IUFRO Meeting-Zvolen 2008

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plantations. Despite its relatively high production cost (Hoffmann and Weih, 2005), bioenergy produced from woody biomass has several advantages over fossil fuels. The production of woody biomass energy can generate jobs and income and stimulate rural economic development (Hall, 2002). Forest resources are relatively large in Albania (ca. 941 690 ha) (GDFP, 2004), providing a good basis for the development of bioenergy systems. This figure which refers to forests with a canopy cover of more than 10 per cent and an area of more than 0.5 ha (FAO, 2006), includes all types of forest from primary, undisturbed forest, through natural and semi-natural forests which have been modified by human activity to plantations. Other wooded land (FAO, 2006) cover an area of 557 260 ha or 19% of the Albanian territory (GDFP, 2004). The low intensity of forest management practices in Albania has resulted in relatively dense forest stands that can yield large volumes of forest fuel (e.g. firewood, logging residues, etc). At present, the forest fuel is often handled in the same way as e.g. pulpwood, while logging residues such as tops and branches are left behind. There are, therefore, good reasons to evaluate the possibility of using the existing forest residues more efficiently. In addition, land degradation has been identified as a major issue for Albania (Jansen et al. 2006) and a large area (ca. 130 000 hectares) (Dida, 2003) of arable land area has remained undistributed to farmers or private owners. The refused, unused for crops cultivation or abandoned land is spread over all districts of the country and is available for the establishment of Short Rotation Forest plantation with poplar, eucalyptus and willow. In recent years, the Albanian government has made its commitment on bioenergy development, mainly focusing on electricity generation as part of the clean power development strategy (METE, <strong>2008</strong>). The focus is on the utilization of the large quantities of so-called surplus agriculture residues, and on the potential of using of forest biomass resources. This move, both as government policy and industrial involvement, is being supported by most energy experts and environmental economists. This paper reviews the legal and technical aspects that affect the current utilization of woody biomass for energy in Albania, focusing on its importance to sustainable development. Attempts are made on shedding light on necessary improvements in technical, legal, institutional and policy-related support for further development to meet the challenge of sustainable energy development in Albania. Forest biomass and bioenergy According to the last National Forest Inventory, forest (high forest, coppices and shrubs) cover over 941 690 ha (GDFP, 2004), whilst other wooded lands (FAO, 2006) cover an area of 557 260 ha or 19% of the Albanian territory (GDFP, 2004). But measuring the capability of the forest estate has less to do with the size of forest area, i. e. the proportion of the land’s surface under forest, or with the figure of forest area per head. Rather, we need to consider how the county can meet demand for forest goods and services (Dano, 2005). Although in terms of area, forest and wooded land cover almost 45% of the total area, the importance of the forest sector (including forest industries) in the GDP is relatively low. The total growing stock volume of Albanian forest is calculated to be ca. 74 million m3 (GDFP, 2004), while to ensure a sustainable forest management, the total potential of Albanian forest is ca. 864 000 m 3 /year with almost half of it (414 000 m 3 ) comprising fuelwood (GDFP, 2004). Total forest biomass is estimated to be ca. 53 million ton of which 84% is provided from high forest and ca. 16% from the coppices (Table 1). 37
Table 1: Forest biomass production according to the management regime (Source: GDFP, 2004) Management Regime t/ha Total (million t) % High Forest 96.1 45.0 84.0 Coppice 13.0 8.1 15.8 Schrubs 0.3 0.1 0.2 Total 34.2 53.2 100.0 As seen from these data, the long-term bioenergy resource potential in Albania is relatively large, providing a good basis for the development of bioenergy systems. Assuming 3 m 3 /ha net growth, 500 kg dry substance per m 3 , and 16 GJ/ton (Nilsson et al. 2004), the energy stored annually in the 0.94 Mha of forests is in the order of 50 PJ. Some earlier reports calculated the energy potential of Albanian forest to be ca. 450 millions of GJ or 450 PJ (AEA, 2006), but this estimation might be too exaggerated. This potential can be in the form of forest residues after logging, biomass resulting from thinning of dense stands and biomass from short rotation forestry plantations. Forest harvesting is a major source of biomass for energy (Mitchell, 1983). Harvesting operations usually remove about 25-45% of the volume, leaving the residues available as biomass for energy (Perry, 1998; Fung et al. 2002). When forests are harvested in Albania, the great majority of forest managers rely on advanced natural “regeneration,” meaning that there are the young tree seedlings that will comprise the future forest. At present, forest fuel is often handled in the same way as e.g. pulpwood while logging residues such as tops and branches are left behind. Although it is difficult to get a full picture of the recent development in forest harvesting in Albania, as the quality of statistics is precarious and time series for forest logging are not totally reliable, in using data from different sources and considering a current harvest rate of 350 000 m 3 per year one can assume that approximately 5-6 TJ may be available as forest residues in the long term while additional volumes could be available as wood waste from the wood industry (Zeneli, 2009). Thinning stands to promote the growth of the remaining trees or to reduce losses from fire, insects, or disease can provide biomass from tree boles, some crown material, and occasionally understory shrubs. The low intensity of forest management practices in Albania has resulted in relatively dense forest stands that can yield large volumes of forest fuel (e.g. firewood, logging residues, etc). Potential young stands for energy wood procurement cover a substantial area in Albania. Using the information from the National Forest Inventory data (GDFP, 2004), the pre-commercial thinning combined with first thinning could provide as much as 25 GWh energy annually in Albania (Zeneli, 2009). However, the overall economics of biomass harvesting should be evaluated in view of its long-term impact on the forest stand. Although described since late-1960s and early 1970s, first as a mean of rapidly producing lingo-cellulosic fibre for use in the wood products industry (Brown, 1976), short-rotation forest (SRF) plantations supply systems only recently are growing on fertile land for the production of bio-fuels at commercial scale in several countries (Weih, 2009). In the future, short rotation forest plantations are likely to become increasingly important also in Albania because both, the above-ground and the below-ground portion of SRF plantations provide inherent environmental benefits (Hall and Richardson, 2001; Weih, 2009), although the 38
Page 1 and 2: IUFRO Division 6: Social, Economic,
Page 3 and 4: PREFACE 6.13.00 - the forest law an
Page 5 and 6: TABLE OF CONTENTS Expert experience
Page 7: Between sustainability and bioenerg
Page 11 and 12: efficient use of local resources. B
Page 13 and 14: Taken together, the forest area, wo

IUFRO Meeting-Zvolen 2008

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