level and the suppliers have no problems with meeting them. The parameter that is most frequently exceede...

Use of Forest Residues for Building Forest Biomass Supply Chains: Technical and Economic Analysis of the Production Process

Forests, 2013

In the field of biomass and bio-energy production, an analysis was performed of the whole production process from biomass supply to bio-energy production. The available biomass, harvesting and transportation costs and the distribution of supply area were quantified. The assessment of volumes was based on forest type and its relative increment. The transportation costs, influenced by different species-specific and site-specific factors, were calculated by integrating data in a geographic information system (GIS). The economic values calculated were the main economic indicators (net present value (NPV), internal rate of return (IRR) and Payback Period). The results show that: (a) there is a good supply of forest biomass across most of the territory of Basilicata region, Italy; (b) the harvesting and transportation costs are dependent on biomass density and distances; (c) there are strong margins for economic profits at the level of each single supply basin; and (d) the endogenous value added was estimated to about 150 seasonal workers.

Influence of Wood Stacking Location on Forest Transport Costs

FLORESTA

Given the importance of forest transportation planning due to its high contribution in wood final cost, the distance between forest plantation stands and the wood final destination should be optimized in order to reduce process cost. The relation between distance and transportation cost is known, yet, it is still necessary to evaluate how much the location of the wood piles inside the stand interferes with its final cost. Thus, we try to evaluate the influence of the wood stacking location on forest transportation costs. The vectorization of the general map of a property located in Minas Gerais state was performed through the QGIS software, by representing the planting areas by polygons, internal and external access roads by lines, and the possible wood-stacking location to be transported by points. In each stand, four wood-stacking sites were considered, each on one side of the stand. Considering this, optimal route simulations were performed based on the criterion of the shortest ...

An environmental and economic analysis of the wood-pellet chain: two case studies in Southern Italy

The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, 2017

Purpose Wood pellet heating systems are considered as an essential component of European plans to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The goal of this analysis was to estimate and compare the environmental impacts and the costs of the production of packed wood pellets. Two pellet production systems, using roundwood logs (case 1) and mainly sawdust (case 2), have been analysed in 2015 in Basilicata region (Southern Italy). Methods A life cycle assessment (LCA) analysis was applied to calculate the environmental impact indicators of each system, whilst a life cycle cost (LCC) analysis was implemented to evaluate the pellets' cost production. Hence, the functional unit chosen was 1 t of produced pellets. The system boundaries considered for the purpose of the current investigation were from the tree felling to the pellet packaging. In particular, the following activities were considered: motor-manual felling and delimbing with a chainsaw, timber yarding with a tractor along the forest track, loading and transportation of the logs to the collection point, transportation of timber to the factories

Increasing wood mobilization through Sustainable Forest Management in protected areas of Italy

The European Community has long recognized the need to further promote renewable energy. Under the overall objective to support and enhance sustainable management, the promotion of the use of forest biomass could help to mitigate climate change by substituting fossil fuel, increasing carbon stock in wood products and improve energy self-suffi ciency enhancing security of supply and providing job opportunities in rural areas. To what extent Italian forests can satisfy an increased wood demand, without compromising the others Ecosystem Services (ESs) remains an open question. Our aim was to assess the potential supply of woody biomass from the network of protected areas in Italy considering the felling constraints. We estimated the theoretical annual potential increment from forest inventory data performing a correlation with the Corine Land Cover 2006 at the IV level with a 1:100,000 resolution elaborated in a GIS (Geographic Information System) environment. The average annual potential increment at national level available for felling was 4.4 m 3 ha -1 . Within the network of protected areas (EUAP and Natura 2000), the average annual increment, available to felling, was 0.98 m 3 ha -1 , respectively 0.81 m 3 ha -1 from coppice and 1.14 m 3 ha -1 from non-coppice forests. Based on data obtained from this study, the availability of wood materials could be increased of almost 20 % at national level by pursuing an active management within the network of protected areas. In Italy, the actual level of resource utilization is rather low; increasing felling together with the implementation of an active management within protected areas could allow satisfying, theoretically, the Italian wood consumption.

Wood Chipping Service: An Analysis Approach In Northeastern Italy

2007

With the spread of wood chip boilers and district heating, the chipping service in North-eastern Italy is gradually growing. With a GIS based approach is possible to define operative areas of chipping services in relation to the availability of wood biomass that potentially can be chipped. By evaluating the amount of wood that could be chipped, it is possible to check if chippers have the warranty of operating time so that the machine initial investment is justified. Moreover, the possibility to buy and use further chippers, that can work in a sustainable way with the potentially available biomass, can be evaluated. Wood biomass for chipping service, potentially available from forest and sawmill, is estimated and combined to chipping service headquarters distribution and to road network. Chipping service productivities and costs are considered for two classes of machines: big and medium power class. In the supposed conditions, the study highlights that the current distribution of chippers in the North-eastern Italy require about 70 000 t/y of woody biomass from forest and wood industry. Some more biomass is still available to be chipped, but actually it can be covered with a more far working distance. Moreover not all estimated wood biomass can be technically supplied because of high cost.

Thinning in black pine (Pinus nigra J.F.Arnold) forests: the economic sustainability of the wood-energy supply chain in a case study in Italy

Annals of Silvicultural Research, 2020

In Italy, black pine has been largely used in reforestation projects in the past. Most of these reforestations are characterized by a high instability, vulnerability, and a limited resistance to atmospheric agents. In this situation, it is crucial to define silvicultural interventions able to increase the ecological stability of black pine stands and at the same time to guarantee the economic sustainability of the wood products obtained. Thinning in black pine forests can provide wood material for energy use. The main aim of the present study was to investigate the economic sustainability of a local wood-energy supply chain applying three different forest management options. The case study was Monte Morello forest, a degraded black pine forest located in Central Italy. The results show that the long-term economic sustainability of the wood-energy supply chain is ensured only when the use of bio-fuel is characterized by high energy efficiency. In addition, the results show that publi...