Research Trends in European Forest Fuel Supply Chains: A Review of the Last Ten Years (2007–2016) – Part Two: Comminution, Transport & Logistics

Within the fuel wood supply chain, comminution and transport have been identified as processes with the highest costs, energy consumption and emissions. The coordination of comminution and transport aimed at avoiding operational delays is also complex. Nevertheless, the use of forest biomass helps to reduce the effects of climate change and produces an additional income, especially in rural areas. About 20 years ago, at the beginning of the industrial forest fuel utilisation, the focus of the research was on developing and analysing adequate supply chains and machines. Nowadays, as state-of-the-art systems have been established, the focus is on improving the efficiency of the processes and the quality of the products. This paper provides a review of research trends of the last ten years focusing on comminution and transport of forest biomass in Europe. Comminution should become more efficient by analysing the effects of wood characteristics on chipper performance and product quality, by tailoring chipper configuration according to those findings and by introducing mechanical devices for improving the quality of chips. Transport processes have the potential to become more efficient if the configuration of trucks is adapted according to operational and legal requirements, and when considering moisture content management. Finally, economic and environmental assessment of supply chains was made by several studies. Future research is expected to focus on customizing the product quality according to user’s requirements and on optimising the coordination of chipper and truck by simulation and automatization tools