Rawmaterial Supply and Harvesting Techniques

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Rawmaterial Supply and Harvesting Techniques

• Gunnar Bäck
• Globetrotter AB

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Introduction

• Overview of Scandinavian harvesting techniques
  for forest residues
• Residues in this context
• Branches
• Tree tops
• Brushwood
• Stumps
• Small trees
• Non commercial small trees

• Presentation based on
• Experts from Sweden, Finland Denmark
• My own 30 years of experience in the harvesting
  field

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Supply and usage of wood based fuels

• Sweden
• Biofuels incl. Peat account for 114 TWh of
  totally 637 TWh
• Close to 18 of total energy usage
• Of this wood based fuel accounts for 8 (2005)
• or 25M m³ solid volume per year

• Finland
• Biofuels incl. Peat account for 97 TWh of totally
  379 TWh
• Close to 26 of total energy usage
• Of this wood based fuel accounts for 10 (2005)
• or 18M m³ solid volume per year

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Assessment of quantities of wood fuel

• Almost all forest residue (90) is processed in
  conjunction with procurement of industrial wood
  as well as in conjunction with processing of
  industrial wood in sawmills and in pulp- and
  paper mills
• In Scandinavia you have a wood fuel potential of
  up to 45 of the amount of harvested volume for
  industrial purposes

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Key factors in the supply chain

• Normal harvesting system
• Almost all harvesting operations for industrial
  wood in Sweden and Finland are based on the fully
  mechanied CTL-system (Cut-To-Length)
• The normal harvesting system for industrial wood
  will as bi-products produce branches, tree tops
  and small delimbed stems

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Key factors in the supply chain

• Common features of forest residues
• Small dimensions on a piece basis
• Low value on a piece basis
• Low energy content in relation to fossil fuels
• Low density from a transport point of view

• Low concentration fram an area point of view
• Scattered availability
• High procurement costs on a piece basis for
  collection and transport
• High nutritional content

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Key factors in the supply chain
Development work

• Collection
• Multi functioning, accumulative felling head,
  which collects the cut trees
• Combination harvester, equipped with multi-
  functioning harvester head and a chipper
• Industrial wood
• Forest residue

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Key factors in the supply chain
Development work

• Transportation
• Increase of load density
• Special bundling technology that increases the
  density of the load

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Harvesting systems

• Location of chipper/crusher
• At the stump
• At roadside or at the landing
• At the plant

• Supply chains
• Initial investment
• Productivity
• Production capacity
• Cost per produced unit

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Harvesting systems

• Supply Chain 1
• Harvest of industrial wood
• Transport of loose residuals with special
  forwarder
• Chipping in forest or at landing

• Supply Chain 2
• Harvest of thinning material
• Chipping along strip road
• Transport to roadside of chips with special
  forwarder

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Harvesting systems

• Supply Chain 3
• Harvest of industrial wood
• Baling of forest residues
• Transport of bales with standard forwarder to
  landing
• Chipping at roadside or at plant

• Supply Chain 4
• Harvest of industrial wood in combination machine
• Chipping in the stand with combination machine
• Transport to roadside of chips with special
  forwarder

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Harvesting systems
General experience

• Chipping at the stump is favourable when
• Forwarding distances of lt250m
• Where chipping can not take place at plant
• Chipping at landing is favourable when
• Forwarding distances of gt250m
• Large chipping volumes at each landing

• Chipping at plant is favourable when
• Large consumption of forest residues at each
  specific plant

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Conclusions

• The increase in prices of fossil fuels that was
  originated by the first Oil Crisis of the 70ies
• The limited resources of oil and gas
• The Greenhouse effect that was a major issue in
  the Kyoto protocol
• all lead to an increased market for bioenergy

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Conclusions

• Wood fuels are good alternatives for replacement
  of parts of the consumption of fossil fuels
• In particular forest residues are still not
  utilised to a large degree
• The competiveness of forest residues from a
  pricing point of view has up to a few a years ago
  not been good
• However at present it has become an interesting
  alternative from an economical as well as from an
  environmental point of view due to the price
  increases of fossil fuels during the last few
  years

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Conclusions

• Recent developments in the harvesting techniques
  for forest residues have increased the
  competitiveness of forest residues and we are
  only in the beginning of this development
• Forest residues are an important part of the
  solution of the global energy issue

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Ladies and gentlemen Thank you for your attention

• Gunnar Bäck
• Globetrotter AB