European foresters interested in adapting Finnish woodfuel supply models

As the European countries concentrate on climate and energy policy objectives, one of the most important tasks is to replace fossil fuels with forest and agricultural biomasses. The basic situation is the same in many countries: the forests are full of wood, but the mobilization of woody fuels is a major challenge.

In Finland as well as in the European Union, the 20-20-20 targets are enough to chew on, but exporting the strong Finnish experience in utilizing forest biomass resources, especially from privately owned woodlands may help other EU countries increase the use of woodfuel. As a part of the AFO (Activating Forest Owners to Increase Forest Fuel Supply) international bioenergy project, a group of Latvian and British woodland owners and forestry professionals became acquainted with the Finnish forest bioenergy solutions for one week in October in the Jyväskylä region. The Finnish project partners, Technical Research Institute VTT and Forestry Development Centre Tapio hosted the training week. The aim of the training was to demonstrate the Finnish best practice models of the supply chain through all stages, from harvesting to combustion.

New ideas to take home

Welshman Peter Bottoms participated in the training with his son Jack. In connection to their forest holding, Bottoms have a sawmill enterprise Esgair Timber Company LTD and together with it they plan to build a wood chip using CHP-unit (Combined Heat and Power plant). Wood energy business is not entirely new for the two of them, since the fuelwood trade has been a part of their business for some time. The Bottoms participated in the training with the aim to acquire useful new practices for their future biomass procurement and contracting.

- With good planning biomass can be good business, when done to the Finnish standard of professionalism. Based on what we learned, we will for example extend the use of stack covers. This way, we will be chipping the material at 27% moisture content on a dry basis, simply with natural drying. It certainly works.

Englishman Matthew Taylor works for Forest and Land Management Ltd, a company providing forestry services to woodland owners. Taylor is interested in wood energy especially because it could create a demand for small-diameter trees from early thinnings.

- Although the harvesting and processing technology exists in the UK, there is currently little or no market for this material. This is something I’d like to develop. Also the Finnish practicalities of setting up and installing community led domestic heat schemes was very interesting to see in practice. It’s something that there is an emerging appetite for here in the UK.

Quality requirements of fuel determine the whole supply chain

In Central and Western Europe the quality of fuel chips is generally very high, because the raw material contains mainly coarse stemwood. In addition, chips are often dried and stored under roof. In Finland, the boiler technology allows combustion of wood chips with remarkably higher moisture content. This saves costs and provides flexibility in the supply chain, as the woodfuel can be stored in the forest and be chipped just before burning.

On the other hand, the use of logging residue chips and crushed stumps is quite rare elsewhere in Europe. Last year, over three million cubic meters of slash and stumps were combusted in Finland. The Finnish solutions for whole-tree harvesting as well as the environmental management to guarantee the sustainability of biomass accumulation are superb expertise for export. 

Read more about the AFO project at www.afo.eu.com

See also a video about Wood fuel boom as other energy costs spiral, by BBC News England. The video involves partners and stakeholders of the AFO project in the South Yorkshire, UK.

Further information:
Martti Kuusinen, expert in bioenergy and quality control
Forestry Development Centre Tapio, Helsinki, Finland
Tel. +358 40 730 6871, martti.kuusinen(at)tapio.fi