Biomass procurementOne basic difference between bioenergy and other renewable forms of energy (hydro, wind, solar) is that in the first case, the primary resource must be produced and/or collected, with its corresponding cost, while for the other systems, the "fuel" (water, wind, solar radiation) is available for free.
Most of the wood for bioenergy currently comes from industrial wood residues (such as waste liquors from pulping industry and bark, sawdust and other wood wastes from sawmills and pulp and paper mills). However, in the medium term, when all this resource is exploited, solid biofuels will have to be based on the recovery of the forest residues as well as on dedicated agricultural production.
The harvest potential for forestry products and residues depends on the mechanisation level. And the mechanisation largely depends on the terrain, where steep terrain will limit the use of heavy or large forestry equipment. In Austria, the forest owners are responsible for building access roads which are absolutely essential for the procurement process. Experiences in Austria gives the following figures for harvest potential with the differing levels of mechanisation:
Harvesting Capacity
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Type of Harvesting |
Equipment Involved |
Cost of Harvesting | 3-40 m³/day | Manual cutting | Chainsaw, extraction by hand | 36-50 €/ solid m³ | 30-97 m³/day | Partially mechanised | Chainsaw, extraction by tractor, winch or skidder | 16 – 35 €/ solid m³ | 60 – 129 m³/day | Highly mechanised | processing using a processor, extraction by cables | 21 – 36 €/ solid m³ | 59 – 120 m³/day | Fully Mechanised | processing by harvester, extraction by forwarder | 17 – 25 €/ solid m³ | (Landwirtschaftskammersteiermark - Austrian Chamber of Forestry and Agriculture, 2007)
Link: The European Forest-Based Technology Platform is a European partnership for R&D in the forest-based sector.
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