COST FACTORS IN WOOD FUEL PROCUREMENT*

Integrating the planning and implementation of wood-based fuel production with the procurement of industrial round wood in conventional forestry is considered to be a feasible undertaking. When doing so, the logging sites potentially serving as sources of biomass residues to be salvaged for fuel need to be chosen on the basis of harvesting costs. It is essential to take carefully into account site-based cost factors such as the total volume of wood to be obtained from the site, site conditions, available equipment and operating technologies, off-road haulage and truck transportation distances, storage, and quality control. In addition, ecological sustainability, possibilities to concentrate operations, seasonal variation in consumption, and the wishes of land-owners also affect the choice of harvesting sites. An important factor is the scale of operation. Harvesting machinery is expensive and thus the annual output considerably affects the costs. In addition, the greater the share of the potential fuel supply recovered, the higher the cost of procurement. This is due to longer transport distances and the need to operate on less favourable sites. As regards deliveries of different wood fuels or fuel mixtures, the quality of the fuel and the demands of energy-generation plants should be also considered. The present situation in Finland and Sweden is such that the wood fuel delivered directly from the forest to users is recovered almost solely from final cuttings in the form of logging residues. Wood fuel obtained from thinning operations is of minor importance