Assessment method for energy wood biomass feedstock availability and transport costs at regional level

Assessment method for energy wood biomass feedstock availability and transport costs at regional level

EN

Spatially explicit GIS-method and a collection of tools to assess the energy wood biomass availability and transport costs at regional level to any given end-use location. In the process the technical harvesting biomass potential, local competing demand and the wood resource balance are assessed. The transport costs from the grid of supply points can be viewed as a function of transport distance. Also, different future growth and demand scenarios can be included into calculations thus providing a valuable decision support to investors of energy wood industry.

Most customer projects differ from every other project in some respect. Calculation methods need more or less adjustment.

Results from the analysis: 1. Numerical (GIS) maps of biomass potential for any given timber assortment, biomass demand and wood resource balance (e.g. balance of small trees, see picture above).
2. Graphs depicting transport costs as a function of distance. 3. Spreadsheets of the result data used for graphs. 4. Summary report of the results for the customers.

For more information, see the reference.

Type of wood
Stemwood
Origin of wood
Forest
Mobilization Potential
Not possible to assess.
Kind of wood concerned
Above and below ground woody biomass (ex. shrubs, wood for fibres, wood for energy), Stemwood, Industry
Sustainability Potential
Medium (Maximum technical harvesting potentials comply with the sustainable energy wood strategy set by the Finnish government)
Impact on environment & biodiversity

Medium (see above)

Ease of implementation
Easy (the assessment is done by research experts, customers only need to define the basic requirements and calculation area)
Economic impact
Positive, helps the customers to plan their business in a more detailed way
Job effect
Positive, helps the customers to plan their business in a more detailed way
Income effect
Not possible to assess.
Specific knowledge needed
Comprehensive database, coding
Key prerequisites

Available on request for the customers in Finland only at the moment.

Domain
Forest management, ecosystem, resilience
Harvesting, infrastructure, logistics
Challenge addressed
5.- Enhance economic and environmental performance of forest supply chains
Type of solution
Modelling, simulation, optimization
Digital solution
Yes
Innovation
Yes
Country of origin
Finland
Scale of application
National
Start and end year
2016 -
Contact data
Owner or author
Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke)
Perttu Anttila
Reporter
Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke)
Vesa Nivala
References and Resources
Project under which this factsheet has been created
Rosewood