Current state and development possibilities of wood chip supply chains in Austria

The importance of forest wood chips as fuel for energy production will increase relative to sawmill by-products. The additional production is not a question of potential (harvesting residues, wood from thinning, coppice stands and short rotation forests) but more so a question of economic feasibility. The analyses of different chip production systems resulted in the identification of two major challenges: (1) the design of the chipping and transport interface, and (2) the need to reduce transportation costs. Chipping and transportation are the key processes for production and can be completed in closed or interrupted work chains. Direct chipping into the transportation machine requires larger operating areas and results in operational delays of the chipper (20% of the total work time) and the truck. In mountainous areas the separation of chipping and transportationcan be appropriate and reduce costs by 24–32%. The increasing fuel demand will result in a larger supply area for the energy producer and lead to increasing transportation costs. An improved utilization of the load volumes can be achieved through drying the material, compressing of harvesting residues as well as higher payloads. Drying wood on storage areas near the forest increases the transportation productivity by 50%. Bundling of harvesting residues pays off especially by larger transportation distances