Proceedings World Bioenergy 2010

MaIN spONsOR: 

WORLD 

BIOENERGY 

2010 

pROCEEDINGs 

Edited by: 

The Swedish Bioenergy Association

© Swedish Bioenergy Association and Authors 2010 

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical, including 

photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system without permission in writing from the 

copyright holder and the publisher. 

ISBN 978-91-977624-1-0 

Cover photo: Ugur Evirgen, iStockphoto

ORGaNIsED BY: 

The swedish Bioenergy association, svebio 

Torsgatan 12, SE-111 23 Stockholm, Sweden 

Tel +46 8 441 70 80, Fax +46 8 441 70 89 

E-mail worldbioenergy@svebio.se 

www.svebio.se 

Coordinator: Gustav Melin, Svebio, Sweden 

Elmia aB 

Box 6066, SE-550 06 Jönköping, Sweden 

Tel +46 36 15 20 00, Fax +46 36 16 46 92 

E-mail worldbioenergy@elmia.se 

www.elmia.se 

Coordinator: Jakob Hirsmark, Elmia, Sweden 

pROCEEDINGs puBLIshED BY: 

The swedish Bioenergy association, svebio 

Torsgatan 12, SE-111 23 Stockholm, Sweden 

Tel +46 8 441 70 80, Fax +46 8 441 70 89 

E-mail worldbioenergy@svebio.se 

www.svebio.se 

paTRON Of WORLD BIOENERGY: 

His Majesty King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden 

CONfERENCE ChaIRpERsON: 

Prof. Tomas Kåberger, Director General of the Swedish Energy Agency 

Patron of 

World Bioenergy 2010 

His Majesty King Carl XVI 

Gustaf of Sweden 

Chair person of 

World Bioenergy 2010 

Tomas Kåberger, Director 

General, Swedish Energy 

Agency 

world bioenergy 2010 

Photo: Eva-Marie Rundquist 

Photo: Johan Wingborg 

3

WORLD BIOENERGY 2010 

Dear Colleague, 

Renewable energy is growing rapidly worldwide. Fossil fuels are creating not only climate 

change damages but also local disasters when oil is spread, for example in the Mexican Gulf. 

The purpose of the World Bioenergy Conference and Exhibition is to inform, show and discuss 

how bioenergy solutions in a profitable way can replace fossil fuels and dangerous nuclear. 

World Bioenergy is the international forum that facilitates the transfer of bioenergy technology, 

know-how and experience with the unique concept of combining excellent presentations with 

a large exhibition and numerous study visits showing bioenergy in practice. The conference is 

unique as it aims to connect scientific advances with practical implementations of bioenergy 

innovations and successful market advances. This proceedings gives you an in depth look at 

some of the scientific advances that were presented at the conference. 

These proceedings are the collection of papers from speeches and posters presented at the 

conference. If you do not find the speech you look for in this paper you can find it on the World 

Bioenergy website www.worldbioenergy.com. This paper is based on a voluntary supply from 

speakers, poster exhibition and tendered abstracts. We wish you interesting reading and welcome 

back to Jönköping in 29-31 May 2012. 

Gustav Melin, 

President Svebio, 

World Bioenergy Conference Manager 

Project managers Gustav Melin, Svebio and Jakob Hirsmark, Elmia. 

4 world bioenergy 2010 

Photo: Anders Haaker

a 

B 

C 

CONTENTs 

OpENING sEssION 7 

Bioenergy outrivals oil in Sweden, 

showing that growth in a green economy is possible 8 

Gustav Melin 

COMBINED hEaT aND pOWER (Chp), 

COMBusTION, hEaTING aND CO-fIRING 11 

Slagging and fouling risk of Mediterranean biomasses for 

combustion 12 

Daniel J. Vega-Nieva, Raquel Dopazo, Luis Ortiz 

Improved flexibility and economy by using small fluidised 

bed boilers in district heating 17 

Alpo Sund, Matti Lilja 

fOREsT REsIDuEs – sLash, sTuMps, 

sMaLL TREE haRVEsT 20 

Procurement costs of slash and stumps in Sweden – 

a comparison between south and north Sweden 21 

Athanassiadis, Dimitris., Lundström, Anders, Nordfjell Tomas 

Harvesting for energy or pulpwood in early thinnings? 25 

Dan Bergström, Fulvio Di Fulvio 

CO 2 -EQ emissions of forest chip production in Finland 2020 29 

Arto Kariniemi, Kalle Kärha 

Large-scale forest biomass supply with long-distance 

transport methods 34 

Ranta, T., Korpinen, O.-J., Jäppinen, E., Karttunen, K. 

Biomass functions for young Scots pine-dominated forest 43 

K. Ahnlund Ulvcrona, U. Nilsson, T. Lundmark 

Estimating potentials of solid wood-based fuels in Finland 2020 47 

Kalle Kärhä, Juha Elo, Perttu Lahtinen, Tapio Räsänen, Heikki Pajuoja 

pOLICY – 

hOW TO MaKE IT aLL happEN 51 

Climate change in Brazil: Public policies, 

political agenda and media 52 

Magda Adelaide Lombardo, Ruimar Costa Freitas 

Barriers of implementing renewable energy and energy 

efficiency in northern periphery 56 

Renvall, J., Puhakka-Tarvainen, H., Kuittinen, V., Okkonen, L., Rice, L., Pappinen, A. 


5

D 

E 

f 


Bioenergy in Ukraine: State of the art and prospects 

for the development 59 

Georgiy Geletukha, Tetiana Zheliezna 

Bioenergy at climate negotiations: 

Visions, challenges and opportunities 62 

McCormick, K. 

Supply chains of forest chip production in Finland 65 

Kalle Kärhä 

The economic, political and social issues, hindering 

the adoption of bioenergy in pakistan: A case study 69 

Umair Usman 

BIOfuELs fOR TRaNspORT – 

BIOGas, BIOEThaNOL aND BIODIEsEL 78 

Biogas upgrading by temperature swing adsorption 79 

Tamara Mayer, Michael Url, Hermann Hofbauer 

pELLETs – 

ThE NEW LaRGE ENERGY COMMODITY 84 

Emissions charecteristics of a residential 

pellet boiler and a stove 85 

Kaung Myat Win, Tomas Persson 

New insights in the ash melting behaviour and improvements 

of biomass energy pellets using flour bond 89 

J. van Soest, J. Renirie, S. Moelchand, M. Schouten, A. van der Meijden, J. Plijter 

ENERGY CROps, aGRICuLTuRaL 

REsIDuEs aND BY-pRODuCTs 93 

Use of ashes as a fertilizer in Reed Canary Grass (Phalaris 

Arundinacea L.) grown as an energy crop for combustion 94 

Eva Lindvall 

Intercropping of Reed Canary Grass, Phalaris Arundinacea L., 

with legumes can cut costs for N-fertilization 95 

Cecilia Palmborg, Eva Lindvall 

Organisational frameworks for straw-based energy 

systems in Ukraine and western Eurpope 98 

Y. Voytenko, P. Peck 

ORaL CONfERENCE pROGRaMME 108

OpENING sEssION 


7


WORLD BIOENERGY CONFERENCE 2010, OPENING SESSION 25 MAY 

BIOENERGY OUTRIVALS OIL IN SWEDEN, 

SHOWING THAT GROWTH IN A GREEN ECONOMY IS POSSIBLE. 

Gustav Melin 

President 

Swedish Bioenergy Association 

Torsgatan 12 

111 23 Stockholm 

Sweden 

ABSTRACT: From a situation when use of fossil oil covered 77 per cent of the Swedish energy mix in the 1970-ties, 

Bioenergy is since 2009 the number one energy source when counting final energy use in Sweden. The last 20 years the 

economy (GDP) grow by 45 per cent and emissions of green house gases decreases by 12 per cent. This paper gives a 

background to why this development has taken place. It also claims that the same decisions and development is possible 

in any country and will lead to positive economical development and reduced emissions. The main instrument used is the 

carbon dioxide tax, a most efficient instrument to combat climat change. 

Keywords: Bioenergy policy, Bioenergy financing, strategy, CO 2 emission reduction, carbon dioxide tax. 

1. BIOENERGY SURPASS OIL IN SWEDEN 

In April 2010 the Swedish Bioenergy Association 

calculated official Swedish energy statistics 

published by the Swedish Energy Agency. Svebio 

were able to announce that Bioenergy was the 

number one energy source in Swedish energy 

consumption. The use of bioenergy exceeded the use 

of fossil oil for energy. Actually the use of 

Bioenergy has increased in a rate corresponding to 

an additional volume of 6400 cubic meters of oil 

every week for almost 20 years. Clearly we had 

foreseen that bioenergy would surpass oil any year 

now, nevertheless it was a bit surprising that it 

actually happened already in 2009. 

For a long time there has been no doubt about the 

direction, the use of renewable energy and especially 

bioenergy has been growing for 30 years. 

In the year 2009 bioenergy represented 31,7 per cent of 

the total energy use. Almost one third of the energy use 

from Bioenergy that’s a good figure. 

However I have been working in this sector for more than 

20 years. It has been a good development but it has not at 

all been optimal. A similar or even faster change would 

be possible in almost any country. 

2. SWEDEN ALREADY NOW CLOSE TO REACH 

2020 RENEWABLE TARGET 

Then if we take a look at the share of renewables it was 

already in 2009 46,3 per cent of the Swedish energy use. 

The red curve is the obligated level of renewables for 

Sweden according to the 2020-target. The blue curve is 

the forecasted development with the current legislation 

and incentives calculated by the Swedish Energy Agency.

The black curve is what actually has been registered, also 

figures from the Swedish Energy Agency. It is obvious 

that the ambitions are low compared to what is possible 

and that it is similar for other countries. 

3. REASONS FOR DEVELOPMENT IN SWEDEN 

I would like to briefly give a background of the reasons 

why this fairly good development has taken place in 

Sweden. I would also like to point out why I believe a 

similar development is possible and profitable in almost 

every country. 

Reasons for a good development I Sweden: 

3.1 No domestic fossil energy sources 

In the 1970-ties Sweden like most countries had more 

than 75 % of oil in the energy mix and also some 

additional percentage of coal. When the first oil crises hit 

the market in 1973, it became a wake up call for Swedish 

politicians. It became obvious that it was not clever to be 

so dependent on an imported energy source. Especially 

since price could change quickly, create unpredictable 

costs and ruin Swedish economy. Governmental research 

and investment money was at this time directed towards 

domestic energy production like nuclear power and 

renewables. At the same time it was obvious that oil and 

coal created environmental problems like spreading of 

heavy metals and acidification. Energy tax and sulphur 

fees were introduced on oil due to environmental reasons 

and to encourage use of domestic energy sources. 

3.2 No industry propagating for oil or coal 

One very important factor has been that there is no 

industry defending the fossil fuel position on the market. 

The Swedish industry has always focused on keeping a 

low electricity price, to be able to compete better on a 

global market. The Swedish government has had a 

similar view and increased energy taxes on households 

but kept taxes on an international level towards the 

industry. 

3.3 Efficient forest industry sector 

The Swedish forest industry sector consists of a leading 

pulp and paper industry as well as a large saw mill 

industry. The sector is very productive and consists also 

of a lot of different supply and manufacturing companies 

able to develop and manufacture forest harvesting 

equipment and equipment to collect and chip forest 

residues for energy. You are able to meet many of these 

companies at the exhibition here at World Bioenergy. 

The industry continuously has invested in increased 

bioenergy use and production. Investments were also 

enhanced by the introduction of the renewable electricity 

certificates in 2003 which doubles the price for 

renewable electricity producers. As an example of the 

development the pulp industry Wärö owned by Södra 

becomes the worlds first fossil free pulp industry in the 

beginning of this year. Other parts of the industry invest 

in production of biofuels for transport, which you are 

able to hear from in session D2. 

3.4 A common view of a free market and market 

conditions. 

Finally, the most important factor has been the 

politicians’ ability to create a market situation that gives 

companies a predictable future to invest in market 

opportunities they believe in. The Swedish policy has 

mainly been decided with the polluter pays principle in 

mind. We have sulphur fees, NOX-fees and from 1991 

also carbon dioxide tax. Taxing emissions is a 

predictable, logical, environmentally friendly system that 

companies understand. Sweden as a small country has 

always been dependent on international trade, and 

therefore it has come quite natural to develop bioenergy 

during free market conditions. The polluter pays principle 

does not give any particular advantage to any type of 

solution. The solutions can be energy efficiency, solar, 

hydro, bioenergy or something else. The most profitable 

solutions are chosen. 


9

4. SWEDEN FIRST COUNTRY TO DECOUPLE 

ECONOMIC GROWTH AND GHG-EMISSIONS 

This slide shows blue curve: the economic growth in 

Sweden, red curve: emission of Green House Gases, 

GHG. Green curve: development of Bioenergy in 

Sweden. 

5. POSSIBILITIES FOR GOOD DEVELOPMENT IN 

MOST OTHER COUNTRIES 

. 

5.1 Domestic fossil fuels 

Domestic fossil fuels in a country make it harder for the 

parliament to agree on important decisions like carbon 

dioxide tax, deposit fees on coal ash etc. However the 

actual situation for development and economic growth in 

a country with domestic fossil fuels are not less than in a 

country like Sweden that lack the resource of fossil fuel. 

5.2 Industry propagating for oil or coal 

The national debate and company interest are more 

difficult to handle than in the Swedish situation but it is 

not a reason for not making the right decisions. 


5.3 Lots of forests and other raw material. 

There are always various opportunities to use energy 

more efficient. Combined heat and power is extremely 

profitable compared to wasting heat when producing 

power and buy the heat separately. 

There is a lot more forest globally than most of us 

believes. Professor Pekka Kauppi University of Helsinki 

has calculated figures from FAO reports and will share 

his knowledge about expanding forests in session A1 

“Raw material availability and market development”. In 

this session we will also be able to hear about wastes like 

old rubber trees from Liberia used in European coal 

power stations. There are by-products or wastes 

everywhere many of which profitably could be used for 

energy production. Olive residues, kernels and pruning, 

citrus pulp, palm kernels, sunflower husks, almond shells, 

straw, saw dust, manure, land fill gas, forest residues and 

million hectares of additional arable land for food, feed 

or energy production. World Bioenergy 2010 will give 

hundreds of opportunities to discuss possible and 

impossible ideas for further development and 

investments. Different solutions are available 

everywhere. 

5.4 A clear and simple policy 

Finally I would like to emphases that a clear and simple, 

understandable policy is a good way to have the whole 

society moving in the right direction. It is not sufficient to 

reach the 2020 target. We need good policy to solve the 

sustainability problems. Carbon tax is one simple and 

understandable measure with the benefit to strike towards 

use of fossil fuels getting us closer the overall goal - 

stopping the climate change. The Swedish Bioenergy 

Association ask you to help us to argue for a global 

carbon dioxide tax and a floor price on emission trading 

rights making emitters pay for damages caused by carbon 

dioxide. Sweden has showed that polluter pays principle 

is an efficient and simple way to increase the use of 

profitable renewable energy. 

In some decades we are heading for 100 per cent 

renewables – It can be done! 

Svebio and Elmia wish you most welcome to Jönköping 

and the World of Bioenergy.

a 

COMBINED hEaT aND pOWER (Chp), 

COMBusTION, hEaTING aND CO-fIRING 


11


SLAGGING AND FOULING RISK OF MEDITERANEAN BIOMASSES FOR COMBUSTION 

Daniel J. Vega-Nieva 1 , Raquel Dopazo 2 and Luis Ortiz 3 . 

Contact: CÁTEDRA ENCE. University of Vigo (Spain). 

Forestry School. A Xunqueira Campus. 36005. Pontevedra (Spain). 

Tel: 1-2: +34/986801948; 3: +34/986801902. 

Email: 1. DanielJVN@gmail.com 2. dopazo.raquel@gmail.com; 3. lortiz@uvigo.es. 

ABSTRACT: The interest in biomass combustion has grown exponentially in the last years, as a means for renewable 

heat and energy promoting local development and mitigating climate change. Various Mediterranean agricultural and 

forest resources such as olive stone, almond shell or pinecone chips remain large unutilized, despite their potential for 

being utilized in biomass combustion. New energy crops such as Cardoon, Brassica or Sorghum, are being introduced in 

Mediterranean countries for Bioenergy production; however, the slagging and fouling risk of many of these potential 

feedstocks are currently limiting their application in combustion processes given their high alkali, silica or chlorine 

contents. In this publication, various methods for biomass slagging and fouling hazard monitoring and prediction are 

presented based on recent studies with Mediterranean biomasses combustion in Spain. 

Keywords: slagging, fouling, biomass combustion. 

1. INTRODUCTION. 

The interest in biomass combustion has grown 

exponentially in the last years, as a means for renewable 

heat and energy promoting local development and 

mitigating climate change. 

However, various Mediterranean agricultural and 

forest resources such as almond shell or pinecone seed 

shells remain large unutilized. The slagging and fouling 

risk remain as important barriers that are currently 

limiting the use of various agricultural residues and 

potential agricultural energy crops feedstocks such as 

Cardoon, Brassica, or Sorghum [1], [2], [3]. 

Slagging occurs in the boiler sections that are 

directly ex posed to flame irradiation. The mechanism 

of slagging formation involves stickiness, ash melting 

and sintering. Slagging de posits consist of an inner 

powdery layer followed by silicate and alkali 

compounds [4], [5]. 

Fouling deposits form in the convective parts of 

the boiler. The mechanism of fouling is mainly due to 

condensation of volatile species that have been 

vaporised in previous boiler sections and are loosely 

bonded [5] 

In this publication, various methods for biomass slagging 

and fouling hazard monitoring and prediction are 

presented based on recent studies with Mediterranean 

biomasses combustion in Spain. 

2. ASH MELTING BEHAVIOUR: SLAGGING AND 

FOULING INDICES AND FUSION 

TEMPERATURES. 

2.1. Slagging and Fouling Indexes. 

Various authors have proposed a series of slagging and 

fouling indexes to explain the accumulation of ashes into 

the radiation and convection areas of biomass boilers, 

respectively. Although originally developed for coal, 

these indices seem to have potential for application on 

biomass combustion behaviour prediction (i.e. [6], 

[7]). Most widely used slagging and fouling indexes and 

currently proposed thresholds are synthesized below: 

Base to acid index [1], [6], [7], [8]: 

Critical value for coal: < 0.75 slagging trend 

Alkaki Index [9]: 

where HHV: Higher Heating value (MJ/Kg) at H=0% 

if index > 0.17 kg alkali /MJ probable fouling 

if index > 0.34 kg alkali /MJ fouling is certain to occur 

Slagging index [1], [7], [10]: 

where S d is % S from elementary analysis 

if RS < 0.6 low slagging trend 

if 0.6 < RS < 2 medium trend 

if 2.0 < RS < 2.6 high trend 

if RS > 2.6 very high trend

Chlorine Index: Cl content (%) of the sample dry weight. 

According to [1], [7]: 

if Cl < 0.2 low slagging trend 

if 0.2 < Cl < 0.3 medium trend 

if 0.3 < Cl < 0.5 high trend 

if Cl > 0.5 very high trend 

; whereas [11 ] gives a more conservative threshold: 

if Cl > 0.1 corrosion and HCl emissions 

2.2.Ash Fusion Temperatures. 

Ashes fusion is a continuous process which can be 

characterized by the following temperatures, according to 

norms ISO 540:2008 and DIN 51730:1998-04: 

Deformation temperature (DT). Temperature at 

which the first signs of rounding, due to melting, of the 

tip or edges of the test piece occur. 

Sphere temperature (ST). The temperature at which 

the edges of the test piece become completely round, 

with its height being equal to the width of the base line. 

Hemisphere temperature (HT). The temperature at 

which the test piece is approximately hemispherical, with 

the height being equal to half the base diameter. 

Flow temperature (FT). The temperature at which the 

test piece material has spread out so that its height is onethird 

of that at the hemisphere temperature. 

A large number of authors have proposed predictive 

functions of ash fusion temperatures from ash 

composition for coals (i.e. see [4] for a comprehensive 

review). Information on such predictive functions for 

biomass, however, remains scarce (i.e. [12], [13]). 

.Mineral composition in biomass differs significantly 

from coal, especially in the amount of potassium, calcium 

and chlorine, therefore, most appropriate slagging indices 

definition and threshold calibration, as well as ash fusion 

predictive functions must be different [9]. 

Additionally, biomass disintegration laboratory tests have 

recently been proposed as a complementary means to 

characterize slagging tendency of biomass fuels, with 

significant potential to reproduce sintering and fouling 

behaviour observed in biomass boiler combustion tests 

[14]. 

Results using the above mentioned methodologies for 

characterizing slagging and fouling tendency of various 

Mediterranean biomass fuels are presented. 

The effect of ash composition on ash behaviour as 

characterized by laboratory ash fusion and ash 

disintegration tests and boiler combustion tests, as well as 

the potential of biomass ash slagging indices to predict 

ash behaviour in terms of slagging and fouling hazard is 

discussed below. 

2. SLAGGING AND FOULING RISK OF 

MEDITERRANEAN BIOMASSES IN COMBUSTION 

Various recent studies (i.e. [01], [02], [03] and [04]) have 

recently analyzed the slagging and fouling tendency of 

several forest and agricultural residues and energy crops 

by means of laboratory ash characterization tests and 

combustion tests in Spain. 

The results of the ash composition of some of the main 

Mediterranean biomasses analyzed by these studies are 

synthezised in Table I below. 

Table I: Ash composition (wt% dry basis) at 550 ºC of 

various Mediterranean Biomasses from studies [01], [02], 

[03] and [04] in Spain. 

Sample SiO2 Al2O3 Fe2O3 CaO MgO Na2O K2O P2O5 Ref. 

Poplar I 2.80 -- -- 33 3.70 0.14 18 -- [14] 

Poplar II 4.20 0.34 0.36 29 3.00 0.14 16 3.00 [15] 

Eucalyptus 41 -- -- 18 4.20 1.90 8.70 -- [14] 

Thistle I 13 -- -- 14 2.50 9.20 15 -- [14] 

Thistle II 20 -- -- 33 3.30 4.70 6.60 -- [14] 

Almond 

shell I 

Almond 

shell II 

Olive 

stontes 

4.60 -- -- 15 1.50 0.30 22 -- [14] 

3.50 0.49 0.27 16 2.60 0.49 31 2.40 [17] 

24 -- -- 4.40 1.70 0.52 27 -- [14] 

Brassica I 7.60 0.61 0.28 23 3.20 0.69 21 9.10 [15] 

Brassica II 1.30 0.16 0.60 25 2.70 1.10 27 8.40 [16] 

Wheat 

straw 

44 -- -- 8.10 2.40 0.22 18 -- [14] 

Rice straw 51 -- -- 8.9 3.5 2.8 16 -- [14] 

Sorghum 40 2.60 1.00 5.50 2.50 0.29 23 2.10 [16] 

Forest biomasses (i.e. Poplar, Eucalyptus chips) have 

very beneficial properties for combustion, namely a high 

Ca content, low silica content, and generally lower K 

content when compared to most agricultural feedstocks 

and residues, this resulting in high initial deformation 

and ash fusion temperatures, generally well above 1200- 

1400 ºC, as shown in Table II. 

It has to be noted, however, that woody fuels can often be 

contaminated during harvest operations with soil 

particles, resulting in a higher silica content (i.e. 

Eucalyptus sample in Table I), which can lower the ash 

fusion temperatures. This situation has been noted by 

various authors (i.e. [18]. More careful harvest methods 

need to be implemented in order to minimize soil 

contamination. 

Herbaceous fuels such as brassica, wheat and sorghum 

have large contents of both silica and potassium, resulting 

in the potential formation of K silicates (i.e. [4], [8], 

[19]). These compounds create deposits in the boiler, 

potentially causing slagging and fouling problems at 

temperatures above 700-800ºC, as illustrated by the 

sintering temperatures DT in Table II. 

Table II. Ash fusibility temperature of various 

Mediterranean feedstocks from Spain. 


13


Fusibility temperatures (ºC) 

Sample D S H F Source 

Poplar I 

>1400 >1400 >1400 >1400 [14] 

Eucalyptus 1160 1170 1190 1230 [14] 

Thistle I 640 660 1150 1150 [14] 

Thistle II 1450 1450 1450 1450 [14] 

Almond shell I 750 770 n.d 1450 [14] 

Olive stones 1030 n.d 1090 1160 [14] 

Brassica I 730 n.d n.d 1450 [15] 

Brassica II 770 n.d n.d 1450 [16] 

Wheat straw 850 1040 1120 1320 [14] 

Rice straw 860 980 1100 1220 [14] 

Sorghum 830 1000 1080 1350 [16] 

D, deformation; S, sphere; H, hemisphere; F, fluid; 

n.d, not detected. 

Table III. Laboratory Sintering disintegration test results 

for Mediterranean biomasses from Spain. 

Disintegration test 

Sample 800 °C 900 ºC 1000 °C Source 

Poplar I E E E [14] 

Eucalyptus VE VE VE [14] 

Thistle I VD VD VD [14] 

Thistle II D D D [14] 

Almond shell 

I E D VD 

[14] 

Olive stones VE E VD [14] 

Brassica I VD VD VD [15] 

Brassica II - - VD [16] 

Wheat straw E VD VD [14] 

Rice straw D VD VD [14] 

Sorghum - - VD [16] 

VE, very easy disintegration; E, easy; D, difficult; 

VD, very difficult disintegration. 

Disintegration tests seem to offer a complementary 

criteria for rapid biomass characterization (Tables II and 

III). The development of comprehensive predictive 

functions for biomass ash fusion temperature based on 

ash composition is still required for a deeper 

understanding of ash sintering and melting processes. 

Table IV. Slagging indexes and agglomeration level 

observed in biomass combustion tests in [14], [15]. 

Sample 

Ash 

(%, d.b) 

B/A 

index 

Alkali 

index 

(kg/GJ) 

BedAgg Source 

Poplar I 3.40 19.58 0.32 NO [14] 

Eucalyptus 4.30 0.8 0.23 NO [14] 

Thistle II 13.70 2.38 0.89 Part [14] 

Thistle I 14.10 3.13 1.96 Total [14] 

Brassica I 5.80 5.87 0.68 Total [15] 

Almond shell I 1.00 8.43 0.11 Part [14] 

BedAgg, bed agglomeration; NO, not agglomerated; 

Part, partially agglomerated; Total, totally agglomerated. 

The ash content can be a good indicator of the 

problematic nature of a biomass fuel. Herbaceous fuels 

typically show a higher value of ash content, this being 

correlated with their intrinsic K content [Jenkins et al]. 

The Base to acid index, which has proven some 

predictive potential for prediction of slagging-related 

problems in studies such as [6] does not seem capable of 

reflecting the bed agglomeration tendency shown in 

Table IV. More refined alternative expressions may be 

required to account for the role of silica-based 

compounds on ash slagging hazard. 

Alkali index seems to have potential for discriminating 

potentially hazardous fuels in the light of results in Table 

IV, with lower values of the index -below the 0.34 kg 

alkali/MJ threshold proposed by [9]- corresponding to the 

samples where no agglomeration was detected in the 

boiler bed during the combustion test. One exception to 

this is the almond shell sample, where the low ash 

content, considered in the numerator of the alkali index, 

amy have masked the intrinsically hazardous nature of 

this fuel, with proven agglomeration effects, as proved 

both by a DT of 750ºC and a partial agglomeration 

observed in the boiler. An alternative alkali index may 

allow to account for fuels such as almond with a low 

amount of potentially problematic ashes. 

The higher alkali (Na+K) content present in the first 

sample of cardoon in Table IV (24% vs 11% in Thistle I 

and II, respectively), as detected by alkali indices of 1.96 

and 0.89, respectively, results in a higher temperature of 

sinterizing for the first sample, and a total vs partial 

agglomeration observed in the combustion test of these 

two biomasses in [01] study. 

Alkali metals react with silica contained in the residue's 

ash forming silicates with very low melting point 

(

The DOMOHEAT European project is focused on 

the demonstration of two innovative and sustainable 

medium size Centre European heating systems, for 

domestic and tertiary buildings, using as fuel mediumlow 

quality wastes from South European Regions 

agro/forest/wood production. Biomasses selected for this 

project are olive stone, pine wood chips, pine cone chips, 

pine cone seed shells, almond shells, hazelnut shells, 

eucalyptus wood chips, straw pellets, oak and pine 

sawdust pellets, vine shoot chips, olive pruning chips, 

oak chips, poplar chips, and paulownia chips. 

Fuel and ash characterization is being carried out for each 

one of the different biomasses at laboratory to determine 

the proximate analysis (ash, volatiles, fixed carbon), 

moisture content, ultimate analysis (C, H, N, S, O), Cl 

content, gross and net calorific value, contents of major 

and minor ash forming elements, particle size distribution 

and mass density. Laboratory evaluations of ash slagging 

tendency are being performed. 

Combustion tests in 25, 100, 150 kW experimental 

boilers are currently being carried out both in Vigo 

(Spain) and KWB Austria, in order to achieve knowledge 

about biomass behaviour during combustion, ash melting 

behaviour and relevant emissions (CO, CO , H O, CxHy, 

2 2 

NOx, O2, SO2 and HCl) are being determined. Slag 

deposits composition will be analyzed and ash-limiting 

thresholds will be explored as a means to limit the 

amount of silica, alkali and chlorine present in the fuels 

as validated by boiler combustion tests and to predict the 

slagging tendency of the biomasses. 

The tendency of slagging and ash deposition will be 

evaluated based on these combustion tests to select the 

most promising fuels for further combustion test in two 

demonstrative boilers at Spain (Vigo and Leon). Based 

on biomass characterization results and combustion test 

results, criteria for rejecting/accepting biomasses will be 

developed. 

On a second stage, based on established ash slagging 

risk thresholds calibrated with combustion test results, 

biomass mixtures will be performed as a strategy to 

diminish the sintering and slagging tendency of initially 

rejected biomasses in 10 new combustion tests of 

biomass mixtures. 

More information of the project can be found at 

http://www.escansa.com/domoheat/ 

REFERENCES. 

[1] Fernandez J. Los cultivos energéticos en España y las 

tendencias de su desarrollo. [Energy Crops in Spain and 

the trends for their development]. In: I International 

Congress Bioenergia. Valladolid, Spain, 18-20 October 

2006. 

[2] Vega-Niena, D. J., Dopazo, R., Ortiz. L. Reviewing the 

potential of Forest Bioenergy Plantations: Woody Energy 

crop plantations management and breeding for increasing 

biomass productivity. In: World Bioenergy 2008. 

Jönköping, Suecia 27-29 Mayo 2008 

[3] Dopazo, R. D. J. Vega, Ortiz, L. A Review of 

Herbaceous Energy Crops for Bioenergy Production in 

Europe. In: 17 th European Biomass Conference & 

Exhibition, Hamburgo (29 Junio-3 Julio 2009). 

[4] Bryers, R. W. Fireside slagging, fouling, and hightemperature 

corrosion of heat-transfer surface due to 

impurities in steam-raising fuels. Prog. Energy Combust. 

Sci. 22 (1996) 29-120 

[5] Tortosa-Masiá, A.A., Ahnert F., Spliethoff H., Loux J.C., 

Hein K.R.G. Slagging and fouling in biomass cocombustion. 

Thermal science 9 (2005) 3, 85-98. 

[6] Salour, D. Jenkins, B. M. Vafaei, T M., Kayhanian M. 

Control of in-bed agglomeration by fuel blending in a 

pilot scale straw and wood fueled AFBC. Biomass and 

Bioenergy Vol. 4, No. 2, pp. 117-133, 1993 

[7] Pronobis M. Evaluation of the influence of biomass cocombustion 

on boiler furnace slagging by means of 

fusibility correlations. Biomass and Bioenergy 28 (2005) 

375-383 

[8] Jenkins B.M., Baxter L.L., Miles T.R. Jr., Miles T.R. 

Combustion properties of biomass. Fuel Processing 

Technology 54 (1998) 17-46. 

[9] Miles T.R., Miles T.R. Jr., Baxter L.L., Bryers R.W., 

Jenkins B.M., Oden L.L. Boiler deposits from firing 

biomass fuels. Biomass and Bioenergy 10 (1996) 125- 

138. 

[10] Vamvuka D., Zografos D. Predicting the behaviour of 

ash from agricultural wastes during combustion. Fuel 83 

(2004) 2051-2057. 

[11] Obernberger, I., Brunner, T., Bärnthaler G. Chemical 

properties of solid biofuels-significance and impact. 

Biomass and Bioenergy 30 (2006) 973–982 

[12] Friedl A., Padouvas E., Rotter H., Varmuza K. 

Prediction of heating value of biomass fuel and ash 

melting behaviour using elemental compositions of fuel 

and ash. In: 9th International Conference on 

Chemometrics in Analytical Chemistry, September 2004. 

Lisbon, Portugal. 

[13] Seggiani, M. Empirical correlations of the ash fusion 

temperatures and temperature of critical viscosity for coal 

and biomass ashes. Fuel 78 (1999) 1121–1125 

[14] Fernandez Llorente, M.J. Carrasco Garcia. J.E. 

Comparing methods for predicting the sintering of 

biomass ash in combustión. Fuel 84 (2005) 1893–1900 


15

[15] Fernández Llorente M.J., Murillo J.M., Escalada R., 

Carrasco J.E. Ash behaviour of lignocellulosic biomass in 

bubbling fluidised bed combustion. Fuel 85 (2006) 1157- 

1165. 

[16] Fernández Llorente M. J., Borjabad E., Barro R., Losada 

J., Bados R., Ramos R., Carrasco J. E. 2007. Estudio 

sobre sinterización de las cenizas de biomasas en la 

combustión. CIEMAT. 

[17] Fernández Llorente M.J., Escalada R., Murillo J.M., 

Carrasco J.E. Combustion in bubbling fluidised bed with 

bed material of limestone to reduce the biomass ash 

agglomeration and sintering. Fuel 85 (2006) 2081-2092. 

[18] Zevenhoven-Onderwater, M., Blomquist, J.-P., 

Skrifvars, B.-J., Backman, R., Hupa, M. The prediction 

of ehaviour of ashes from five different solid fuels in 

fluidised bed combustion. Fuel 79 (2000) 1353–1361 

[19] Werther J., Saenger M., Hartge E.-U., Ogada T., Siagi Z. 

Combustion of agricultural residues. Progress in Energy 

and Combustion Science 26 (2000) 1–27. 

[20] Arvelakis, S., Vourliotis, P., Kakaras, E., Koukios, E. G. 

Effect of leaching on the ash behavior of wheat straw and 

olive residue during fluidized bed combustion. Biomass 

and Bioenergy (2001) 20(6) 459-470 

16 world bioenergy 2010

IMPROVED FLEXIBILITY AND ECONOMY BY USING SMALL FLUIDISED BED BOILERS IN DISTRICT 

HEATING 

Alpo Sund 1 , Matti Lilja 2 

1 Nurmijärven Sähkö Oy, Kauppanummentie 1, 01900 Nurmijärvi, Finland 

2 Renewa Oy, Teknobulevardi 3, 01530 Vantaa, Finland 

matti.lilja@renewa.fi 

ABSTRACT: The Finnish heating company Nurmijärven Sähkö generates annually over 80 GWh heat with wood based 

fuels. To ensure optimal flexibility and minimal emissions, company has chosen fluidised bed combustion for two of its 

below 12 MW heating plants. These plants have shown a capability to operate at very low partial loads during low 

demand seasons, thus reducing the need to use oil fired reserve boilers. Exploiting of lower cost fuels, like slash from 

local forests, has been possible due to the flexible combustion process. Emissions have been successfully kept clearly 

below set limits, also at partial load operation or when using variable quality of fuels. 

Keywords: fluidised bed, heat generation, district heating, operating experience 

1 INTRODUCTION 

Nurmijärven Sähkö Oy is a municipality owned 

energy service company in Southernmost Finland. It 

provides 9500 inhabitants with 90 GWh heat 

annually. About 95 % of the heat is generated with 

wood based fuels in company’s three plants. This 

equals to 120 000 cubic meters of wood. 

To ensure economical heat for its customers, 

Nurmijärven Sähkö needs heat generation with is 

flexible to meet fluctuating heat demands, as well as 

digest versatile fuel and take the advantage of lower 

priced slash or waste wood batches from near-‐by 

sources. 

In order to be able to maximise the operational 

flexibility, the company has chosen bubbling fluidised 

bed (BFB) combustion for two of its heating plant. The 

8 MWth and 11 MWth units have been operated since 

2002 and 2007. The units are normally unmanned 

and controlled remotely. 

2 COMBUSTION TECHNOLOGY 

Heating plants in the localities Nurmijärvi and 

Rajamäki have a capacity of 8 MW th and 11 MW th, 

respectively. Their combustion system is based on 

bubbling fluidised bed technology, where the fuel is 

introduced in the furnace where a 4 ton sand bed and the 

primary combustion air form a homogenous mixture with 

about 800 o C of temperature. 

The furnace and fluidized bed with the boiler form an 

integrated structure which is completely enclosed in a 

water cooled structure. There are refractories on the side 

walls in order to achieve correct combustion temperature 

and to prevent erosion. The boiler has a fully welded 

hermetic structure of membrane walls. The furnace is in 

the shape of rectangle. The structure is self-supporting 

and propped up from below which allows thermal 

expansion upwards. 

Because only few kilos of fuels are in the furnace at 

each moment, the gasification and combustion is fast. 

The heat capacity of the sand is so big that any amount of 

fuel humidity is easily evaporated and doesn’t harm the 

combustion itself. 

Fluidized bed temperature is controlled by 

combustion air distribution to primary, secondary and 

tertiary air. The well controlled furnace temperature is 

important for minimising of the temperature-derived 

NOx creation. With dry fuels, when the fluidized bed 

temperature might otherwise become too high, circulating 

gas is used in the fluidising air system. 

Figure 1. Hot water boiler with a Renewa bubbling 

fluidised bed 

Fluidised bed combustion is better known for utility 


17

oilers of 100 MWth or larger. The Renewa BFB 

technology, used in the Nurmijärven Sähkö’s plants, is 

based on same principle as any bubbling bed. However, 

since the first application in 1985, the design has been 

optimised for small and medium sized boilers and thus 

can be implemented cost-efficiently. There are more than 

30 applications of steam and hot water BFB boilers in the 

capacity range of 3 – 30 MWth. 

3 OPERATION EXPERIENCE 

The two Nurmijärven Sähkö’s boilers have been in 

commercial operation for 8 and 3 years. The utility 

operates also another biomass fired boiler with 

reciprocating grate so observations between different 

combustion technologies have been made. The most 

visible advantage of the BFB boilers is their fast response 

to load change needs. The output can be decreased or 

increased by 12 % units within 10 minutes. This is a 

clear advantage in district heating plants where the daily 

demand curve has major variations. One just has to 

secure evenly chipped fuel. 

Flexibility to utilise different fuels has practical 

benefits e.g. in cold winter days when high calorific fuels 

can be used to achieve outputs even above nominal point, 

and thus postpone the start of expensive peaking plants. 

The same benefit there is during the summer when very 

low output level can be achieved with high calorific 

biomass. This saves costs of operating fossil fuelled 

plants and thus buying emission credits can be avoided. 

Figure 2. Rajamäki heating plant with 11 MWth 

fluidised bed boiler 

Nurmijärven Sähkö has successfully used fuels like 

forest slash, fresh and dry, from final forest felling, nontrimmed 

and trimmed small forest slash, saw dust, bark, 

grain sorting residues and even oat kernels with 10 % 

mixture. The non-trimmed forest slash, including green 

particles with chlorophyll, has not caused any problems 

in occasional use, even at operation on 100 % load, if the 

humidity has been inside the guaranteed window (± 12 % 

range around nominal point). No findings of chlorine 

caused corrosion have been detected. Very long time 

operation on full load with only such fuel has not for the 

time being been performed, however. 

During typical operation period, the main advantage 

of BFB flexibility comes from optimising fuel economy. 


Cheaper low quality fuel lots can be exploited which 

reflects also as a better bargaining power when buying 

fuel. Nurmijärven Sähkö’s policy is to use only 

renewable biomass based fuels, but many Finnish BFB 

operators actively optimise their fuels costs by allowing 

biomass and peat suppliers to offer their best prices. 

Fluidised beds, however, have more stringent 

requirement than grates on the impurities coming with 

the fuel. Therefore magnetic separators and disc screens 

are highly recommended to screen out coarse particles 

and metal pieces before they enter the furnace. If such 

material, however, get inside the combustion chamber, 

they can be removed through the bottom funnels which 

are normally used for bed sand replacement. The inclined 

shape of the furnace bottom helps the coarse particles to 

roll towards the hoppers. 

4 FLUIDISED BED BOILER MAINTENANCE 

Concerning maintenance costs, a certain advantage 

has been recorded in a smaller need to replace 

components. Normally only bearings of motors and 

pumps need to be replaced, while fuidised bed boiler 

internals don’t have any moving mechanical components 

which could be subject to any wear and tear. Only the 

bed temperature sensors need regular replacement. 

Another advantage has been the possibility to use 

short shut-downs for maintenance works. This is possible 

because after shutting down there remains no fuel in the 

furnace and the structures can be cooled down in 3-4 

hours. The service persons can then enter the boiler or 

make the convection section soot blowing during one 

operation shift. In this way the scheduled annual 

maintenance outages can be shortened. Typically annual 

service outages have taken some 120 hours. 

5 OPERATION COSTS 

The main costs of operation, except the fuel, come 

from power autoconsumption, bed sand make-up and ash 

disposal. The recorded power demand of the two plants is 

33 kW per produced MWth of heat. The figure includes 

also the energy consumed by the district heat pumps. 

The ash amount from the electrostatic precipitator is 

below 4,4 kg per MW th produced, representing thus 

below 1 % of the consumed fuel mass. Bottom ash 

volume is negligible in the BFB boilers. The small ash 

volumes have been most economical to bring to a landfill 

but the company is now actively looking for alternative 

uses for the ash. The nutrient contents of the ash might 

help to recycle it. 

Part of the bed material, which is normal 

equigranular construction quality sand, is replaced daily. 

The recorded sand consumption has been 3,8 kg/MWth 

(at the 11 MW boiler) and below 2 kg/MWth (at the 8 

MW boiler). This means that the sand silo, capable to 

receive a full truckload, needs to be filled only a couple 

of times a year. Presently, the rejected sand is transported 

to a landfill. Nurmijärven Sähkö is looking for 

possibilities to sell this practically very clean sand to 

potential users or recycle it in the process by screening. 

The manpower costs are quite reasonable. Both plants 

have an advanced control system and they can be 

remotely controlled from each other’s control room. 

Therefore only one of them, normally the Nurmijärvi

plant, is permanently manned. Rajamäki plant is visited 

shortly once per day, due to requirements of legislation, 

but all operations are performed from the control centre. 

During the night time and weekend the operator can 

control the plants with a portable PC even from his home. 

6 EMISSIONS OF FLUIDISED BED COMBUSTION 

Emissions of Rajamäki plant have been measured by 

an independent authority. Table 1 shows emissions on 3 

MW partial load, i.e. below 30% of nominal capacity. 

Table I: Rajamäki heating plant emissions at 3 MW 

partial load 

Rajamäki Actual load: 3 MWth 

heating plant 

Performed by: Suomen 

Analyysipalvelut Oy 

Date: 

14.3.2008 

Parameter Value unit 

Flue gas temperature 51,8 

o 

C 

CO2 in flue gas 12, 3 ±0,7 % 

O2 in flue gas 8, 3 ±0,4 % 

Dust content 20 ± 4 mg/m 3 n 

Dust emission 0,14 ± 0,05 kg/h 

Dust contents red. at 6% O2 23 ± 5 mg/m 3 n 

Specific emissions 9 ± 3 mg/MJ 

NOx 97 ppm 

NO2 contents red. at 6% O2 236 ± 18 mg/m 3 n 

SO2

B 


fOREsT REsIDuEs – 

sLash, sTuMps, sMaLL TREE haRVEsT

PROCUREMENT COSTS OF SLASH AND STUMPS IN SWEDEN 

– A COMPARISON BETWEEN SOUTH AND NORTH SWEDEN. 

Athanassiadis, Dimitris., Lundström, Anders & Nordfjell Tomas 

Department of Forest Resource Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences 

S-90183 Umeå, Sweden 

Dimitris.Athanassiadis@srh.slu.se, Tomas.Nordfjell@srh.slu.se, Anders.Lundstrom@srh.slu.se 

ABSTRACT: Marginal cost curves were used to appreciate the amount of slash and stumps that could be harvested at 

certain costs in Sweden as a whole as well as in two regions (Upper Norrland and South Sweden). The expected region 

specific variations were quantified and region specific estimates on harvestable potentials of stumps and slash were made. 

The results in this work were based on data collected in the Swedish Forest Inventory (SFI) from 2002 to 2006 

Keywords: forestry residues, harvesting, resource potential 


The demand for use of wood as raw material for heat 

and power generation has increased considerably at a 

global level. Sweden is a leading country in the use of 

bioenergy. According to the Swedish Energy Authority, 

20% of the total energy use, comes from biofuels (incl. 

peat) [1]. By-products from sawmills and the pulp and 

paper industry account for the greatest part and are used 

for the production of heat and power for the companies’ 

own needs or for the provision to consumers. The 

introduction in 2003 of a green electricity certificate 

system aimed in supporting electricity production using 

renewable energy sources (solar energy, wind power, 

hydropower and bioenergy) and peat. The main objective 

was to increase the amount of electricity coming from 

renewable resources by 17 TWh by year 2016 (base level 

is year 2002 when 6.5 TWh of electricity from renewable 

resources were produced). 

The Swedish national forest inventory (NFI) indicates 

a productive economic forest cover (designated for the 

production of timber and non-timber forest products) of 

23 million ha, 56% percent of the total land area of 

Sweden. The total growing stock is about 3.2 billions of 

forest m 3 [2]. Within the near future the demand on forest 

woody materials is believed to get higher than the annual 

growth. 

In 2006, logging residues were extracted from 36% 

of the 229 000 ha of regeneration fellings in Sweden. 

Logging residues are today the largest assortment of 

forest biomass available for energy production. 

Depending on the level of ecological, technical and 

economical restrictions the potential amount of branches, 

tops and foliage resulting from regeneration fellings is 

from 3.2 to 7.4 (no restrictions) million oven dry tons 

(ODT) annually (for the time period 2010-2019) while 

the potential from stumps with attached root system is 4.2 

to 11.7 (no restrictions) million ODT annually and for the 

same time period [3]. The corresponding annual figures 

in thinning for branches, tops and foliage and stumps 

with attached root system is 1,7 to 3,9 (no restrictions) 

and 1,7 to 5,7 (no restrictions) million ODT annually 

respectively. Furthermore, 0.5 million ODT, orginating 

from pre commercial thinning, can be added to the above 

mentioned potentials. 

Harvest and transport costs of logging residues are 

site specific and differ due to site characteristics (i.e. size 

of operational units, ecological restrictions, tree size and 

species, varying terrain conditions, varying forwarding 

distances, harvest type, transport distance to the receiving 

plant), regional and local differences (i.e. operation 

overhead costs, acquisition of harvesting rights, customer 

demand) and harvesting system used (i.e. type of 

machinery, cost and produz

Figure 1: The studied regions 

2 MATERIAL AND METHODS 

For the estimation of the potential harvestable 

amount of slash and stumps from regeneration fellings 

given a scenario according to which Swedish silvicultural 

practices are not going to change ten years in the future 

(2010-2019), NFI sample plots (more than 3000 sample 

plots evenly spread over the complete forest area of 

Sweden) were utilized. Each individual plot was used as 

the unit for decision for different future silviculture and 

felling measures and a growth prognosis for the trees of 

each plot was produced. 

In order to decide from which stands slash and 

stumps will be extracted and the quantity that should 

remain in the forest the following restrictions were taken 

under consideration. 

• no extraction was counted with for productive 

forest areas that are situated in areas of nature 

protection. 

• wet areas as well as peat soils with low bearing 

capacity as well as all areas that are located 25 

meters from a lake, sea, waterline or any other 

ownership category than forest were not 

considered for extraction 

• 40% of the logging residues were left at the 

felling site 

• no hardwood stumps were extracted 

• areas that have an uneven ground structure 

and/or a slope of more than 19.6 0 according to 

the Swedish terrain classification scheme were 

not considered for extraction. 

• regeneration felling areas of a size of less than 

1 ha were not included 

The costs for harvesting the residues, transforming it 

to chips and bringing it to the end user were also 

calculated. For slash the machine systems that were used 

were the following 

Slash system 1: Slash forwarder, roadside 

chipper, container truck. 

Slash system 2: Slash forwarder, slash 

truck, industry chipper 

Concerning stump harvesting, stumps were 

forwarded to the roadside, transported by truck to the 

industry and crushed there. Productivity and machine 


cost data employed in this study were obtained from 

practical experience and scientific studies (Table I). All 

calculations were made with the FLIS tool [5]. 

Table I: Compilation of machine costs (SEK/ODT) for 

the slash and stump machine systems 

Slash Stumps 

System 1 System 2 

Stump lifter - - 187 

Forwarder 

180 m (420 m)* 163(208) 163(208) 163(208) 

Chipper 166 119 119 

Truck 

50 km (100 km) 108(191) 124(197) 218(364) 

* Average forwarding distance(one-way), ** Average 

transport distance 

The moisture, dry matter and heat content for both 

slash and stumps was assumed to be 50%, 0.82 MWh/m 3 

loose raw chips and 0.17 ODT/m 3 loose raw chips, 

respectively. Compensation to the land owner was set to 

172 SEK/ODT (2.5 SEK/m 3 loose raw chips) while 

administration costs were set to 73.5 SEK/ODT (13 

SEK/m 3 loose raw chips). Cost for machine allocations 

between production sites (2500 SEK/machine and 

allocation) was related to the amount of the harvestable 

amount (ODT) available in the production sites [6]. 

3 RESULTS 

3.1 Potentials 

In Table II an estimation of the harvestable potential 

of slash and stumps in the different regions of Sweden is 

given. A majority of the potential (55%) is located in the 

south half of the country (Central and South Sweden). 

Table I: Annual regional harvestable potential of stumps 

and slash in Sweden 

Slash Stumps Total 

Million ODT/year 

Upper Norrland 0.63 0.90 1.53 

Central Norrland 0.78 1.08 1.86 

Central Sweden 0.78 1.06 1.84 

South Sweden 0.98 1.20 2.18 

Whole Sweden 3.17 4.24 7.41 

3.2 Marginal costs of slash and stump procurement for 

the whole of Sweden 

The potential annually harvestable amount of slash 

and stumps is ca. 3.2 and 4.2 million ODT, respectively. 

Slash can be harvested at a lower cost than stumps which 

leads to that the marginal curve for slash starts at a lower 

level than the curve for stumps. When the curves 

approach the maximum harvestable potential they bend 

strongly upwards. That is due to the fact that a part of the 

logging residues is located in small production sites, far 

away from the industry making transport costs very high.

Figure 2: Marginal cost curves for the harvesting of slash 

and stumps from regeneration fellings in Sweden, 

cumulative values (SEK/ODT as a function of million 

ODT/year). 

3.3 Regional marginal costs for slash with system 1 

The amount of slash that could be harvested up to a 

certain cost (SEK/ODT) varies for the different regions 

that have been studied. Marginal costs were lowest in 

South Sweden. The costs rose rapidly with increasing 

distance to the industry. In South Sweden 90% of the 

harvestable potential could be harvested for a cost up to 

800 SEK/ODT (Figure 2). For the north of Sweden two 

different pictures were given. To harvest 90% of the 

harvestable potential it would cost up to 950 SEK/ODT in 

the coastal area of Upper Norrland and ca. 1100 SEK/ODT 

in Upper Norrland Lappland (Figure 3). 

Figure 3: Marginal cost curves for the harvesting of slash 

from regeneration fellings in Upper Norrland and South 

Sweden, cumulative values (SEK/ODT as a function of 

million ODT/year). 

3.4 Regional marginal costs for stumps 

As expected marginal cost curves for stump 

harvesting start a higher cost level. In South Sweden to 

harvest 50% of the harvestable potential would cost up to 

ca. 900 SEK/ODT while at the coastal area of Upper 

Norrland and at Upper Norrland Lappland the cost would 

be 1100 and 1300 SEK/ODT respectively (Figure 4). 

Figure 4: Marginal cost curves for the harvesting of 

stumps from regeneration fellings in Upper Norrland and 

South of Sweden, cumulative values (SEK/ODT as a 

function of million ODT/year). 

Chipping slash in the industry proved to be more 

economical than chipping it at the roadside and 

transporting it to the industry. In the Lappland area of 

Upper Norrland the decrease in SEK/ODT was 5.5% 

while in the coastal area of Upper Norrland and in South 

Sweden the decrease was 4.5% and 3.5% respectively 

(Figure 5) 

Figure 5. Marginal cost curves for the harvesting of slash 

from regeneration fellings in Upper Norrland and South 

Sweden with a) a slash supply system based on chipping 

at roadside (uppermost line in each region) and b) a 

system based on chipping in the industry (lower line on 

each region). Cumulative values (SEK/ODT as a function 

of million ODT/year). 

4 DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS 

Bioenergy systems are characterized by negative 

economies of scale; as demand increases, the average 

transport distance increases. This it is especially 

pronounced where CHP plants are located close to the 

coast (raw material supply area half circle). Localization 

of CHP plants is mainly near bigger cities with an 

existing district heating distribution network and a great 

demand for heat. In this way a lot of electricity can be 


23

produced within the electricity certificate system. 

However, forest biomass production is spread out over 

large geographical areas. 

The production of economically competitive energy 

(electric power or heat) from primary forest fuels, is 

strongly dependent on the availability of low-cost raw 

material. Forest biomass production takes place over 

extended geographical areas and collection and transport 

to the receiving facility is costly. 

Some measures that could be taken in order to make 

the whole supply chain more effective are: 

� Increased use of terminals located near the raw 

material source 

� Increased use of train transport from terminals 

to the plant 

� Use of supply systems suitable for the different 

sites 

� Increment of the mass on the trucks (e.g. precrushing 

of stumps) 

� Establishment of bioenergy combines (e.g. 

heat, electricity, pellets) 

The annual potential of forest energy is not fully utilized. 

For the future, it is important to consider the regional 

potential when new CHP plants are established. 

5 REFERENCES 

[1] Swedish Energy Agency 2009. Energy in Sweden. 

Swedish Energy Agency. ET 2009:30. ISSN 1403-1892. 

[2] Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences 2009. 

Forestry Statistics 2009. Department of forest resource 

management. ISSN 0280-0543. (In Swedish) 

[3] Swedish Forest Agency 2008. Skogliga 

konsekvensanalyser 2008. SKA-VB 08. Rapport 25. 

http://www.skogsstyrelsen.se/episerver4/dokument/sks/a 

ktuellt/press/2008/rapport%20SKA.pdf (In Swedish) 

[4] Berg, S. 1992. Terrain Classification System for 

forestry work. Forestry Research Institute of Sweden, 

Uppsala, Sweden. ISBN 91-7614-078-4. 

[5] v Hofsten, H., Lundström, H., Nordén, B., & Thor, M. 

2006. Systemanalys för uttag av skogsbränsle – ett 

verktyg för fortsatt utveckling. Skogforsk. Resultat nr 6. 

(In Swedish) 

[6] Athanassiadis, D., Melin, Y., Nordfjell, T & 

Lundström, A. (2009). Harvesting Potential and 

Procurement Costs of Logging Residues in Sweden. In 

M. Savolainen (Ed.), Bioenergy 2009: Sustainable 

Bioenergy Business. 4th International Bioenergy 

conference. 


HARVESTING FOR ENERGY OR PULPWOOD IN EARLY THINNINGS? 

Dan Bergström & Fulvio Di Fulvio 

Department of Forest Resource Management, Swedish University of Agriculture Sciences 

SE-901 83 Umeå, Sweden 

Dan.Bergstrom@srh.slu.se, Fulvio.Di.Fulvio@srh.slu.se 

ABSTRACT: The objectives of the study were to compare the profitability between pulpwood and energy wood harvesting 

systems in early thinnings. The availability of merchantable volumes of pulpwood and energy wood was calculated for three 

different types of first thinning stands of pine, spruce and birch, i.e. nine different stands. The energy wood and pulpwood 

prices were based on year 2009 market prices for Sweden and a system analysis was carried out including costs for 

harvesting and forwarding to roadside. The tree volume of removal ranged from 15 to 84 dm 3 and was in average 38 dm 3 . In 

average the biomass to pulpwood ratio of the gross income in the pine, spruce and birch stands was 2.1, 2.9 and 2.3, 

respectively. The net income for the pulpwood system was negative (generating costs) in all stands. The net income for the 

energy wood system was profitable in 67% of the stands; 133 €×ha -1 in pine stands, ranging from 37 to 145 €×ha -1 in spruce 

stands, and 19 to 76 €×ha -1 in birch stands. If the market price for energy wood increases with 30% (compared to the current 

level) harvesting for energy wood in early thinnings could generate a considerable income for the forest owner. 

Keywords: bioenergy, forestry, thinnings, young forests, harvesting, wood chips. 


In Sweden there are large areas of young forests that 

have not being subjected to a pre-commercial thinning 

(PCT) and thus are dense and rich of biomass. However, 

performing a late PCT in such stands is expensive and the 

only alternative is to perform an early thinning. In early 

thinnings about 20-30% of the cut trees are too small 

sized for pulpwood and are left unutilized at the felling 

site. However, in the energy wood system full trees are 

merchantable and there are no restrictions of tree size and 

therefore all tree biomass are commercial available. 

Energy wood thinning can be a profitable alternative 

compared to pulpwood thinning [1]; the biomass removal 

can be 15-50% higher and the harvesting costs from 

stump to road side can be reduced by 20-40% [2]. 

In early thinning operations for pulpwood multi-stem 

processing heads are used which render higher efficiency 

compared to using single-tree processing heads. In the 

multiple-tree handling of whole trees in thinning for 

energy wood accumulating felling heads (AFH) are used 

which can be mounted on single-grip harvesters or 

specially designed feller-bunchers [3] [4]. These multitree 

handling system shown to increase productivity by as 

much as 35-40 % when compared to single-tree handling 

[5]. In energy wood harvesting the felling and bunching 

operation still remains the largest cost component in the 

system (forwarding and comminution included) [4] [6]. 

In 2009 the wood fuel (chips) costs for the thermal 

industry in Sweden was in average 167 SEK×MWh -1 (~ 

317 SEK×(m 3 solid) -1 and the pulpwood price at road 

side was in average 310 SEK×(m 3 solid under-bark) -1 [7]. 

The most profitable alternative depends on the relation 

between merchantable volumes, biomass prizes and the 

costs of respectively harvesting systems and supply 

chains. 

The objectives of the study were to compare the 

profitability between pulpwood and energy wood 

harvesting systems in early thinnings, from stump to road 

side. 


The availability of merchantable volumes of 

pulpwood and energy wood thinning in different types of 

first thinning stands was estimated using pine, spruce and 

birch type stands from Bredberg (1972). In the analysis 

three stands per species aged from 22 to 42 years (age 

classes: “young”, “middle” and “old”) were used. In each 

of the stands the volume availability per treatment were 

calculated at a 30% level of intensity of removal of the 

basal area. Only trees with a dbh ≥ 5cm were used in 

calculations and trees where thinned from below 

according to a pre-suggested thinning “priority” [8]. The 

minimum pulpwood stem diameter under-bark was set to 

5 cm and the merchantable logs length range between 3.0 

and 5.5 m. The oven-dry weight of stem, branches and 

needles biomass was calculated using Marklund’s (1987) 

[9] functions and was then converted into solid volume 

by using stem basic densities and values for crown 

biomass by Hakkila (1978) [10]. 

Stumpage prices were based on year 2009 market 

prices for Sweden: the roadside price of pulpwood overbark 

was 278 SEK×m -3 (340 SEK×m -3 u. b.) and the 

energy wood price at roadside (tree parts) of 200 

SEK×m - ³biomass -1 . Prices and costs were translated into 

Euro (€), assuming an exchange rate of 1€=10SEK. 

A system analysis was carried out including costs for 

biomass harvesting and forwarding to roadside. The 

harvesting productivity (productive work time; PW [11]) 

was set to 5.4 m 3 pulpwood×PW-hour -1 in pulpwood 

treatment and 11.0 m 3 biomass×PW-hour -1 in energy 

wood treatment, according to Kärhä et al. (2004) [12] and 

Kärhä et al. (2006) [13] functions. The productivity of 

pulpwood forwarding was based on Nurminen et al. 

(2006) [14] study giving an average value of 13.8 


25

m³×PW-hour -1 . The productivity of energy wood 

forwarding was assumed 15% lower than pulpwood 

forwarding, as suggested by Heikkilä et al. (2005) [15], 

who noticed productivity in forwarding whole trees 10- 

20% lower than forwarding delimbed wood. The 

productivity calculations were made for a forwarding 

distance of 200 m and a haulage load size of 8 m 3 solid. 

The PW were converted to main work time (MW) [11] 

using the coefficient 1.3 for the harvester and 1.2 for 

forwarding. The operating costs of the harvester were set 

to 80 €×MW-hour -1 and for the forwarder to 70 €×MW -1 - 

hour -1 . The transferring costs per machine were set to 200 

€ and the thinning stand areal was set to 3 ha. 

3 RESULTS 

The stem volume of harvested trees ranged between 

15 to 84 dm 3 with an average of 38 dm 3 . In average, the 

ratio of the harvested biomass to the pulpwood volume 

ranged from 1.5 to 2.0 in the “old” stands. The 

corresponding ratio in the “middle” age stands ranged 

from 2.4 to 2.9 and in the “young” stands it ranged from 

4.8 to 7.2. The highest volume ratio was found in the 

spruce stands since spruce have a relative higher share of 

branches compared to pine and birch. In average the 

biomass to pulpwood ratio of the gross income in the 

pine, spruce and birch stands was 2.1, 2.9 and 2.3, 

respectively (Table I-III). 

In pine stands (Table I) the gross income for 

pulpwood compared to energy wood was 7% lower in the 

“old”, 71% lower in the “young” and 45% lower in the 

“middle”. 

Table I: Characteristics of pine dominated stands and 

harvesting results at a 30% intensity of removal of the 

basal area 

Initial stand Old Middle Young 

Stem volume (dm 3 ) 121 53 35 

Basal area (m 2 ×ha -1 ) 31.3 20.2 18.4 

Total stem volume (m 3 ×ha -1 ) 229 121 97 

Removal 


Pulpwood volume (m 3 o. b.×ha -1 ) 52 15 7 

Biomass volume (m 3 ×ha -1 ) 78 38 33 

Volume ratio, biomass/pulpwood 1.5 2.5 4.8 

Pulpwood gross income (€×ha -1 ) 1443 420 192 

Biomass gross income (€×ha -1 ) 1554 764 658 

In spruce stands (Table II) the gross income for 

pulpwood was 32% lower in the “old”, 81% lower in the 

“young” and 52% lower in the “middle” compared to 

energy wood. 

Table II: Characteristics of spruce dominated stands and 


basal area 




Basal area (m 2 ×ha -1 ) 27.6 20.7 21.5 


Removal 


Pulpwood volume (m 3 o. b.×ha -1 ) 40 19 7 





In birch stands (Table III) the gross income for 

pulpwood compared to energy wood was 12% lower in 

the “old”, 74% lower in the “young” and 43% lower in 

the “middle”. 

Table III: Characteristics of birch dominated stands and 


basal area 



Basal area (m 2 ×ha -1 ) 29.9 25.1 21.8 


Removal 


Pulpwood volume (m3 o. b.×ha -1 ) 37 18 6 





In average the harvesting cost per m 3 (forwarding 

included) of the energy wood system was 37 - 40% lower 

compared to the pulpwood system. The net income for 

the pulpwood system was negative (generating costs) in 

all stands. The net income for the energy wood system 

was profitable in 67% of the stands; 133 €×ha -1 in pine 

stands, ranging from 37 to 145 €×ha -1 in spruce stands, 

and 19 to 76 €×ha -1 in birch stands. 

4 DISCUSSION 

Under current market price conditions the energy 

wood system gives in average about 2.4 times higher 

gross income than pulpwood in the studied stands. The 

systems would give the same gross income if the biomass 

to pulpwood ratio equals about 1.4. In the studied stands 

this situation would be possible only in the “old” stands 

at a harvesting intensity of at least 40% of the basal area. 

In present study the current price ratio of energy 

wood to pulpwood was 0.7, but market prices fluctuate 

and this ratio changes over time. If the energy wood price 

would increase with 30%, from 20 to 26 €×m -3 , the price 

ratio would increase to 0.9. At this situation, the 

differences in net income (€×ha -1 ) between pulpwood and 

energy wood, would increase considerable (Fig. I-II-III): 

the energy wood harvesting would becomes profitable in 

all considered conditions giving a net income ranging 

from 120 to 533 €×ha -1 in pine stands, 306 to 556 €×ha -1 

in spruce stands, and 139 to 390 €×ha -1 in birch stands.

Figure 1: The net income as function of biomass to 

pulpwood volume ratio at different energy wood prices in 

the pine stands. 



the spruce stands. 



the birch stands. 

The analyses of which the results are based on are 

somewhat simplified, e.g. the same operative coefficients 

were used for both systems which in practice probably 

differ between usage of different technology. For 

example, accumulating felling heads have less 

sophisticated components and functions and would 

probably have less time reduction due to work delays 

compared to accumulating processing heads. Further, the 

forwarding work in the energy wood system (full trees) 

was based on data for pulpwood forwarding. In practice 

the differences in productivity could probably differ 

somewhat more, especially at longer forwarding 

distances, since the payloads at energy wood forwarding 

are lower than pulpwood loads. However, we believe the 

data and assumptions used in the analyses are adequate 

and gives a reasonable comparison of the two systems. 

5 CONCLUSIONS 

The available volumes of biomass for energy in early 

thinning are considerately higher compared to pulpwood 

volumes. With current market prices the gross income of 

the energy wood is higher even in stands containing trees 

with a relative high proportion of pulpwood. The net 

income becomes higher in the energy wood system 

compared to pulpwood when using conventional 

machinery. If the market prices for energy wood 

increases with 30% (compared to the current level) 

harvesting for energy wood in early thinnings could 

generate a considerable income for the forest owner. 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 

This study was financed by the Forest Power project 

which is a part of the Botnia-Atlantica program. 

REFERENCES 

[1] Sirén M., Heikkila J. & Sauvula T. 2006. 

Combined production of industrial and energy 

wood in Scots pine stands. Forestry Studies. 

Metsanduslikud Uurimused. 45: 150-163. 

[2] Hakkila P. 2003. Developing technology for 

large-scale production of forest chips. Wood 

Energy Technology Programme 1999–2003, Tekes- 

Technology programme report 5/2003 54p. 

[3] Johansson, J. & Gullberg, T. 2002. Multiple 

tree handling in the selective felling and bunching 

of small trees in dense stands. International Journal 

of Forest Engineering 13(2): 25–34. 

[4] Kärhä, K., Jouhiaho, A., Mutikainen, A. & 

Mattila, S. 2005. Mechanized energy wood 

harvesting from early thinnings. International 

Journal of Forest Engineering 16(1): 15–26. 

[5] Jylhä P. & Laitila J. 2007. Energy wood and 

pulpwood harvesting from young stands using a 

prototype whole-tree bundler. Silva Fennica 41 (4): 

763-779. 

[6] Laitila, J. 2008. Harvesting technology and the 

cost of fuel chips from early thinnings. Silva 

Fennica 42(2): 267–283. 

[7] Anon. 2009. Swedish statistical yearbook of 

forestry. Swedish Forest Agency. ISSN 0491-7847. 

ISBN 978-91-99462-87-9. 

[8] Bredberg, C.-J. 1972. Type stands for the first 

thinning. Research Notes 55. Department of 

operational efficiency. Royal College of Forestry. 

Stockholm. 42 p. 

[9] Marklund L.G. 1987. Biomassafunktioner för 

tall, gran och björk i Sverige. Biomass functions for 

pine, spruce and birch in Sweden. Sveriges 

lantbruksuniversitet, Institutionen för 

skogstaxering, Rapport 45, 79p (in Swedish with 

English Summary). 

[10] Hakkila, P. 1978. Pienpuun korjuu 

polttoaineeksi. Harvesting small-sized trees for 

fuel. Folia Forestalia 342. 38 p. (In Finnish with 

English abstract). 

[11] Anon. 1995. IUFRO WP 3.04.02. Forest work 

study nomenclature. Test editionvalid 1995-2000. 

Department of Operational Efficiency, Sedish 

University of Agriculture Sciences, Garpenberg. 16 


27

pp. ISBN 91-576-5055-1. 

[12] Kärhä K., Rönkkö E. & Gumse S.-I. 2004. 

Productivity and Cutting Costs of Thinning 

Harvesters. International Journal of Forest 

Engineering 15(2): 43–56. 

[13] Kärhä K., Keskinen S., Liikkanen R. & 

Lindroos J. 2006. Kokopuun korjuu nuorista 

metsistä (Harvesting small-sized whole trees from 

young stands). Metsätehon raportti 193 79 p. (In 

Finnish). 

[14] Nurminen T., Korpunen H. & Uusitalo J. 2006. 

Time consumption analysis of cut-to-lenght 

harvesting system. Silva Fennica 40 (2): 335-363. 

[15] Heikkilä J., Laitila J., Tanttu V., Lindblad J., 

Sirén M. & Asikainen A. 2006. Harvesting 

alternatives and cost factors of delimbed energy 

wood. Forestry Studies 45: 49-56 


CO 2-EQ EMISSIONS OF FOREST CHIP PRODUCTION IN FINLAND IN 2020 

Arto Kariniemi & Kalle Kärhä 

Metsäteho Oy 

P.O. Box 101, FI-00171 Helsinki, Finland 

arto.kariniemi@metsateho.fi, kalle.karha@metsateho.fi 

ABSTRACT: The research carried out by Metsäteho Oy calculated what would be the total fuel consumption and CO 2-eq 

emissions of forest chip production if the use of forest chips is 24 TWh in 2020 in Finland in accordance with the target 

set of Long-term Climate and Energy Strategy. CO 2-eq emissions were determined with Metsäteho Oy’s updated 

Emissions Calculation Model. If the production and consumption of forest chips in Finland are 24 TWh in 2020, then the 

total CO 2-eq emissions would be around 230 000 tonnes. The volume of diesel consumption was 73 million litres and 

petrol 1.7 million litres. Electric rail transportation and chipping at the mill site consumed 17 GWh of electricity. The 

supply chain with the lowest CO 2-eq emissions was logging residues comminuted at plant. Conversely, the highest CO 2eq 

emissions came from stump wood when operating with terminal comminuting. Less than 3% of the energy content 

was consumed during the forest chip production. Energy input/output ratio in the total volume was 0.026 MWh/MWh 

which varied from 0.019 to 0.038 between the supply systems researched. Hence, forest chip production gave a net of 

some 97% of the energy content delivered at the plant. 

Keywords: CO 2-eq emissions, Forest biomass, Finland. 


The use of forest chips in Finland has increased 

rapidly in the 21 st century: In the year 2000, the total use 

of forest chips for energy generation was 1.8 TWh (0.9 

mill. m 3 ), while in 2009 it was 12.2 TWh (6.1 mill. m 3 ) 

[1]. Of this amount, 10.8 TWh was used in heating and 

power plants, and 1.4 TWh in small-sized dwellings, i.e. 

private houses, farms, and recreational dwellings, in 2009 

[1]. 

Of the forest chips used in heating and power plants 

(10.8 TWh), the majority (36%) was produced from 

logging residues in final cuttings in 2009 [1]. Forest chips 

derived from stump and root wood totalled 15% and 20% 

came from large-sized (rotten) roundwood. 29% of the 

total amount of commercial forest chips used for energy 

generation came from small-diameter (d 1.3

asis for machine and truck units in the calculations of 

CO 2-eq emissions. 

In the emissions calculations, the production and 

consumption of forest chips was 24 TWh in 2020. It was 

assumed that 45% of the forest chips used in 2020 would 

be produced from logging residues, 20% from stump and 

root wood, and 35% from small-sized thinning wood 

harvested in young stands [cf. 1, 3, 4, 24]. The main 

supply chain of chips from logging residues and smalldiameter 

thinning wood was roadside chipping, and for 

stumps crushing at the plant [cf. 4, 24, 25]. 

Road transportation was the most widely used longdistance 

transportation method in the calculations. 

Almost 60% of forest biomass (m 3 km) was transported 

by truck from roadside landings to the energy plant, or to 

some other production mill. 10% transportation volume 

was by train, with either electric or diesel locomotives, 

and 14% by barge. 

3 RESULTS 

3.1 Fuel and electricity consumption 

If the production and consumption of forest chips in 

Finland are 24 TWh in 2020, then the total CO 2-eq 

emissions would be around 230 000 tonnes (Fig. 1). Of 

this amount, the proportion of forest chip harvesting 

operations was 68%, long-distance transportation 19%, 

silviculture and forest improvement works 3%, and 

production of diesel and fertilizer 10%. The volume of 

diesel consumption was 73 million litres and petrol 1.7 

million litres (Fig. 2). Electric rail transportation and 

comminuting at the mill site consumed 17 GWh of 

electricity. 

3.2 Energy input/output ratio 

In the study, the supply chain with the lowest CO 2-eq 

emissions was logging residues comminuted at plant 

(Fig. 3). Conversely, the highest CO 2-eq emissions came 

from stump wood when operating with terminal 

comminuting (Fig. 3). In other words, the supply chains 

with the best energy input/output ratio were logging 

residues with comminution at roadside landing and plant, 

as well as logging residues bundles with comminution at 

terminal. Correspondingly, stump and root wood supply 

chain with comminution at terminal had the highest ratio. 

Less than 3% of the energy content was consumed 

during the forest chip production. Energy input/output 

ratio in the total volume was 0.026 MWh/MWh which 

varied from 0.019 to 0.038 between the supply chain 

alternatives studied (Figs. 4–6). Hence, forest chip 

production gave a net of some 97% of the energy content 

delivered at the plant. 


Figure 1: Volume of CO 2-eq emissions of a study, 

227 000 tonnes in total, with the supply sources used. 

Figure 2: Volume of diesel consumption of a study, 73 

million litres in total, with the supply sources used. 

Figure 3: Relative CO 2-eq emissions of forest chip 

supply chains in the study. CO 2-eq emissions of 100 = 

Logging residues, comminution at roadside landing.

Figure 4: CO 2-eq emissions (kg/m 3 ) of logging residue 

chips with roadside comminution supply chain in the 

study. 

Figure 5: CO 2-eq emissions (kg/m 3 ) of small-diameter 

thinning wood chips with roadside comminution supply 

chain in the study. 

Figure 6: CO 2-eq emissions (kg/m 3 ) of stump and root 

wood chips with supply chain based on comminution at 

plant in the study. 


A lot of discussion about the energy efficiency of 

forestry production chains and the CO 2-eq emissions of 

different fuels have been presented. The importance of 

decreasing energy use, as well as monitoring and 

reducing greenhouse gases are a general subject for 

further development. Therefore, Metsäteho Oy undertook 

this study on the CO 2-eq emissions in forest chip 

production by alternative supply chains in Finland in 

2020. The study results indicated that the energy 

input/put ratio of forest biomass is good. With our supply 

mix, forest chip production gave a net of some 97% of 

the energy content delivered at the plant. The findings are 

in line with the earlier CO 2-eq emissions made in Finland 

[26, 27]. 

Emissions calculations have to continue to provide 

information that is vital for the future development. In 

Finland, the comprehensive forest work studies of 

mechanized felling and forest haulage was carried out in 

the 1980’s and 90’s, and now is time for deep 

understanding of production of forest chip technology 

and energy efficiency, as well as realistic alternatives of 

forest chip supply chains in future. 

This study gives a reasoned estimation of forest 

biomass supply sources, supply chains and machinery, as 

well as CO 2-eq emissions related to the target for the year 

2020 (24 TWh). Calculation the CO 2-eq emissions were 

determined for different chip raw material flows (chips 

from small-sized thinning wood, logging residues, and 

stump and root wood), and for various supply chains 

(comminution at roadside landings, at terminals, and at 

power plants, or at some other production mills). 

In the calculations, it was assumed that the share of 

stump wood chips will be increasing, as well as the share 

of terminal comminuting in the production of forest chips 

[cf. 3, 4, 24, 25]. The productivity levels of machines and 

vehicles are assumed to be almost at the same level than 

nowadays. In the future, development of machine and 

equipment technology, new technical and mechanical 

innovations and rationalization of working methods will 

help to boost the operating performance of machine and 

vehicle units and further to decrease the CO 2-eq 

emissions of forest chip production. In contrast, less 

favorable harvesting conditions (i.e. less removals, more 

difficult terrain, and longer forwarding distances) and 

lengthening transportation distances are obstacles to 

lowering energy consumption and CO 2-eq emissions of 

machinery [cf. 4, 24, 28]. 

Just for understanding of causation for differences 

between supply chains based on different machinery and 

logistics, there need to be mention some examples: Forest 

haulage and long-distance transportation of logging 

residues are more productive compared with the other 

forest chip supply sources. Lifting operation and 

comminution of stump wood consume a lot of energy. 

Cutting of small-diameter thinning wood is not effective 

from a fuel consumption point of view. 

Silviculture and forest improvement activities’ 

emissions were included into the Model, as well as 

machine transfers and transport-to-work and production 

of diesel and fertilizer. As an example, fuel consumption 

of truck has calculated by Metsäteho’s sensitive fuel 

consumption model. Emissions were calculated by type 

of forest chip supply chain, combined with appropriate 

long-distance transportation methods. 

As a significant part of the study, a sensitivity 

analysis was performed to point out the influence of 

different parameters and to underline the importance of 

data management behind the emissions calculations. 

In practice, the supply chain mix depends on the 

availability of supply chain combinations, machinery, 

and machine operators. The differences of emissions are 

due to the productivity and fuel consumption of different 

kind of technology, but also because of realistic 

combination of supply chains and available machinery. 

We have to look at the whole production system, hence 

there is no sense to compare supply chains without 

realistic, comprehensive boundaries. 

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31

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chips in Finland in 2007 and in the future. Metsäteho 

Review 28. Available at: 



33


LARGE-SCALE FOREST BIOMASS SUPPLY WITH LONG-DISTANCE TRANSPORT METHODS 

Ranta, T. Korpinen, O.-J. Jäppinen, E. & Karttunen, K. 

Lappeenranta University of Technology 

Prikaatinkatu 3 E, 50100 Mikkeli, Finland 

tel.: +358 40 864 4994, e-mail: tapio.ranta@lut.fi 

ABSTRACT: Finnish forest companies aim to produce biodiesel based on the Fischer-Tropsch process from forest 

residues. This study presents method to evaluate biomass availability and supply costs to the selected biorefinery site. 

Forest-owners’ willingness to sell, buyers’ market share, and regional competition were taken into account when biomass 

availability was evaluated. Supply logistics was based either on direct truck transportation deliveries from forest or on 

railway/waterway transportation via regional terminals. The large biomass need of a biorefinery demanded both of these 

supply structures, since the procurement area was larger than the traditional supply area used for CHP plants in Finland. 

The average supply cost was 17 €/MWh for an annual supply of 2 TWh of forest biomass. Truck transportation of chips 

made from logging residues covered 70% of the total volume, since direct forest chip deliveries from forest were the 

most competitive supply solution in terms of direct supply costs. The better supply security and lower vehicle capacity 

needs are issues that would favour also terminal logistics with other raw-material sources in practical operations. One 

finding was that the larger the biomass need, the less the variation in biomass availability and supply costs, since almost 

the whole country will serve as a potential supply area. Biomass import possibilities were not considered in this study. 

Keywords: logistics, forest residues, supply chain, biorefinery 


In Finland, the target for renewable energy as a 

share of final energy consumption will be 38% by 

2020 [1]. In 2008, the share was 28%, but it fell to 

26% in 2009 because of the declining production 

volumes in the forest industry [2]. In particular, wood 

fuels will be tasked with a considerable share of the 

work to meet Finnish targets. Wood fuels accounted 

for 75% (263 PJ) of renewable energy primary use 

(350 PJ) in 2009 [2]. The Climate and Energy Strategy 

of Finland presupposes wood fuel primary use to 

achieve the level of 335 PJ (forest chips: 76 PJ) under 

the base scenario or 349 PJ (forest chips: 86 PJ) in the 

target scenario by 2020 [1]. The target scenario 

strives toward the aim of RES for Finland. The 

difference between the scenarios follows from the 

increased forest chip use, while use of forest industry 

volume-‐dependent wood by-‐products and black 

liquor is forecast to decline according to both 

scenarios. which underpins the development of forest 

chip use. The study by Pöyry estimated that supply by 

products would decline some 16% (16 PJ) between 

2005 and 2010 [3]. 

Under the Climate and Energy Strategy, the total use 

of forest chips (86 PJ) involves some 12 million solid 

cubic metres. The latest aim stated by the Government of 

Finland is to increase this volume to the level of 13.5 

million solid cubic metres (90 PJ). Techno-economical 

potential will lie somewhere around 151–168 PJ [3] by 

2020; therefore, the target is challenging to utlilise more 

than half of the potential within this time frame. 

Uncertainties arise from the development of roundwood 

felling levels, energy wood subsidy schemes, pricing of 

emission allowances and prices of alternative fuels. In 

addition, Finland aims to build three biorefineries, each 

needing 1 million solid m 3 of forest chips a year. These 

targets and related incentives will be announced in a 

national action plan for the European Commission by the 

end of June. The incentives include a chipping subsidy 

for energy wood from first thinnings, a feed-in tariff for 

small-scale CHP (< 20 MW) using wood, and a dynamicsubsidy 

model for electricity produced from wood in cocombustion 

boilers. The idea is to replace peat and coal 

with wood and link the level of the subsidy to the price 

development of CO 2 allowances. 

The development of forest chips’ use has been rapid 

so far in the 21 century. From 2000 to 2009, the use of 

forest chips increased from 7 PJ (0.9 million solid m 3 ) to 

44 PJ (6.1 million solid m 3 ). The energy industry (district 

heat and power production) used 39 PJ and small houses 

5 PJ in 2009 [4]. Forest chips consisted of logging 

residues (36%), small-diameter energy wood (29%), 

stumps (15%), and roundwood (20%). The share of 

roundwood increased till sixfold from the last year 

because of import from Russia. 

So far, all forest chips (both uncomminuted and 

comminuted material) have been transported by truck, 

except in trials with railway and waterway vehicles in the 

inland lake area ]4]. It was found that waterway 

transportation may become an option with longer 

transport distances (over 150 km) if the barge logistics is 

managed well and barge structures modified for forest 

chip transportation [5]. A winter season with iced-over 

lake areas (3–4 months) will decrease the logistical 

effectiveness of the waterway system. In contrast, railway 

logistics offers more route options and year-round 

operation possibilities. Experiences of railway logistics 

for forest chips from Sweden have been promising [6]. 

The terminal operations are an especially essential part of 

railway logistics for keeping the train capacity in use [7]. 

It could be expected that other transport modes will 

claim a certain part of domestic transport markets for 

forest chips. Larger forest chip supply volumes calls for 

logistics systems including buffer terminals and transport

modes suitable for longer distances. Supply costs will 

increase because of more handling and storage, but at the 

same time it is possible to increase the availability and 

supply security. 

The larger forest chip volumes and longer transport 

distances will be clearly manifested with biorefineries 

despite their integration into paper and pulp mills. 

Finnish forest companies aim to produce biodiesel from 

domestic forest chip raw-material sources, where the 

biofuel production technology will use the Fischer- 

Tropsch process. At the moment, the production 

technology is being further developed and evaluated for 

forest chips through demonstration and pilot plants. Also 

tentative production sites for commercial-scale plants 

have been selected and biomass availability estimated. In 

practical terms, only existing forest integrates would be 

suitable sites in Finland. The advantages of process 

integration will increase the conversion efficiency from 

60% to 90% [8]. There are three groups of operators 

interested in investing in a biorefinery and thus three 

parallel projects in progress in Finland. The additional 

biomass need per commercial site is at least 1 million m 3 

– i.e., 2 TWh of biomass and hundreds of truckloads per 

day, depending on the use of other modes of transport. 

The maximum need would be double this: 4 TWh of 

biomass. 

The analysis tool reported upon in this study will be 

targeted at assisting availability and alternative supply 

chain studies for potential biorefinery sites in Finland. 

The biorefinery scale is commercial, with production of 

100,000 tonnes of biodiesel a year. The analysis will be 

bound to a regional operational environment of supply 

infrastructure, including alternative transport networks 

such as roads, inland waterways and railways, potential 

forest biomass resources and alternative supply logistics 

structures. Regional competition is an important part of 

the study, for evaluating realistic biomass availability. 

Logistical structures dictate how the supply chain is 

constructed between supply and demand site including 

storage phases and the form in which material is handled 

in the various stages. Geographical information system 

(GIS) use is applied for analysing biomass resources in a 

competitive situation among end users and alternative 

supply logistics structures and for examining supply 

costs. 


2.1 Forest biomass reserves 

Calculations of biomass potential were based on 

commercial fellings reported upon at municipality level 

in Metinfo forest information services [9]. Volumes were 

obtained for 2004–08 and averaged. The biomass 

calculation method was reported upon in an earlier study, 

where techno-economical logging residue and stump 

volumes were converted from roundwood felling 

volumes [10]. The calculation method for small-diameter 

energy wood was based on National Forest Inventory 

data and also reported in the earlier study [11]. Biomass 

volumes at municipal level (448 units) were distributed 

over smaller collection points (55,292 units). These 

points were based on actual regeneration felling points 

from 2002–04. In this way, the municipal volume was 

spread to forestry land where fellings will occur also in 

the future. The volume was divided equally across points 

within each municipality, for more fine-grained 

geographical coverage. The coverage of collection points 

was greater in areas where regeneration felling activity 

has been higher, such as eastern and central Finland (see 

Fig. 1). With the volume assigned to these points, the 

regional availability and logistics calculations could be 

made more detailed. 

2.2 Competition among end users 

Alternative end users of forest chips were 

geographically pinpointed to take into account the 

regional competition. Only large-scale users with more 

than 50 GWh of annual actual or planned use (approx. 30 

sites) were selected (Fig. 1). In practice, these were 

municipal or industrial CHP plants. Also future potential 

user sites were taken into account, where the investment 

has been decided on or is under construction. No 

potential biorefinery sites were selected, as no 

construction site decision has yet been made. Small-scale 

heating plant sites (approx. 400) were omitted, since their 

effect on regional use is rather low. Large-scale users 

account for 75% of forest chips’ end use, and the smallscale 

use could have been incorporated into large-scale 

use [4]. The regional coverage of users was extensive 

except in northern Finland. 

Figure 1: The coverage of forest biomass collection 

points and large-scale (> 50 GWh/a) users of forest chips 

The forest chips are supplied mainly in the proximity 

of existing CHP plants, since the typical procurement 

area lies within 100 km. Because of the extensive 

geographical coverage and plants’ proximity to each 

other, the procurement areas are overlapped, especially in 

the southern part of Finland. End users have access to 

only certain of the biomass sources surrounding the 

plants, since the biomass supply market is oligopolistic 

by nature. Many organisations supply biomass to 

alternative end users in the same region; in this study, the 

maximum market share was assumed to be 50%. 

At first, for each CHP plant the supply areas were 

calculated via road network to build an isodistance area 

(same road distance at outer ring) that could meet the full 

demand. This area was called the inside supply area. 

From this area, 50% was allocated to the plant accounting 

for the maximum market share. The rest was available for 

other users. Secondly, the outside supply area was 

calculated with a distance double that used in the first 

stage. The supply area will be quadrupled with double the 

distance, and 17% of this area was allocated to the plant, 


35

with the rest being volume free for other users (Fig. 2). 

From the overlapping area, the free volume (i.e., 

collection sites) was allocated by a method minimising 

the transport distance between alternative users. 

Especially in areas with high forest fuel demand and 

several overlapping supply areas, the transport distances 

increased. However, the areas with the highest demand 

also had the highest potential in central and eastern 

Finland. The western part of the country was outside the 

scope of the study. The intensity of the competition was 

illustrated through the use of colors in the map 

presentation (see Fig. 3). Areas depicted in red had the 

highest competition, and 50% of the volume was 

allocated to CHP plants in the region. By contrast, in 

areas shown in brown, 17% was allocated; for those in 

green, all biomass volume was free and no competition 

existed. The greatest competition was in central and 

eastern Finland, where are many large-scale CHP-plants 

with high demand. The individual points with the highest 

demand were in Jyväskylä, in central Finland (1,000 

GWh), and in the city of Lappeenranta (800 GWh), in 

eastern Finland. The north-eastern part of the country had 

the least competition from biomass. 

Figure 2: Isodistance areas and biomass volume 

allocation rules from the areas 

Forest biomass availability was illustrated in a map 

presentation via color shading, with darker color 

indicating better biomass availability (Fig. 3). The map 

showed the biomass free after competition. Therefore, 

availability was best in the northern part of the country, 

where there was the least competition. Both the potential 

and the availability of small diameter energy wood are 

increasing in the northern part of Finland. Normally, the 

potential maps without competition showed the opposite 

situation, since the potential of spruce logging residues 

and stumps is concentrated in central and eastern Finland 

[12]. 


Figure 3: Competition from biomass. The map at the left 

illustrates the degree of competition (red for high 

competition, orange for minor competition, green for no 

competition) and the one on the right shows the 

availability after competition has been taken into account 

(the darker the better availability). All biomass fractions 

are included 

2.3 Factors in availability of biomass to a biorefinery 

Forest resources, types, and felling activity dictate the 

biomass potential. So far, the spruce-dominated 

regeneration fellings have been the main source for forest 

chips’ recovery. Nowadays, also pine-dominated small 

diameter energy wood fellings and pine stump recovery 

has become more common. Regional competition is a 

very important factor in examination of availability to a 

specific end-user site. The market share of roundwood 

fellings and forest-owners’ willingness to sell biomass for 

energy determine the actual free biomass availability. 

Logging residues and stumps’ recovery are typically 

integrated into roundwood fellings; therefore, access to 

roundwood fellings provides the possibility of harvesting 

also energy wood from the same felling site if forest 

owners are willing to sell it. Forest industry companies 

are potential biorefinery investors in Finland, and the 

domestic market share of one company is, on average, 

one third, although it varies a great deal by region. 

Forest-owners’ willingness to sell was examined in a 

survey done in the county of Etelä-Savo in 2009. 

Alternative stumpage prices were taken into 

consideration. The results concerning willingness 

indicated 80% for logging residues, 75% for smalldiameter 

energy wood, and 50% for stumps (Fig. 4). The 

main reason for declining energy wood harvesting was 

lack of information and fear of jeopardising the nutrient 

balance at the forest site. 

End-user site location and its proximity to biomass 

resources, regional geography, and transport networks 

and related infrastructure are site-dependent factors that 

dictate availability to the selected end user. The railway 

and waterway network will widen the procurement area 

beyond the normal area of less than 100 km via road 

network. Overall, the counties of Pohjois-Karjala, 

Kainuu, and Pohjois-Savo (in the north-east) and the 

southern part of Lapland are especially suitable for 

railway or waterway transport logistics.

Figure 4: End users’ market share (in this case one third) 

and forest-owners’ willingness to sell different energy 

biomass fractions 

2.4 Supply logistics alternatives 

Supply logistics decisions were based on either 

roadside chipping and direct truck transportation or 

terminal chipping and railway/waterway transportation to 

the end-user site. The terminal chipping option included 

loose material’s transportation by trucks to terminals. 

Only inland and lake-area domestic supply was 

examined. Import options were excluded from this study. 

The terminal sites were existing terminals, and 

selection for the study was based on suitability to act as a 

biomass supply terminal for the selected end-user site. 

Primarily, each location’s proximity to biomass sources 

and transport networks (railway/waterway) dictated the 

terminal sites. The secondary selection criteria were 

technical properties and the terminal site’s suitability in 

terms of storage capacity, loading capacity and length of 

the loading rail or quay, and chipping conditions 

(remoteness from residential areas). The maximum pre 

hauling distance for loose material was set to 80 km. 

Waterway terminals were on Lake Saimaa, along the 

deep channel (4.2 m). In total, 28 railway terminals and 

three waterway terminals were chosen (Fig. 5). 

Railway transportation was based on container 

logistics. Railway shipment involved 20 wagons (20 ft, 

48 m 3 ), for a total frame volume of 2,880 m 3 of forest 

chips (Fig. 6). The properties of loading places imposed a 

limit on the train length, less than 450 m, or a 20-wagon 

train. The maximum net load would in this case be 976 

tonnes, which yields 2,380 MWh. Each wagon took three 

containers, with the total, approx. 140 m 3 , being 

equivalent to a full 140 m 3 trailer truck. The bearing 

capacity of one wagon is 61 tonnes, so a fifth of the 

bearing capacity will remain unused. Loading was done 

by front loader and unloading with a forklift truck (Fig. 

7). Forklifts could be equipped with a weighing appliance 

and RFID-marking system. Biomass was chipped at the 

railway terminal to keep the degree of capacity utilisation 

of chipping facilities and trains as high as possible. 

Biomass was stored for the long term in uncomminuted 

form, to avoid material loss and any risk of self-ignition. 

Waterway transportation was based on barge 

logistics, wherein a tugboat operates with a barge .Only 

the Lake Saimaa area is suitable for this option, apart 

from in the winter season, 3–4 months for which the lake 

is frozen. A typical suitable barge size for the Lake 

Saimaa area is the Europa IIa type: hold: 2,650 m 3 , load 

with heaped shape: 4,000 m 3 , approx. 1,200 tonnes. 

Storage and chipping were done as with railway logistics. 

Loading and unloading were done by heavy material 

machines or excavators (Fig. 8). Larger loads are possible 

with extended sides, since there is still a lot of carrying 

capacity (maximum: 2,500 tonnes) left. Biomass from 

islands will come as deck load, but for this study those 

options were excluded. 

Figure 5: Railway and waterway terminals 

Figure 6: Container railway shipment (Innofreight) 

Figure 7: Loading and unloading of railway containers 

(Innofreight) 


37

Figure 8: Waterway transportation by barge 

2.5 Supply costs of alternative supply chain options 

First supply cost without transport was calculated for 

each biomass fraction. Each collection point had 

alternative transportation options, either direct truck 

transportation to the end user or transportation via 

terminals to the end user (Fig. 9). Direct transport 

involved roadside chipping and truck transport of forest 

chips. Stump biomass was chipped not at the roadside but 

at terminals only, or it was transported as uncomminuted 

loads to the end user. Terminal options included also 

loose biomass truck transportation to terminals and 

further forest chip transportation to the end user by either 

railway or waterway, according to the terminal type. 

Figure 9: Alternative supply chain option for forest 

chips: waterway route (A), railway route (B), and road 

transport route (C) by truck 

Logging residues were the cheapest source of raw 

material, ahead of stumps and small-diameter energy 

wood. Small-diameter energy wood harvesting and 

chipping received a production subsidy. Without that, 

they would not be a competitive source (Fig. 10). 


Figure: 10: Supply costs without transportation 

Secondly, the transportation cost was calculated for 

each collection site, for the end user and alternative 

terminals. The cheapest option was selected, either direct 

transport or transport via terminal. The increase in truck 

transportation costs was much greater than the increase 

for railway or waterway transport (Fig. 11). The larger 

individual loads – by railway 20 trucks and by water 30– 

40 trucks – flatten out the growth in transport costs with 

these options. The cost functions were based on earlier 

studies, with updated cost parameters applied [5, 13, 14]. 

Figure 11: Transportation cost with alternative long 

distance transport options (label rank the same as the line 

rank in the figure) 

2.6 Estimation of vehicle and chipper capacity needs 

An important part of the supply logistics planning is 

estimation of how many vehicles and other machines are 

needed to feed enough biomass to the biorefinery in view 

of the supply logistics structure selected. Capacity 

calculation was based on the annual output of alternative 

vehicles and machines (Table I). Values were gathered 

from earlier studies [5, 6, 13, 14] and modified.

Table I: Annual capacity of vehicles and chippers 

Vehicle/Chipper m 3 /a 

Trucks 

-‐ logging residues 21, 200 

-‐ stumps 23, 600 

-‐ energy wood 21, 200 

-‐ forest chips 26, 800 

Train 160, 000 

Barge 245, 000 

Mobile chipper 

-‐ logging residues at roadside 46, 700 

-‐ stumps at terminal 80, 800 

-‐ energy wood at terminal 92, 300 

3 RESULTS 

The main results of the study concerned the annual 

availability of forest biomass in relation to the supply 

cost and the logistical choices behind this solution for the 

selected site. This paper presents the results without 

specification of the exact site. Also, precise values of 

supply costs and biomass volumes in figure presentations 

were omitted because of their confidential nature for the 

selected site. The shape of the availability function was a 

logistics growth curve where the cost increase was faster 

at the beginning but slowed in the middle to increase 

again at the end (Fig. 12). The procurement area was 

limited to below 300 km when defined as a direct truck 

transport distance and less than 80 km when defined as a 

pre-hauling distance to supply terminals. Therefore, the 

maximum availability was 4.5 TWh to the selected site. 

In particular, the market share and forest-owners’ 

willingness to sell limited the total biomass potential to 

one fourth of the original free techno-economical 

potential. Local competition, taken into account to 

determine the free techno-economical potential, 

decreased availability particularly in eastern Finland. 

The average supply costs were used in the figures, 

while with marginal costs the shape would have been an 

exponential growth curve. The average supply cost 

increased steadily at around 2 TWh, which was the 

targeted supply volume for the plant, corresponding to 

approx. 1 million solid m 3 . The average supply cost was 

17 €/MWh for a 2 TWh supply. One source of supply 

cost variation was the biomass source. The cheapest was 

logging residues (16 €/MWh), ahead of stumps (17.5 

€/MWh), and the most expensive was small diameter 

energy wood (21 €/MWh), regardless of the production 

subsidies (Fig. 13). Production subsidies decreased the 

costs of small-diameter energy wood supply by 5.2 €/ 

MWh and made these sites one potential energy source. It 

was assumed that 25% of energy wood sites were 

subsidised. The reason for lower availability of stump 

biomass was stricter collection site selection rules and 

less willingness of forest-owners to sell them. Without 

subsidies, the energy wood fraction would be too 

expensive. 

Figure 12: Forest biomass supply cost as a function of 

total biomass availability 

Figure 13: Forest biomass supply cost as a function of 

biomass availability, divided among alternative energy 

biomass sources (label rank the same as the line rank in 

the figure) 

Logging residues accounted for the majority of 

supply volumes, approx. 70% of 2 TWh supply, and 

decreased slowly after this. Stumps accounted for approx. 

20% and subsidised energy wood roughly 10% (Fig. 14). 

Unsubsidised energy wood became an option until the 

volume surpassed 2.5 TWh and the supply cost more than 

20 €/MWh. 

Figure 14: The shares of alternative biomass sources as a 

function of total biomass availability (label rank the same 

as the line rank in the figure) 

Truck transport vehicles dominated the 

transportation, at approx. 70% for 2 TWh supply, and 

decreased with larger volumes, to 60% (Fig. 15). The 

selected site did not have any waterway option. 


39

Figure 15: The share of transport modes as a function of 

the total biomass availability (label rank the same as the 

line rank in the figure) 

The map illustrations showed the aerial supply 

solution, where direct deliveries and delivery via railways 

terminals take place, and on which raw-material sources 

these deliveries were based. Direct truck loads were 

delivered at a transport distance of less than 300 km, and 

the railway option was possible outside that area, except 

for small areas surrounding terminals (Fig. 16). All 

biomass sources were transported by truck, but for longer 

distances only energy wood and finally logging residues 

were viable option. Stumps were too costly an option for 

railway transportation. 

The vehicle needs for supply of 2 TWh biomass were 

estimated. In this case, the forest chip trucks and mobile 

chippers were needed because of the large number of 

direct deliveries from the roadside. The need for units of 

other transport modes was marginal (Table II). To 

increase the supply from this level will require, in 

particular, trucks for uncomminuted biomass and mobile 

chippers for logging residues and energy wood. 

Figure 16: Map illustrating transport mode selection (left 

side red for trucks and yellow for railway) and biomass 

raw-material options (right side, dark green for all 

fractions, middle green without stumps and light green 

only logging residues ) for 2 TWh supply 


Table II: Vehicle needs assuming a supply of 2 TWh 

Vehicle Units 

Truck (uncomminuted biomass) 9 

Truck (forest chips) 22 

Train (20 wagons) 2 

Barge 0 

Mobile chippers (logging residues, 

energy wood) 

16 

Mobile crushers (stumps) 2 

4 DISCUSSION 

The results of biomass availability and supply cost 

studies are typically very site-dependent, because of the 

variation in biomass resources, geography, and transport 

infrastructure. In particular, end-user sites near coastal or 

border areas have been ranked as poorer sites in 

comparison to inland sites in this respect [12]. However, 

long-distance transport with terminal logistics will level 

off their difference when biomass is also transported 

outside the typical procurement area, in which solely 

truck transportation is used. Coastal sites with their own 

harbours also have better possibilities for import of a 

large variety of biomass streams from abroad via large 

seagoing vessels. 

This study shows that the biomass need of a 

biorefinery is so great that procurement areas must be 

extended beyond the normal supply area handled with 

trucks. Typically, truck transport is a suitable option for 

less than 100 km, because of a rapid increase in transport 

costs [13]. However, they are still the cheapest transport 

option for longer distances, with the cost parameters used 

in this study. The transport costs increase to a lesser 

extent with other transport modes (cf. Fig. 11), but the 

extra stage of pre-hauling to the terminal increases the 

supply costs with terminals above those of direct 

transport. However, terminal handling costs form a rather 

minor cost component, because of efficient material 

handling machines (cf. Fig. 10). If the biorefinery will be 

somewhere in eastern or central Finland, the variation in 

biomass availability and supply cost will be minor, 

because of the need for a large procurement area. The 

greater the biomass need, the less the variation in 

biomass availability and supply costs, since almost the 

whole country will be a potential supply area. Only sites 

in the north-western and northern part of the country will 

have a poorer supply situation, especially because of 

scarcity of logging residues and stumps in that area. 

Particularly important is a site’s location in relation to 

transport networks, where there should be easy access in 

all directions, as for a transport node or inland logistics 

hub. 

Mainly terminals outside the 300 km supply area 

became part of the supply solution, and supply via closer 

terminals was less in this study. This phenomenon was 

taken into account in the selection of terminal sites. The 

terminal network was rather dense outside the truck 

supply area (cf. Fig. 5). The railway network reaches all 

over the country well, and the best terminal sites are at 

branching points of the network or points along the main 

railway. The loading track length, at minimum 450 m for 

20 wagons, is one important planning parameter – and 

another is the capacity and characteristics of the storage 

area. Terminals act also as buffer storage; therefore, 

enough space is needed for both uncomminuted and

comminuted biomass, as is stable ground (asphalted 

concrete), for chipping machines and trucks. Ease of 

access and short distance between storage and loading 

track are a self-evident need. For biorefineries, buffer 

storage capability is particularly essential for maintaining 

even supply year-round. From forest sites only via direct 

deliveries, this would not be possible. Therefore, the 

result of this case study is to some extent theoretical, and 

more biomass should be directed via terminal supply. The 

results rely solely on minimising supply costs on the 

basis of summing costs of supply stages and transport 

costs. In this case, supply security issues and availability 

of free vehicle capacity and labour were omitted. In the 

terminal system, there are better possibilities to increase 

biomass quality, by controlling the moisture content and 

impurity levels. There is the possibility of sieving out 

impurities and selecting and mixing separate biomass lots 

to homogenise deliveries. Vehicle needs (trucks and 

mobile chippers) will be lower for a terminal system 

feeding in the same amount of biomass, in comparison to 

decentralised supply from forest sites to the biorefinery. 

In the study, only railway transport was used via 

terminals, and in this way 20 truckloads were transported 

in one shipment. Depending on the terminal’s location 

(remote or in the immediate vicinity), also truck transport 

from terminals would be an option, but it was not 

considered in this study. Waterway transport based on 

barges could take 30–40 truckloads at a time. The 

waterway option is viable only in the Lake Saimaa area, 

where the best terminal sites are existing harbours for 

roundwood or other commodities. These sites have the 

best facilities for handling biomass. The waterway deep 

water channel (4.35 m) reaches a rather large area in 

eastern Finland, but the maximum transport distances 

will be to the line between south and north. For example, 

the route between harbours of Lappeenranta 

(southernmost) and Joensuu (northernmost on the east 

channel route) is 312 km and Lappeenranta and 

Siilinjärvi (northernmost on the western channel route) is 

339 km. These distances are rather short for making 

waterways a competitive solution, since in most cases the 

practical distance will be much shorter in this area. 

Waterway transport will become part of a supply solution 

only if the biorefinery has its own harbour and is in the 

lake area. The Saimaa canal connects the lake to the sea, 

the Gulf of Finland, and also makes imports from abroad 

possible. The sea transport would be based on dry cargo 

vessels instead of the barges used in the lake area. 

A common challenge with other transport modes is 

the under-utilisation of capacity, both bearing capacity 

and utilisation rate. The latter could be addressed with 

better management of logistics and the first with vehicle 

structure development. Both railway wagon and barge 

capacity could be increased by enlarging the load frame. 

It is possible to use higher containers in railway wagons 

or extended sides in barges. Wagon frames could be 

increased approx. 20%, but to make multi-mode 

transportation possible, containers should be dimensioned 

in view of truck logistics. Also, various compacting 

systems could be used, such as vacuum feed for 

containers and pressing the load down by running over it 

with heavy machines for barge loads. 

Logistics management is more important when 

transport is scheduled and routed to keep the 

pulling/pushing unit (locomotive or tugboat) constantly 

running while the load units (wagons or barges) move 

between the terminals and the end user. Also essential is 

guaranteed adequate biomass volume for loading points. 

Otherwise, the costs of railway or waterway supply 

chains will increase very intensively as the utilisation rate 

of trains and waterborne vessels decreases. To keep other 

transport modes part of a realistic year-round supply 

solution, the utilisation of vehicle capacity should be 

maximised. It is not possible to build an efficient supply 

solution based on occasional ad-hoc transport. The major 

drawback of waterway transport is the downtime during 

the winter season, from January to April. 

So far, no biorefinery investment has been decided on 

in Finland. The first site’s location will have a major 

effect on the site decision for other potential sites, 

because of the tighter competition for biomass in the 

proximity of the biorefinery. Also, other biomass sources 

may come into play, such as pulpwood, short-rotation 

forestry, and agro biomass. At the moment, these are 

more expensive sources, but if there arises a shortage of 

biomass, other sources will be mobilised. Peat would be 

an abundant source of biomass, especially in the northern 

part of the country, but biofuel produced from it would 

not have an RES label and Finland will not be able to 

count it toward the commitment set for RES fuel in the 

traffic sector. 

5 REFERENCES 

[1] Long-term Climate and Energy Strategy. Government 

Report to Parliament 6 November 2008. Työ- ja 

elinkeinoministeriön julkaisuja, Energia ja ilmasto 

(36/2008). 

[2] Energy consumption 2008 and preliminary energy 

statistics 2009 (Energy 2009). Statistics Finland. 

[3] Pöyry Energy Oy (2009). Metsäbioenergian saatavuus 

energiantuotantoon eri markkinatilanteissa. 

Loppuraportti 30.4.2009. Energiateollisuus ry. 43 p 

[4] E. Ylitalo, Puun energiakäyttö 2009. 

Metsäntutkimuslaitos, Metsätilastotiedote (16/2010). 

[5] K. Karttunen, E. Jäppinen, K. Väätäinen & T. Ranta, 

(2008). Metsäpolttoaineiden vesitiekuljetus 

proomukalustolla. Waterway transportation of forest 

fuels by barges. (abstract). Lappeenrannan teknillinen 

yliopisto, Teknillinen tiedekunta, Energia- ja 

ympäristötekniikan osasto, Loppuraportti. EN B-177. 

107 p. 

[6] J. Enström (2008). Efficient handling of wood fuel 

within the railway system. In publication: K. Suadicani 

& B. Talbot (eds). The Nordic–Baltic Conference on 

Forest Operations – Copenhagen, 23–25 September 

2008. Forest and Landscape Working Papers 

(30/2008), pp. 53–55. 

[7] O-J. Korpinen, K. Karttunen, T. Ranta & E. Jäppinen 

(2008). Integration of railroads and waterways with 

forest fuel logistics in Finland. K. Suadicani & B. 

Talbot (eds). The Nordic–Baltic Conference on 

Forest Operations – Copenhagen, 35–25 September 

2008. Forest and Landscape Working Papers. 

(30/2008), pp. 65–67. 

[8] P. McKeough & E. Kurkela (2008). Process 

evaluations and design studies in the UCG project 

2004-2007. Espoo. VTT Tiedotteita - Research notes 

2434. 45 p. 

[9] Metinfo. Forest information services (2009). 

http://www.metla.fi/metinfo/index-en.htm. 

[10] J. Laitila, A. Asikainen & P. Anttila (2008). 

Energiapuuvarat. In publication: M. Kuusinen & H. 


41

Ilvesniemi (eds). Energiapuun korjun 

ympäristövaikutukset, tutkimusraportti. Tapion ja 

Metlan julkaisuja. 

[11] P. Anttila, K.T. Korhonen & A. Asikainen (2009). 

Forest energy potential of small trees from young 

stands in Finland. In: Mia Savolainen (ed.). 

Bioenergy 2009. Sustainable Bioenergy Business. 4th 

International Bioenergy Conference from 31st of 

August to 4th of September 2009. Book of 

Proceedings Part I. FINBIOn julkaisusarja - FINBIO 

Publications 1(44), pp. 221–226. 

[12] T. Ranta (2005). Logging residues from regeneration 

fellings for biofuel production – a GIS-based 

availability analysis in Finland. Biomass and 

Bioenergy, vol. 28, pp. 171–182. 

[13] T. Ranta & S. Rinne (2006). The profitability of 

transporting uncomminuted raw materials in Finland. 

Biomass and Bioenergy, vol. 30, no. 3, pp. 231–237. 

[14] R. Ryymin, P. Pohto, J. Laitila, I. Humala, M. 

Rajahonka, J. Kallio, J. Selosmaa, P. Anttila & T. 

Lehtoranta (2008). Metsäenergian hankinnan 

uudistaminen. Loppuraportti 12/2008. 


BIOMASS FUNCTIONS FOR YOUNG SCOTS PINE-DOMINATED FOREST 

K. Ahnlund Ulvcrona 1 , U. Nilsson 2 , T. Lundmark 3 

1 

Vindeln Experimental Forests, Svartberget Research Station, Swedish University of Agricultural Science, SE-922 91 

Vindeln, Sweden 

2 

Southern Swedish Forest Research centre, Swedish University of Agricultural Science, SE-230 53 Alnarp, Sweden 

3 

Forest Ecology and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Science, SE-901 83 Umeå, Sweden 

Kristina.ulvcrona@esf.slu.se 

ABSTRACT: The aim of this study was to develop predictive biomass functions for young stands of Scots pine-dominated 

forests in northern Sweden. Above ground biomass was destructively sampled, and biomass functions for all tree fractions 

(e.g. stem including bark, branch and foliage) were developed, based on independent variables. Functions to estimate dry 

weight of the whole tree were also developed. No significant regressions could be found for the dead branch fraction. DBH 

for sampled trees in this study was in the range of 11 - 136 mm (Pinus sylvestris), 10 - 121 mm (Picea abies L. Karst) and 9 – 

113 mm (Betula spp.). 

Keywords: bioenergy strategy, biomass characteristics, forestry residues 


Global emissions of greenhouse gases from the use of 

coal and oil need to be reduced. Consequently, there is a 

need for further development of more environmentally 

friendly energy sources [1]. In the future, it may be 

possible to use biofuel to satisfy some of the global 

energy demand, and therefore knowledge that supports 

the development of new silvicultural regimes is also 

required. Studies have shown that wood quality and 

branch characteristics tend to improve when Scots pine 

(Pinus sylvestris) is thinned at a greater stand height [2]. 

To meet the increasing demand for raw material from the 

forest, biomass growth has to increase. A high stem 

density results in high biomass production [3]. Dense, 

young forest can thus contribute to this increasing 

demand for raw material. Terrestrial vegetation can also 

be a CO 2 sink that may mitigate greenhouse gas 

emissions. 

An increased interest in small stems as well as branches 

for biomass harvest has led to the need for biomass 

functions suitable for these stands. The aim of this study 

was to find biomass functions based on easily measured 

variables (DBH and height) for the estimation of DW 

(dry weight) biomass. 


2.1 The sites 

Biomass was sampled at six different sites (Renfors, 

Degerön, Kulbäcksliden, Gagnet, Lillarmsjö and Unbyn; 

table 1). The sites are all young self-regenerated pinedominated 

mixed forest. Four of the sites (Renfors, 

Degerön, Kulbäcksliden and Gagnet) used for biomass 

sampling are part of a factorial experiment comparing 

thinning/no thinning combined with three different levels 

of fertilization. The field experiment was established in 

1997 and 1998 (Gagnet) after the first biomass sampling. 

The sizes of the experimental plots are 30 x 30 m or 45 x 

20 m, and each plot is surrounded by a 5 m buffer zone. 

Table 1. The sites for biomass sampling 

Site Latitude Altitude H100 (m) 

Renfors 64.22 190 18 

Degerön 64.15 175 20 

Kulbäcksliden 64.17 170 20 

Gagnet 63.25 125 24 

Lillarmsjö 63.97 220 21 

Unbyn 65.70 20 19 

2.2 Sample trees 

The trees for biomass sampling were randomly 

sampled from each DBH-class in the stand, but damaged 

trees were not chosen. 

In total, 387 trees were included in this destructive 

above-ground biomass study, of which 54 were from the 

pre commercial thinning (PCT)-treatment. The first 

samples were taken in June 1997 (Renfors, Degerön, 

Kulbäcksliden), June 1998 (Lillarmsjö) and August 1998 


43

(Gagnet and Unbyn) [4]. The second samples were taken 

in May and the first days of June 2003, before the trees 

started to grow, and the end of August and September 

after the growing season had finished. In 2003, birches 

were only sampled in August and September when the 

leaves were developed but had not started to fall. In 2004, 

biomass sampling from the thinned plots was done in 

April. 

2.3 Operations in the field 

The sample tree was cut down at a stump height of 

about 2 cm. DBH was marked and measured by cross 

callipering, starting towards the north side of the tree. All 

trees were measured in the same direction. The north side 

of the tree was also marked to aid selection of sample 

branches after felling. The thickness of the bark on Pinus 

sylvestris and Picea abies was measured using a bark 

gauge at the height of 1.35 m. The total length of the tree 

and the length of living crown were measured with a 

tape-measure. The living crown was defined as the first 

living branch, if no more than two whorls of dead 

branches separated the first living branch and the next 

living branches. 

The living crown was divided into four sections or strata 

(25% of the crown each) (Figure 1). One branch was 

chosen from each stratum for dry weight determination. 

The sampled branch was subjectively selected to 

represent all the branches from that section of the crown. 

The first branch, from the first section of the crown, was 

chosen from the first quarter (0 - 90 o ) of the stem circle 

starting at north. The second branch was sampled from 

the second quarter (90 – 180 o ) in the second section of 

the crown, the third from the third quarter in the third 

section and the fourth branch was from the fourth section 

of the crown and the fourth quarter of the stem. All 

branches from each section of the living crown were 

weighed, and a sample of dead branches was also 

collected from below the living crown for determination 

of the DW of dead branches. 

Figure 1. Sample tree for biomass studies 


All branches were cut using pruning shears, and live and 

dead branches were weighed separately. Six stem discs 

were taken, the first from the butt end of the stem, from 

the height of 130 cm (= DBH) and four further discs were 

taken from 30%, 55%, 70% and 85% of the stem height 

(Figure 1). The diameter of the disc was cross-callipered 

over bark and all discs were cut to a 50 mm thickness. 

The discs and the single sample branch were weighed in 

the field on a laboratory balance (6 kg maximum ± 

0.0005 kg). The log sections and all other branches were 

weighed on a scale (30 kg maximum ± 0.002 kg). 

2.3 In the laboratory 

The four branches, a sample of dead branches from 

below the living crown, and the 6 discs were put in 

separate airtight bags and stored in a freezer (-20°C) 

within 8 hours of sampling, until the dry weight was to be 

determined. The bark was separated from the disc before 

drying and all samples were dried in a ventilated oven 

(85°C for 48 hours). The discs were dried to constant 

weight, that is to say to the point where further drying 

resulted in a decrease in weight of < 1%. 

2.4 Statistics 

Anderson-Darling´s test for normality was performed 

on the data using MINITAB 13 [5]. A logarithmic 

transformation was applied to the data to obtain a 

constant variance [6. ]The regressions in this paper are 

based on the following model: 

Yi = β 0 + β 1x i + ε I (I = 1,2,…..n) 

[7]. In this simple linear form, Y i is referred to as log DW 

(kg), β 0 the intercept and x i to ln DBH * ln H. 

The models were fitted using MINITAB 13 [5] software. 

Statistical analysis of mean residuals for the sites showed 

no significant difference between sites (results not 

presented) [5]. Biomass for all treatments, each species 

and component, was related to the natural logarithm of 

DBH (cm) multiplied by the natural logarithm of height 

(H) (dm). Biomass functions were created for all species 

(i.e. Pinus sylvestris, Picea abies and Betula spp.), and 

for all tree fractions (whole tree, stem, branches and 

foliage). 

For each biomass function, the correction for logarithmic 

error was calculated as 

[6]. 

3 RESULTS 

3.1 Pinus sylvestris 

The regression explained 77% - 97% of the biomass 

variation (table 2 – 4). In the case of the PCT stand, 

biomass functions were only established for Pinus 

sylvestris (tables 2 – 4). For the whole tree and stem 

fractions, no significant differences between trees 

originating from the dense stand or the PCT stand could 

be detected. Therefore, only one biomass function was 

constructed for Pinus sylvestris for these fractions (table

2). In the data for branches and foliage, significant 

differences were found between the different stand 

densities, but not for the fertilizer treatment. Therefore, 

different biomass functions were constructed for the unthinned 

stand and the PCT stand (table 3 - 4). No 

significant regressions for the dead branch fraction were 

found. Therefore, the dead branch fraction is excluded 

from the tables. However, the biomass functions worked 

well for estimating dry weight (DW) for Pinus sylvestris 

trees with DBH 11 - 136 mm. 

Table 2. Biomass function for Pinus sylvestris tree and 

stem wood 

Pinus 

Tree P Stem P 

sylvestris 

wood 

Intercept -0.61492 0.000 -0.82388 0.000 

ln DBH * ln H 0.190018 0.000 0.19395 0.000 

N 199 199 

R 2 

0.97 0.99 

s 0.0841 0.0607 

Table 3. Biomass function for Pinus sylvestris branches 

Pinus 

sylvestris 

Branches 

from unthinned 

stand 

P Branches 

from 

thinned 

stand 

Intercept -1.6709 0.000 -1.4625 0.000 

ln DBH * ln H 0.21155 0.000 0.1900 0.000 

N 145 54 

R 2 

0.84 0.75 

s 0.2579 0.2627 

Table 4. Biomass function for Pinus sylvestris foliage 

Pinus 

sylvestris 

Foliage 

from unthinned 

stand 

P Foliage 

from 

thinned 

stand 

Intercept -1.33295 0.000 -1.3069 0.000 

ln DBH * ln H 0.16936 0.000 0.17107 0.000 

N 145 54 

R 2 

0.77 0.92 

s 0.2582 0.1203 

3.2 Picea abies 


variation (tables 5 – 6). Only Picea abies trees from the 

un-thinned treatment were sampled (tables 5-6). The 

biomass functions worked well for estimating the dry 

weight (DW) of Picea abies trees of DBH 10 – 121 mm. 

Table 5. Biomass function for Picea abies tree and stem 

wood 

Picea abies Tree P Stem P 

Intercept 0.3564 0.000 -0.7912 0.000 

ln DBH * ln H 0.1664 0.000 0.18297 0.000 

N 83 83 

P 

P 

R 2 

0.92 0.97 

s 0.1248 0.0796 

Table 6. Biomass function for Picea abies branches and 

foliage (un-thinned stand) 

Picea abies Branches P Foliage P 

Intercept -1.0065 0.000 0.7866 0.000 

ln DBH * ln H 0.1569 0.000 0.1519 0.000 

N 83 83 

R 2 

0.83 0.83 

s 0.1794 0.1727 

3.3 Betula spp. 


variation (tables 7 – 8). Only Betula spp. trees from the 

un-thinned treatment were sampled (tables 7 - 8). 

Because the first sampling was performed in early spring, 

it was not possible to use all of the sample trees when 

analyzing the foliage. Therefore, the number of sample 

trees for foliage is lower, compared with other fractions. 

The biomass functions worked well for estimating dry 

weight (DW) for trees of DBH 9 – 113 mm. 

Table 7. Biomass function for Betula spp. tree and stem 

wood 

Betula spp. Tree P Stem P 

Intercept -0.6512 0.000 -0.7606 0.000 

ln DBH * ln H 0.1948 0.000 0.1925 0.000 

N 106 106 

R 2 

0.99 0.99 

s 0.0647 0.0561 

Table 8. Biomass functions for Betula spp. branches and 

foliage (un-thinned stand). 

Betula spp Branches P Foliage P 

Intercept -1.4079 0.000 -1.83747 0.000 

ln DBH * ln H 0.19367 0.000 0.19964 0.000 

N 106 40 

R 2 

0.91 0.87 

s 0.1721 0.1832 


Participation in this conference was sponsored by Forest 

power – a project sponsored by the Botnia-Atlantica 

programme; a cross-border cooperation programme 

intended to co-fund projects within the Botnia-Atlantica 

area. Thanks also to Sees-editing Ltd. For correcting the 

English language. 

4.3 REFERENCES 

[1]. NREL (2002). Transitions to a new energy future. 


45

Research Review, U.S. Department of Energy´s National 

renewable Energy Laboratory. 

[2]. Ulvcrona, K., Claesson, S., Sahlén, K. And 

Lundmark, T. 2007. The effects of timing of precommercial 

thinning and stand density on stem form and 

branch characteristics of Pinus sylvestris. Forestry 80: 

323-335. 

[3]. Satoo, T. and Madgwick, H.A.I. 1982. Forest 

Biomass. The Hague, Boston, London. Martinus 

Nijhopp/Dr W. Junk publishers. 

[4]. Claaesson, S., Sahlén, K. and Lundmark, T. 2001. 

Functions for biomass estimation of young Pinus 

sylvestris, Picea abies and Betula spp. From stands in 

northern Sweden with high stand densities. Scandinavian 

Journal Forestry Research 16: 138-146 

[5]. Anonymous 1999. Minitab statistical software 

release 13 for Windows. 

[6]. Finney, D.J. 1941. On the distribution of a variate 

whose logarithm is normally distributed. Journal of the 

Royal Statistical Society., Supp B7 7(2) pp. 155-161. 


ESTIMATING POTENTIALS OF SOLID WOOD-BASED FUELS IN FINLAND IN 2020 

Kalle Kärhä 1 , Juha Elo 2 , Perttu Lahtinen 2 , Tapio Räsänen 1 & Heikki Pajuoja 1 

1 Metsäteho Oy, P.O. Box 101, FI-00171 Helsinki, Finland 

kalle.karha@metsateho.fi, tapio.rasanen@metsateho.fi, heikki.pajuoja@metsateho.fi 

2 Pöyry Energy Oy, P.O. Box 93, FI-02151 Espoo, Finland 

juha.elo@poyry.com, perttu.lahtinen@poyry.com 

ABSTRACT: In the context of the Long-term Climate and Energy Strategy, it is estimated that the primary use of woodbased 

fuels in Finland will be 93 to 97 TWh by the year 2020. The overall target set for forest chips is 12 million m 3 , i.e. 

around 24 TWh. The objective of the research carried out by Metsäteho Oy and Pöyry Energy Oy was to produce as 

realistic as possible a total analysis of the possibilities of increasing the usage of wood-based fuels in Finland by 2020. 

The research showed that the growth objective set in the Long-term Climate and Energy Strategy can be attained through 

the supply and demand of wood-based fuels. However, realizing this potential would require major investments in the 

entire forest chip production system, because the competitiveness of wood-based fuels in energy generation is currently 

not at a sufficient level. Considering the huge resources required by the forest chip production system and the current low 

competitiveness of forest chips, it is estimated that the use of forest chips in Finland will reach the level of 20 TWh at the 

earliest by the year 2020. 

Keywords: Energy wood, Fuelwood, Forest chips, Pontentials, Finland. 


The total energy consumption in 2008 was 389 TWh 

(1,400 PJ) in Finland [1]. The most important energy 

source in 2008 were oil products which made up around 

one fourth (98 TWh) of the total energy consumption in 

Finland [1]. 

In 2008, wood-based fuels covered more than one 

fifth (82 TWh) of the total energy consumption in 

Finland, and hence they were the second most important 

source of energy after oil [1]. This makes Finland one of 

the leading countries in the World when it comes to 

utilizing wood for energy generation. In Finland, woodbased 

fuels are divided into industrial waste liquors – 

mainly black liquor produced by pulping industries – and 

solid wood fuels. Further, solid wood fuels are divided 

into 1) wood fuels consumed by heating and power plants 

and 2) fuelwood consumed by small-sized dwellings, i.e. 

private houses, farms, and recreational dwellings [2]. 

In 2008, a half of wood-based fuel consumption (41 

TWh) was covered by waste liquors [2]. Solid wood fuels 

were consumed to the total of 41 TWh, or 20.5 million 

m 3 , of which the heating and power plants accounted for 

27 TWh, 14 million m 3 [2]. The small-sized dwellings 

use currently a total of 14 TWh, or 7 million m 3 of wood 

for heating [2]. 

The total consumption of forest chips for energy 

generation in 2008 was equivalent to 9.2 TWh (4.6 mill. 

m 3 ) in Finland [2]. Of the forest chips used in heating and 

power plants (8.0 TWh) in 2008, the majority (58%) was 

produced from logging residues in final cuttings [2]. 14% 

came from stump and root wood, and 4% from largesized, 

rotten roundwood. 24% of the total amount of 

commercial forest chips used for energy generation came 

from the small-diameter (d 1.3

Table 1: The assumptions related roundwood supply and 

the production of forest industry in 2020 in Finland in the 

research. 

Industrial 

roundwood supply, 

mill. m 3 

- Domestic 

roundwood cuttings 

- Import of 

roundwood 

By-products of 

forest industry (i.e. 

bark, sawdust, and 

waste wood chips) 

in energy 

generation, TWh 

Waste liquors of 

forest industry in 

energy generation, 

TWh 


2007 

75.4 

57.7 

17.7 

Basic 

scenario 

59.4 

56.6 

2.8 

2020 

Maximum 

scenario 

73.7 

67.9 

5.7 

19.2 17.1 18.5 

42.5 38.1 44.2 

The consumption of by-products (bark, sawdust and 

waste wood chips) and black liquor in energy generation 

were estimated to decrease in the Basic scenario 

compared to the year 2007. In the Maximum scenario, the 

energy usage of by-products also lowered but the use of 

black liquor increased slightly (Table 1). 

The cuttings by Forestry Centre and further by 

municipality in 2020 were allocated applying the latest 

National Forest Inventory data by the Finnish Forest 

Research Institute and the Stand Data Base by Metsäteho 

Oy. Metsäteho Oy Stand Data Base included more than 

150,000 thinning and final cutting stands harvested by 

Metsäliitto Group, Stora Enso Wood Supply Finland, 

UPM Forest, and Metsähallitus in 2006 and 2007. The 

calculated small-diameter wood supply potentials were 

based on the 10 th National Forest Inventory data of the 

Finnish Forest Research Institute. 

Three different levels of potentials were determined 

in the study (Fig. 1). In the research, the theoretical 

potential was the amount of: 

• Logging residues and stumps, which are produced 

in regeneration cutting areas in the Basic and 

Maximum scenarios, and 

• Small-diameter wood (whole trees) produced 

when tending and cutting operations in young 

stands are carried out on time. 

The techno-ecological supply potential was the forest 

chip material raw base, which is harvestable when the 

following limitations are taken into consideration: 

• Recovering percentage is less than 100, 

• Substantial amounts of pulpwood are not burnt, 

• Recommendations in the Guide for Energy Wood 

Harvesting [5] are followed when choosing 

harvesting sites, and 

• All energy wood does not come onto the market 

(forest owners' willingness to supply energy 

wood). 

And techno-economical usage potential included the 

total supply costs and the willingness to pay of energy 

plants (Fig. 1). 

Figure 1: The principle picture of the supply potentials 

determined in the research. 

The harvesting conditions for recovering sites were 

created applying Metsäteho Stand Data. The total supply 

system costs for forest chip quantities were calculated by 

Metsäteho Energy Wood Procurement Calculation 

Models. It was assumed that in 2020 the total supply 

system costs are 20% higher than currently. 

Pöyry Energy Oy’s Boiler and Energy Plant, Pellet, 

and Forest Industry Data Bases gave a possible to 

research the usage of wood-based fuels in the study. 

Pöyry Energy Data Bases included almost all current 

plants and factories, as well as those under planning and 

contracting. 

3 RESULTS 

3.1 Theoretical and techno-ecological potential 

According to the calculations, the technical usage 

potential of solid wood fuels in energy plants was 53 

TWh in 2020 in Finland. The proportion covered by 

logging residues and small-sized thinning wood was 

estimated to be 28 TWh. Theoretical supply potential of 

forest chips was 105 TWh in the Basic scenario and 115 

TWh in the Maximum scenario of the research (Fig. 2). 

Correspondingly, the techno-ecological supply potential 

was 43 TWh in the Basic scenario and 48 TWh in the 

Maximum scenario in the year 2020. 

Figure 2: Estimate of theoretical and techno-ecological 

supply potential of forest chips in 2020 based on the 

Basic and Maximum scenarios of the research. The 

calculated small-diameter wood supply potentials were 

based on the 10 th National Forest Inventory data of the 

Finnish Forest Research Institute.

3.2 Techno-economical potential 

When modelling the usage of solid wood fuels in 

energy generation in the Basic scenario in 2020, the 

consumption of solid wood fuels was 44 TWh of which 

the usage of forest industry by-products lowered from the 

current level to 17 TWh and the consumption of forest 

chips increased up to 27 TWh (Fig. 3). 

Particularly stumps raised significantly their 

proportion of total forest chip volumes (Fig. 4). The most 

expensive forest chip quantities delivered to energy plant 

were more than 20 €/MWh in the study. In this case, 

pulpwood starts to be cheaper than that kind of very 

expensive forest chip volumes. 

In the Maximum scenario, the usage of solid wood 

fuels increased to 48 TWh in 2020 (Fig. 3). Especially in 

the Maximum scenario the delivered quantities of logging 

residue chips and stump wood chips increased and the 

quantities of small-diameter thinning wood chips 

delivered decreased (Fig. 4). 

Figure 3: Use of solid wood-based fuels in energy plants 

in 2007 and the estimated usage in 2020 in the Basic 

scenario (domestic industrial roundwood cuttings 57 

million m 3 ) and in the Maximum scenario (68 mill. m 3 ). 

In these calculations, the price for emission rights is 30 

€/t CO 2 and the support for chips from small-diameter 

thinning wood from young forests 4 €/MWh (average 

stem size of removal as whole trees

and high (30 €/t CO 2), and the Kemera support for chips 

from small-diameter thinning wood is 0 to 8 €/MWh in 

2020. The presuppositions for the Kemera support 

claimed for small-diameter wood cut in young forests 

are: 

• When the average stem size of removal as whole 

trees is less than 60 dm 3 in stands, the Kemera 

support is at three different levels in the 

calculations (8, 4 and 0 €/MWh). 

• When the average stem size of removal as whole 

trees is more than 60 dm 3 in stands, the Kemera 

support is always 0 €/MWh in the calculations. 


The research showed that the growth objective set in 

the Long-term Climate and Energy Strategy [3] can be 

attained through the supply and demand of wood-based 

fuels because for instance in the Basic scenario the 

techno-economical supply potential was 27 TWh of 

forest chips in 2020 (cf. Fig. 4). However, realizing this 

potential would require major investments in the entire 

forest chip production system, because the 

competitiveness of wood-based fuels in energy 

generation is currently not at a sufficient level. 

Also we have to pay attention to the fact that the 

forest chip production resources are very huge. Kärhä et 

al. [6] mapped out how much machinery and labour 

would be needed for large-scale forest chip production if 

the use of forest chips increases extensively in Finland. 

According to Kärhä et al. [6] calculations, if the 

production and consumption of forest chips are 25 to 30 

TWh in Finland in 2020, 1,900 to 2,200 units of 

machinery, i.e. machines and trucks, would be needed. 

This would mean total investments in production 

machinery of 530 to 630 million (VAT 0%). The labour 

demand would be 3,400 to 4,000 machine operators and 

drivers, and 4,200 to 5,100 labour years including 

indirect labour. 

We clarified forest chip procurement potentials in the 

study using only as a raw material for forest chips so 

called traditional raw material sources, i.e. logging 

residues, stumps, and small-diameter wood. On the other 

words, we assumed that pulpwood is primary utilized in 

pulping industry. Nevertheless, it can be estimated that 

when the total supply costs of most expensive forest chip 

volumes are around 18–22 €/MWh, the pulpwood will 

remove this kind of the most expensive forest chip 

quantities. 

Considering the huge resources required by the forest 

chip production system and the current low 

competitiveness of forest chips, it is estimated that the 

use of forest chips in Finland with the low price for 

emission rights and current incentives by the State will 

reach the level of 20 TWh at the earliest by the year 

2020. Therefore, in the practise there are no possibilities 

to achieve the set targets of renewable energy with woodbased 

fuels in Finland if the competitiveness of woodbased 

energy does not improve strongly. 

We will need certain measures for improving 

operation environment in the field of forest chip 

production. And we need measures very fast because we 

have time only ten years for our targets of 2020. 

REFERENCES 


[1] Preliminary Energy Statistics. 2009. SVT, Statistics 

Finland, Energy. Available at: 

http://www.stat.fi/tup/julkaisut/isbn_978-952-244-019- 

8.pdf. 

[2] Ylitalo, E. 2009. Puun energiakäyttö 2008. (Use of 


Research Institute, Forest Statistical Bulletin 15. 

[3] Long-term Climate and Energy Strategy. Government 

Report to Parliament 6 November 2008. 2008. 

Publications of the Ministry of Employment and the 

Economy, Energy and climate 36. Available at: 


_ja_ilmasto.pdf. 

[4] Kärhä, K., Elo, J., Lahtinen, P., Räsänen, T. & 

Pajuoja, H. 2009. Availability and use of wood-based 

fuels in Finland in 2020. Metsäteho Review 40. Available 

at: 


[5] Koistinen, A. & Äijälä, O. 2006. Energiapuun korjuu. 

(Energy Wood Harvesting). Metsätalouden 

kehittämiskeskus Tapio, Hyvän metsänhoidon opassarja. 

[6] Kärhä, K., Strandström, M., Lahtinen, P. & Elo, J. 

2009. Forest chip production machinery and labour 

demand in Finland in the year 2020. Metsäteho Review 


http://www.metsateho.fi/uploads/Katsaus_41.pdf.

C pOLICY – hOW TO MaKE IT aLL happEN 


51


CLIMATE CHANGE IN BRAZIL: PUBLIC POLICIES, POLITICAL AGENDA AND MEDIA 

Magda Adelaide Lombardo; Ruimar Costa Freitas 

Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP) / Universidade de São Paulo (USP) 

Av. 24A, nº 1515, Bela Vista, 14506-900 Rio Claro – SP / 

Av. Prof. Lineu Prestes 338. Cidade Universitária, 05508-000 São Paulo- SP 

ABSTRACT: The climate change and sustainable development issue, especially in the context of energy production, have 

been on the current national policy rhetoric, reflecting the focus of the issue on the world scenario. The Brazilian Agroenergy 

Plan (2006-2011), considered as an strategic action of the federal government, is an attempt to organize a propose for 

Research, Development, Innovation and Technology Transfer, aiming to grant sustainability, competitiveness and greater 

equity between the agroenergy chain agents, starting with the reality analysis and future perspectives for the world energetic 

matrix. In this context, this research seeks to analyze the proposals of the State of São Paulo to the laws implementations that 

allows the goal accomplishment of 20% reduction on the greenhouse effect emissions until 2020 (base 2005), through action 

to the deforestation control, creation of an adaptation fund, establishment of a sustainable transportation system, mapping the 

vulnerabilities of the territory and financial mechanisms to the development of a low carbon economy. From the perspective 

of the national media coverage agenda, that has extensively approached the climate changes theme, this research collaborates 

to the analysis of sustainable projects inside the Brazilian perspective and context. This research will emphasize the relation 

between media, political speech and public policies. 

Keywords: Climate Change, Brazil, São Paulo, Public Policies, Political Agenda, Media, sustainability 


The world lives a crisis that may be unprecedented, 

regarding changes in the global climate. Although the 

causes and accountabilities had not been fully understood 

by the scientific community, the consequences of these 

changes no longer can be ignored. 

Until now, the main concern of the global community 

was development. However, in this new context, 

development cannot be considered without sustainability 

due to the impacts of inadequate anthropic intervention in 

the environment associated with reckless use of natural 

resources and concentration of the populations in urban 

centers. The concentration of the populations itself in 

relatively small amounts of land makes them more 

susceptible to natural catastrophes and the improper 

occupation and use of the soil in the urban areas and its 

adjacencies escalates the threats. 

The world energetic matrix, based on nonrenewable 

sources, drives the world to a new paradigm: the need to 

seek sustainability. It has also been driven by the concern 

that carbon dioxide emissions from the burn of fossil 

fuels affects the world climate, accelerating and 

intensifying natural warming and cooling cycles. 

The efforts worldwide to mitigation and adaptation to 

the new reality and foreseen future, have its main player 

in governments, which are looked after for an agenda that 

balances the need to sustainability with the quest for 

development. The role of governments in the market and 

social arena are present through many prisms 

(interventionist, minimum state… and so on) but we can 

considerer that, in the end, the main role of any State 

should be to orientate society and markets in all areas 

through incentives and/or restrictions to meet the needs 

and goals of communities. 

Nation-states, remain reluctant to assume early 

mitigation measures to climate change, making the 

international arena a complex and intricate path to the 

convergence of climate-friendly initiatives, but although 

local and regional initiatives have been proven to be more 

often easier to be taken, the international efforts still 

seeks agreements with sovereign states, denying space in 

the international agenda for local and regional initiatives. 

Seems the working logic goes with efforts that grow from 

the local/regional to national and global. 

Boykoff (2007) [1] states that research has pointed to 

the fact that the media content powerfully manipulate the 

translation between climate science, policy and public. 

Bennet (apud Boykoff, 2007) adds by saying that few 

things are as integral part of our lives as the news, so, that 

turned into a kind of a snapshot file of the pace, progress, 

problems and hopes of society. He also says that 

scientists tend to qualify their findings in light of the 

uncertainties that pervade their research. For journalists 

and political actors, these issues involving precaution, 

probability and uncertainty are all difficult to translate in 

a fluid, firm and unequivocal commentary, often valued 

in the context of communication and decision making. 

McBean and Hengeveld (2000) [2] argue that often 

the government’s response to the perceived risk of threat 

are often based on individual assessment and/or 

collective probability of exposure to danger, and the 

economic and social consequences of such exposure. It 

should be noted that, generally, these assessments are 

built from data supplied by the scientific community and 

translated by the media. 

Closer one is to the problem, more motivated it will 

be to participate in solutions and easier will be to 

implement actions that wouldn’t be considered in a larger 

scale scenario. That is why the working logic of solutions 

to mitigate and adapt to climate change should be 

considered from the local to the global and there is no 

way any real change is possible in the community 

without the enrollment of the community itself, and one

of the best (if not the best) way to inform and enlist the 

communities into a project, are the mass media. 

2 CLIMATE CHANGE IN BRAZIL: PUBLIC 

POLICIES, POLITICAL AGENDA AND MEDIA 

In the face of global climate change and its 

repercussions in the energy, construction, industry, 

agriculture, commerce and industries specialized in the 

carbon market, the environmental issue makes entrance 

to the stage, especially in the election campaign for the 

Presidency in 2010. 

In discussion agenda of the parties, three key points 

are: sanitation, violence and ethics in politics. 

During the current government, according to surveys 

by the National Institute for Space Research - INPE, 

deforestation in the Amazon region was approximately 

80,000 km² between the years 2004 and 2008. Also, the 

government granted an environmental license for the 

transposition of the São Francisco River and large dams 

in the Amazon. 

About the media coverage about climate change, we 

can highlight researches conducted by ANDI (News 

Agency for Childhood Rights) [3] in partnership with the 

British Embassy and British Council in Brazil, on the last 

12 years as pointing to relevant aspects: 

• Migration of a highly internationalized 

coverage to a more regional context and 

local aspects, establishing links between a 

so broad phenomena and the daily life of 

the public that access the information 

offered by the news vehicles; 

• In a first moment, the coverage of the 

theme was based by the perception that the 

responsibility for presenting solutions for 

the climate change issue was at the hands 

of foreign governments and these solutions 

could be reached through partnerships and 

agreements between nations (as in the case 

of the agreements for emissions reduction) 

(24%); more recently (2007/2008) the 

research pointed that this responsibility was 

transferred to the national government, 

especially the Brazilian executive power 

(32,2%). 

• There is an increase in the mention of the 

adaptation need allied with mitigation, due 

to the acceleration and escalation of the 

impacts caused by the climate change; 

• Is clearly seen a valorization of the debate 

around the necessity of public policies that 

reduce directly the volume of greenhouse 

gases in the atmosphere; 

• However, the weather unbalances keeps 

been approached as an issue exclusively 

environmental by a significant part of the 

Brazilian media. 

Below, is a table of mitigation strategies by area of 

incidence presented by the media in two periods: 

Table I: Mitigation strategies by incidence areas 

(% of total news relating to climate change that mention 

forms of mitigation - 45.9% in 2005/2007 and 51.1% in 

2007/2008) 

Incidence Areas 2005/2007 2007/2008 

Forests and soil use 26,4% 25,4% 

Energy offers 45,0% 20,8% 

Industry 6,8% 10,0% 

Carbon Credits Sales 0,0% 9,8% 

Transportation 7,5% 9,2% 

Waste 6,4% 4,9% 

Agriculture 4,1% 3,0% 

Others 3,8% 16,9% 

Total 100,0% 100,0% 

Climate Change in Brazilian Press (page 56 - Table 32) 

It is worth noting that the increase in the reference to 

"other" options, is due to the increased attention devoted 

mainly to focus on different processes of public 

awareness towards a more conscious consumption of 

nonrenewable resources, besides the neutralization of 

carbon through the planting of trees. 

It is not possible to think about solutions dissociated 

of the contexts of public policies, economic development 

models and consumption and behavior patterns of the 

contemporary societies. 

3 ENVIRONMENT AND LANDSCAPE: CONFLICTS 

AND ADVANCES 

The conflicts that sometimes impose itself on the 

relationship between public policies, natural resources 

depletion and landscape changes in different Brazilian 

ecosystems, points out the discussion of development and 

sustainability, since often, the eco-capitalism is 

incompatible with the solution of ecological problems 

due to their own internal rationality of the economic 

system based on capital accumulation. 

The predictability of negative impacts of capitalist 

production in nature dynamics is fragile, since it does not 

consider the local and regional geodynamic processes 

character. 

For that, one should consider and identify a set of 

geo-environmental units that configure large territorial 

compartments in which the external geodynamic 

processes behave similarly and can be triggered, 

accelerated or even intensified by different socioeconomic 

activities such as internal urbanization process, 

agriculture, mining, energy matrix exploration, infrastructure 

works varying magnitude according to the way 

which each intervention in the environment is produced. 

In this sense, the concept of risk is evidenced by the 

vision of sustainability, where restrictions on the 

indiscriminate use of natural resources should be defined 

by their ability to support and renewal. 

Risk analysis, according to Egler (1996) [4] has the 

challenge of working within the limits of behavior 

predictability of complex systems and, in most cases, 

potentially hazardous to life. 

The levels of environmental risks seem to be arising 

from three categories: natural, technological and social 

risks. 

4 SÃO PAULO STATE AND CLIMATE CHANGE 

INITIATIVES 


53

The State of São Paulo began to have concerns about 

climate change in 1995, when the PROCLIMA program 

(Climate Change Prevention Program) was created and 

the main contribution of this effort was the collaboration 

with the federal government in the preparation of the 

National Emissions Inventory (SMA, 2005) [5]; in 2002, 

was published the AGENDA 21, in which climate change 

figures as a great concern; in the same year the State 

government with other regional authorities started the 

Network of Regional Governments for Sustainable 

Development (NRG4SD), aiming to become a channel to 

share climate mitigation and other sustainable 

development experiences, and being the main 

representative in international negotiations; in 2002 also, 

was established a 5-year renewable licensing process for 

stationary sources of air pollutants, correcting the 

previous “right to pollute” situation of previous 

enterprises, demanding a gradual reduction of emissions 

in industries, either by technology update or shutting 

down facilities, effort expanded in 2004 with the 

approval of the Decree 48.523, that regulates the 

emissions of NO x, SO 2, PM 10, CO and nonmethane 

volatile organic compounds; just before the last COP, in 

2009, the government proposed also a 20% reduction on 

the greenhouse effect emissions until 2020 (base 2005), 

through the magnification of actions to the deforestation 

control, creation of an adaptation fund, establishment of a 

sustainable transportation system, mapping the 

vulnerabilities of the territory and financial mechanisms 

to the development of a low carbon economy. 

REI and CUNHA (2008: 7) [6] highlights that 

even though nation-states may remain reluctant 

to assume early climate change mitigation 

measures, thus making the international arena a 

complex and difficult path for the convergence 

of climate-friendly initiatives, there is enough 

space for alternative structures and approaches 

in both developing and developed countries. 

Due to its economic profile (32% of the national 

economic productivity), the energy consumption of São 

Paulo State is about 27% of the national mix (SMA, 2002 

[7]), been the industrial (39%) and transportation (26%) 

sectors the main consumers of energy. Although a great 

part of energy consumed by the industrial sector are 

produced from biomass (44% - been 36% from sugarcane 

bagasse), the major part of energy that moves de 

transportation sector comes from fossil fuels, mainly 

diesel (44%) (BEESP, 2005 [8]). The State participates 

with about 25% of Brazil’s total emissions. 

The projected Brazilian growth rate for the next years 

suggests a high increase on energy demand, thus, the 

need to reconsider the expansion model for the energetic 

matrix, a key issue regarding actions against climate 

change. 

5 FINAL CONSIDERATIONS 

Managing environmental issues in Brazil should be 

considered in national, regional and local scales. In the 

context of Brazilian territory, should be respected the 

geodynamics of landscapes and ecosystems in the 

proposal of candidates for Republic Presidency in 2010, 

considering the destructive impact of capitalist economic 

production that has occurred throughout the country. 

The socio-environmental management should be the 


contribution of candidates aiming to propose realistic 

alternatives for sustainability. 

At regional level, there is need to include in 

governance a system for accident prevention and 

effective monitoring of environmental conditions in 

selected areas. 

Locally, within the municipality, it is necessary an 

effective participation of the community and the local 

authorities in dealing with socio-environmental issues. 

A key challenge for proper governance of the 

environment to be implemented by the State of São Paulo 

is the need to consider global and local environmental 

aspects of ethanol production and use as an alternative to 

fossil fuels. To ensure the benefits of both global 

mitigation and local environmental quality, it is essential 

that government incentives a broader discussion and 

participation among all sectors and stakeholders, 

including the community enrollment. 

We can say that, nowadays, the environmental issue 

is at the center of global and national policy and thus, it is 

becoming a recurrent theme on the media agenda, and so, 

on the presidency candidates as well and overlaps others 

as it puts into discussion the model of civilization 

predatory consumerism grounded by the reproduction of 

capital. This discussion should promote extensive debates 

throughout the country that may lead to global climate 

change effective combat and managing social and 

environmental risks in the Brazilian territory. 

The use of the mass media as tool to drive the change 

in the patterns of social consumption and relationship 

with the environment is an expedient yet completely 

underused by governments around the globe. 

As conclusion of this paper, we highlight the lack of 

synchronism between the emergency in political speeches 

and the chronogram for public policies enforcement 

under national, state and municipal levels. It is necessary 

the creation of a social consciousness that emphasizes the 

need of personal engagement in combat of environmental 

degradation inside the communities, through the 

development of action projects as: solid residues 

recycling, environmental education, communal garden 

development, reforestation, riparian vegetation, among 

others. There cannot be any change in the society without 

the mobilization of the society itself. 

6 BIBLIOGRAPHY 

[1] BOYKOFF, M. T. From Convergence to Contention: 

United States Mass Media Representations of 

Anthropogenic Climate Change Science. 

Transactions of the Institute of British 

Geographers. Vol. 32, pp. 477-489, 2007. 

[2] MCBEAN, G. A.; HENGEVELD, H. G. 

Communicating the Science of Climate Change: A 

Mutual Challenge for Scientists and Educators. 

Canadian Journal of Environmental Education. 

Vol. 5, pp. 9-23, 2000. 

[3] ANDI - Agência de Notícias dos Direitos da Infância. 

Mudanças Climáticas na Mídia Brazileira. ANDI, 

2009. 

[4] EGLER, Cláudio Antônio G. Risco ambiental como 

critério de gestão do território: uma aplicação à zona 

costeira brasileira. Território. LAGET, UFRJ - Vol.

1, nº 1(Jul/Dez.1996)-Rio de janeiro: Relume- 

Dumará, 1996. 

[5] SMA – Secretaria de Estado do Meio Ambiente do 

Governo do Estado de São Paulo. No reason to wait: 

the benefits of greenhouse gas reduction in São Paulo 

and California. Hewlett Foundation, 2005. 

[6] REI, Fernando; CUNHA, Kamyla. Regional Actions 

and Sustainable Development Strategies Against 

Climate Change: São Paulo State, Brazil. 

INTERFACEHS - A Journal on Integrated 

Management of Occupational Health and the 

Environment, v.2, n.5, Art 3, december 2007. 

[7] SMA – Secretaria de Estado do Meio Ambiente do 

Governo do Estado de São Paulo. Agenda 21 in São 

Paulo 1992-2002. São Paulo, 2002. 

[8] BEESP - Balanço Energético do Estado de São 

Paulo, 2005 – ano base 2004. São Paulo: Secretaria 

de Energia, 2005. 


55

BARRIERS OF IMPLEMENTING RENEWABLE ENERGY AND ENERGY EFFICIENCY IN NORTHERN 

PERIPHERY 


Renvall, J. ( ¹, Puhakka - Tarvainen, H. ( ¹, Kuittinen, V. ( ¹, Okkonen, L. ( ¹, Rice, L. ( ², Pappinen, A. ( ¹ 

1) North Karelia University of Applied Sciences (NKUAS), Centre for Natural Resources 

Väisälänkatu 4, FI-80160 Joensuu, FINLAND 

Tel: +358 13 260 6900 Fax: +358 13 260 6901 

Email: jarmo.renvall@pkamk.fi 

2) Action Renewables, The Innovation Centre, NI Science Park 

Queens Road, Belfast, BT3 9DT, NORTHERN IRELAND 

Tel: +44 28 9073 7868 

ABSTRACT: There is need to increase efforts in implementation of renewable energy solutions and energy efficiency in the 

rural communities across the European Union Northern Periphery (NP). EU and state policies are encouraging people, 

communities and companies to invest in renewable energy solutions also in rural regions. However, investments are low in 

some of Europe's Northern Periphery countries and local decision-makers may have reserved attitude to them due to the need 

for certainty of profits and feasibility. Attitude to renewable energy itself is usually positive, but the activities in decisionmaking 

can be inadequate. This statement is supported by the results from interviews distributed to local decision-makers in 

North Karelia, Finland, during the autumn 2009. Our recent findings from North Karelia, show that local decision-makers 

need more decent and objective information about renewable energy for supporting their decision making. Our long term tool 

- supported by our recent findings - will be ”Decision Makers Academy” to help local decision-makers in their everyday 

work. First pilots of this new tool are under progress in North Karelia in Finland. 

Keywords: barriers, decision-making, renewable energy solutions, policy intervention, policymaking 


North Karelia University of Applied Sciences is a 

partner of the EU Northern Periphery Programme (NPP) 

project SMALLEST (Solutions for Microgeneration to 

ALLow Energy Saving Technology), which aims at 

addressing renewable energy development in small 

communities. In general, our objectives in the 

SMALLEST project are to monitor and analyze the 

barriers and bottlenecks of implementing renewable 

energy investments and solutions and energy efficiency 

in Northern Periphery. The goal for this part of the 

project is to help local actors to overcome these barriers, 

identify policy interventions and political best practices 

and give suggestions for policy interventions needed in 

the future. We are elucidating these challenges e.g. by 

questionnaires, interviews and conversations in events 

arranged during the SMALLEST project in every project 

region of NP area. 

2 DECISION-MAKING CONTEXT IN NORTHERN 

PERIPHERY REGION 

In the project we have outlined procedures 

concerning renewable energy decision-making in 

Finland, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Faroe Islands, 

Iceland and Sweden. 

In general there are four similar main bodies in 

decision-making context in Northern Periphery (Fig.1). 

We can clearly identify financing bodies, advisory 

organisations, interest groups and customers. Similarities 

are obvious whilst differences occur inside each body. 

Basically the funding opportunities are similar. Same 

kind on funding elements can be identified in each 

country but there are some certain specialities. A very 

good example can be found from Northern Ireland. 

Financing for renewable energy can be granted from 

outer Irish funds. Also lottery funding in this context is a 

special way of funding in Scotland and Northern Ireland. 

For example, in Finland lottery funding is given most for 

culture or sport. 

Figure 1: Decision-making context in Northern 

Periphery 

In Scandinavian countries one significant feature is the 

role of municipalities. Communities (i.e. particular

consortiums of people) do not have as extensive role as 

they do in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Municipalities 

are local administrative units and they even have a right 

to collect taxes. They have officials and also politically 

chosen council and municipal executive board. 

Municipalities are mainly administrative organs but they 

also do some financing. They can also be customers. 

A special feature in Finland is also the existence of 

regional development companies. These are independent 

bodies financed by various municipalities. Their target 

groups are both starting and existing companies in the 

region. They do not give any direct funding to the 

enterprises but they are advising them and constructing 

networks for them. The advisory service is mostly free 

for starting enterprises. Existing enterprises will be 

provided with valuable advisory services in return for 

network fees. 

There are various interest groups in the regions. The 

role of the interest group like a lobbying group appears to 

be very important in every country. They have a strong 

influence on decision making at all levels. 

Influencing factors outside the four main bodies can 

be identified as media, values, legislation, public opinion, 

research evidence, global situation and not least the 

culture. 

3 BARRIERS AND NEED OF SUPPORT 

EXPERIENCED BY ENERGY OPERATORS IN 

SMALL COMMUNITIES 

Diverse energy operators in Northern Periphery area 

(Finland, Sweden, Faroe Islands, Iceland, Scotland and 

Northern Ireland) were interviewed. The interviews took 

place after the operator had made a fairly big investment 

in renewable energy systems. Part of the questions 

covered experienced barriers (Table I) and some of them 

covered various support needs (Table II). 

Table I: Barriers experienced by energy operators 

Faroe 

Islands 

Finland 

Iceland 

Northern 

Ireland 

Scotland 

Sweden 

Level of commitment 

Globalized financial policy 

Knowledge on legal and contractual 

questions 

Attitudes of some of the authorities and 

advisory organisations 

Access to best practice examples 

Lack of similar cases in grant decisions 

Fluctuating level on subsidies 

Dependence on national policy (feed-in 

tariffs etc.) 

Piloting the technology 

No advisory organisations existing 

Cheaper ways to produce energy exists 

(geothermal, hydropower) 

Funding application bureaucracy 

Grant money payment afterwards 

No flexibility in financing 

Lack of renewable energy awareness 

amongst staff members 

Attitudinal approach, amount of ambition 

Access to best practice examples for, and 

knowledge of funding programmes in small 

and very small communities and villages. 

The remarkable barriers (Table I) in the researched 

cases were lack of know-how, attitudes with advisory 

organizations and authorities and amount of bureaucracy 

in all stages before and during the investments. In some 

cases the investors had to operate as pioneers. Last but 

not least, difficulties in financing were experienced as 

significant barriers. 

Table II: Need of support experienced by energy 

operators 

Faroe Islands Updated advisory services (legal and 

contractual questions) 

Finland Training in technology maintenance 

Centralized advisory services 

Holistic and objective advisory on 

investment and technologies 

Iceland Lack of development context for 

bioenergy 

Northern 

Ireland 

Holistic and objective advisory on 

investment and technologies 

Training in technologies 

Scotland Real life experiences of advisors 

(legislation, regulations) 

Sweden Increased proactive advisory services 

aimed at small and very small 

communities and villages. 

The operators would have needed the support of 

centralized and comprehensive advisory services (an 

advisory organization which understand the operational 

environment as a whole) (Table II). Thus operators 

needed more objectivity and independency from advisory 

organizations. There were also lack of skills and knowhow, 

so training needs were obvious. 

4 FACTORS IN DECISION-MAKING IN FINNISH 

MUNICIPALITIES 

Savikko [1] has found in her research some 

significant barriers and drivers in policymaking around 

municipalities in Finland. The research was carried out 

through an internet questionnaire in two stages among the 

municipalities of Finland. 

An interesting finding was the gap between strategic 

and operative actions in municipalities’ climate policy. 

This gab can form a significant barrier for decision 

making. It can be explained by economical situation in 

municipalities, old customary ways of action and the lack 

of time. The public discussion in media on biofuels was 

not a barrier. 

The results also indicate several drivers for municipal 

decision-making, such as municipal energy efficiency 

agreements or energy programmes. Those help 

municipalities in renovating their energy systems into 

renewables. Also the attitudes of municipal leaders and 

public discussion can be significant drivers. 

Preliminary results from a survey responded by 

decision-makers in North Karelia, Finland, in 2009 

supported the findings of Savikko’s research [1]. The 

decision-makers (participants of a seminar) were among 

other issues asked to point out the three most significant 

factors which would affect the decision-making in energy 


57

issues in the municipalities. The factors selected most 

often were employment, use of natural resources and 

climate change. The received answers gave a good 

picture and guidelines on how to collect more detailed 

and specific information in the future. The main 

conclusions from the survey can be found in the 

following sections. 

4.1 Optimism or not at the region 

Decision makers were asked to describe the 

atmosphere for renewable energy in their 

working/residential areas. There has been a positive 

change in attitudes in last years. There is also a 

willingness to act but, on the other hand, there is a lack of 

actions. Renewable energy sources are considered as a 

possibility. On the other hand, “I feel that” –way of 

thinking can be still seen. 

The received information was also experienced 

insufficient and some of the respondents had negative 

experiences. Also the concepts used by decision makers 

have not been consistent. 

4.2 Drivers and barriers 

Decision-makers find the existing good examples, 

such as raw material resources (mostly from forests) and 

enterprises (in the region), as very effective drivers. Both 

knowledge and expertise can be found from the region. 

University of Eastern Finland, North Karelia University 

of Applied Sciences, Finnish Forest Research Institute 

and European Forest Institute are located in the region. 

Despite that, there is still difficulties accessing the 

information, for example, on substance or financing. 

Inefficient decision-making, such as indecision or 

toing and froing (waffling) does occur. On one hand, 

there is the lack of information in the background and, on 

the other hand, the lack of funding and resources. 

4.3 What kind of outside help would be needed? 

Respondents needed objective and comparative 

information, as well as economic and technical 

consultancy. 

5 NORTH KARELIA CLIMATE AND ENERGY 

PROGRAMME 2020 

The Regional Council of North Karelia is 

establishing a “Climate and energy programme 2020” for 

the region. Programme work proceeds according to the 

regional working plan. Smallest-project provides 

information from diverse surveys such as comparative 

municipal level information and the actual baseline in 

terms of energy use and production. Project operates 

according to the model described in Figure 2. 

Cooperation consists of the work in steering group and 

themed teams, diverse surveys, and organizing 

municipality events. So called pre-discussions precede 

the actual municipality tour. During the pre-discussions 

some of the municipalities and regional development 

companies are interviewed to receive more information 

for designing the municipal events. In addition, 

interviewers are trained unify and harmonize the 

interviews. 

After the municipal events there will be regional and 

county level seminars to disseminate the results. 


Figure 2: Operational model between the project and the 

Regional Council of North Karelia 

6 CONCLUSIONS 

Decision-makers have positive attitude toward 

renewable energy investments, but at the same time there 

is a lack of actions. There is clearly need for 

comprehensive advisory services and training in all 

levels. 

Smallest-project is initiating the Decision Makers 

Academy (DMA) -concept. The Academy will gather 

local decision- makers for follow-up seminars. Seminars 

will be themed to different aspects of climate and energy. 

The DMA concept is being developed and tested along 

the “Climate and energy programme 2020”. 

References 

[1] Savikko,R. 2009. Climate Policy in Finnish 

Municipalities, Association of Finnish Local and 

Regional Authorities (AFLRA).

BIOENERGY IN UKRAINE: STATE OF THE ART AND PROSPECTS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT 

Georgiy Geletukha, Tetiana Zheliezna 

Scientific Engineering Center “Biomass” 

PO Box 66, 03067, Kyiv, Ukraine; t./f. (+380 44) 456 94 62, geletukha@biomass.kiev.ua; www.biomass.kiev.ua 

ABSTRACT: Ukraine has good preconditions for the dynamic development of bioenergy sector. The main drivers for 

this are permanent rise in prices of traditional energy carriers, first of all natural gas, and big potential of biomass 

available for energy production. The economic potential is estimated at 19-23 mtoe/yr, and it depends mainly on the 

annual yield of agricultural crops. Existing law on biofuels and the law on green tariff supports the introduction of 

bioenergy technologies for heat and power production. Nevertheless existing legislation needs further improvement. One 

of the serious barriers for bioenergy development in Ukraine is distortion of natural gas prices for some kinds of 

consumers. The price for population and communal services is artificially low that renders it impossible to introduce 

bioenergy technologies in these sectors. Establishment of the market price of natural gas for all kinds of consumers is a 

necessary precondition for large-scale substitution of natural gas by biomass. National targets on energy production from 

biomass must be stated in an official document like Biomass Action Plan. We consider the following targets to be real: 

1% of the total energy consumption at the expense of biomass in 2010 (that is equivalent to consumption of about 1.4 

mtoe), 5% in 2020, and 10% in 2030. 

Keywords: bioenergy strategy, bioenergy policy, bioenergy regulations, boilers, legal aspects 


Ukraine is facing now such vital tasks as to reduce its 

dependence on the imported energy carriers, first of all 

natural gas, to replace fossil fuels partly by renewable 

energy sources, first of all biomass (BM), and to increase 

energy efficiency in all the sectors of the national 

economy. At present natural gas makes the major 

contribution to Ukraine’s total primary energy 

consumption (40%) followed by coal (28%), nuclear 

energy (18%) and oil products (12%). Of the whole 

required volume of nature gas, only about 35% is covered 

by own production while 65% is exported mostly from 

Russia. The share of renewables in the total energy 

consumption is 2.5% including large hydro 2% and 

biomass (mainly firewood and peat) 0.5%. 

Price of natural gas in Ukraine has been rising 

constantly since 2005, from 61 to 305 $/1000 m 3 in the 

first quarter of 2010 (Figure 1). The high price of natural 

gas is one of the strong drivers for bioenergy 

technologies introduction. 

At that biomass as fuel is comparatively cheap. 

Comparison of costs recalculated per energy content of 

the fuels shows that firewood and baled straw are about 4 

times as cheaper and wood pellets are 1.6 times as 

cheaper than natural gas intended for industrial and statefinanced 

organizations (Table I). 

2 POTENTIAL OF BIOMASS 

Ukraine has quite big potential of biomass available 

for energy production. The economic potential is 

estimated at 19-23 mtoe/yr, and it depends mainly on 

agricultural crops annual yield (Table II). Two main 

constituents of the potential are agricultural residues and 

energy crops – 10.2 mtoe and 9.6 mtoe respectively (the 

data of 2008 when Ukraine had the biggest crops harvest 

for the past 10 years). At that agricultural residues are the 

“real” part of the potential, and energy crops are the 

“virtual” one. At present there are only a few small pilot 

plantations of energy crops in Ukraine but fast 

development of this sector is expected in the near future. 

It is due to the fact that currently there are 4-5 mill ha of 

unused agricultural lands in the country of which, 

according to expert estimation, up to 3 mill ha can be 

used for energy crops production without causing 

competition with food and feed production. 

* 1st quarter of 2010 

Figure 1: Rise in price of natural gas in Ukraine 

Moreover Ukraine has further room to increase the 

biomass potential by approaching the European level of 

agricultural crops yield as now the yield of some crops 

like rapeseed, corn for grain and others in Ukraine is 2-3 

times as less than in Europe. Utilisation of the biomass 

potential can cover about 14% of Ukraine’s total primary 

energy consumption. 

Table I: Comparison of prices of natural gas and solid 

biofuels 


59

Fuel type 


Typical 

price, 

EUR/t 

LHV, 

MJ/kg 

Cost of 

fuel 

energy, 

EUR/GJ 

Ratio: cost 

of NG 

energy*/ 

cost of BM 

energy 

Wood 

processing 

residues 0-0.87 11 0-0.08 >85 

Firewood** 17 11 1.6 4.3 

Wood 

pellets 70 17 4.1 1.6 

Wood 

briquettes 61 17 3.6 1.9 

Baled 

straw** 26 14 1.9 3.6 

* 6.7 EUR/GJ 

** delivered price 

Table II: Potential of biomass in Ukraine (2008) 

Types of 

Energy potential, mtoe 

biomass 

Straw of grain 

Theoretical Technical Economic 

crops 14.21 7.12 2.32 

Straw of rape 

Residues of 

production of 

2.06 1.44 1.44 

corn for grain 

Residues of 

sunflower 

6.15 4.31 3.02 

production 

Secondary 

agricultural 

4.68 3.14 3.14 

residues 0.79 0.64 0.44 

Wood biomass 1.77 1.45 1.14 

Biodiesel 0.97 0.97 0.48 

Bioethanol 

Biogas from 

2.43 2.43 0.85 

manure 2.17 1.62 0.25 

Landfill gas 0.54 0.32 0.18 

Sewage gas 

Energy crops: 

- poplar, 

miscanthus, 

acacia, alder, 

0.15 0.09 0.06 

willow 8.47 7.20 7.2 

- rape (straw) 1.36 0.95 0.95 

- rape (biodiesel) 0.64 0.64 0.64 

- corn (biogas) 

Peat (only 

1.03 0.72 0.72 

renewable part) 0.54 0.32 0.28 

TOTAL 47.95 33.36 23.11 

3 RECENT LEGISLATION 

With the view of encouraging energy production 

from biomass, Ukrainian Parliament passed two 

important laws in 2009. The first one is the Law of 

Ukraine “On Amendments to Some Pieces of Legislation 

of Ukraine with regard to encouraging production and 

use of biofuels” [1]. The law introduced a number of tax 

privileges for the participants of biofuels market. In 

particular, the producers of biofuels and producers of heat 

or combined heat and power from biofuels have been free 

of the relevant profit tax since 1.01.2010 for a 10-year 

period. 

The second law is the Law of Ukraine “On 

Amendments to the Law of Ukraine “On Energy 

Industry” with regard to encouraging use of alternative 

energy sources” [2]. The law determined the green tariff 

for power produced from renewable energy sources. The 

minimum green tariff for biomass power plants is 12.39 € 

cents/kWh that is 2.3 times as higher than the regular 

retail tariff for the consumers of electricity. 

Comparison with other European green tariff shows 

that the value of Ukrainian green tariff for biomass plants 

is quite high. For example, it is higher than the German 

green tariffs in most cases except for some particular 

ones, for example for biogas plants and cogeneration 

plants ≤150 kW. It is expected that application of the 

green tariff will stimulate power production from 

biomass in Ukraine. 

4 CURRENT STATUS OF BIOENERGY 

TECHNOLOGIES 

Current status of introducing bioenergy technologies 

in Ukraine is the following. Over 20 straw fired boilers, 

mostly below 1 MW, are in operation in rural areas. 

About 500 modern wood fired boilers, mostly below 2 

MW, are already installed, and over 1000 old boilers, 

which were converted from coal and oil to biomass, 

operate on enterprises of forest and wood processing 

industry. Production of heat is feasible in Ukraine: 

payback period of wood and straw fired boilers is about 2 

years. 

Three big biogas plants are in operation in the 

country, and over 10 biogas plants are under 

construction/designing. Payback period of the biogas 

plants is 3-6.5 years taking into account the green tariff. 

The lower value of the payback period range is for the 

case when there is an income from sale of digested 

manure as a fertilizer and from the sale of emission 

reduction units. 

In 2009, a mini-CHP plant on the oil-extracting plant 

Kirovogradoliya obtained green tariff on the power to be 

sold to the grid. The installation operates on sunflower 

seed husks, and at the moment it is the only CHP plant on 

solid biomass in Ukraine. Further appearance of such 

installations is expected in the near future due to 

availability of the green tariff on power produced from 

renewables. 

Payback period of a typical mini-CHP plant is about 

5 years for zero cost of biomass and 7 years for the cost 

of 17 EUR/t. If a mini-CHP plant is reconstructed from a 

steam or hot water boiler installation the payback period 

is 3.6 and 5 years, respectively. 

Still, some types of bioenergy equipment of domestic 

manufacture are missing in Ukraine’s market. They are 

biomass boilers > 2 MW, steam biomass boilers, and 

reasonably priced individual boilers of 10-50 kW 

including boilers for pellets. The latter would help to 

develop internal market for biomass pellets. 

5 CONCEPTION FOR BIOENERGY DEVELOPMENT 

Under the current conditions the following 

conception for introduction of bioenergy equipment in

Ukraine till 2015 can be suggested (Table III). First, it is 

necessary to install biomass boilers since they have the 

shortest payback period and can directly replace natural 

gas for heat production. The first-priority equipment also 

includes wood and straw mini-CHP plants taking into 

account introduced green tariff on power production from 

renewables. Total capacity of the proposed equipment is 

8380 MWth + 100 MWe that gives opportunity to replace 

5.3 bill m 3 /yr of natural gas and decrease СО 2 emission 

by 9 mill t/yr. Cost of the replaced natural gas is about 

1201 mill EUR, and cost of biomass which is used for 

operation of the equipment is about 243 mill EUR. Then 

money saving from the replacement of natural gas by 

biomass is 958 mill EUR. At that total investments 

required for this are 736 mill EUR (see Table III) that is 

1.3 times as less than the obtained annual money saving. 

So, introduction of the bioenergy equipment can be 

considered an attractive investment project. 

Table III: Conception for the introduction of bioenergy 

equipment till 2015 

Type of equipment 

/ No of units 

Wood fired 

heating boilers 

0.5-10 MW th / 900 

Wood fired 

industrial boilers, 

0.1-5 MW th / 400 

Wood fired 

domestic boilers, 

10-50 kW th /35000 

Wood fired 

mini-CHPPs, 

1-10 MW e / 10 

Straw fired farm 

boilers, 

0.1-1 MW th / 

10000 

Straw fired heating 

boilers, 

1-10 MW th / 1000 

Straw fired 

mini-CHPPs, 

1-10 MW e / 10 

Installed 

capacity, 

MW th+ 

MW e 

Replacement 

of 

NG, 

bill m 3 /yr 

Required 

investments, 

mill EUR 

450 0.26 21 

280 0.22 13 

1050 0.60 69 

100+50 0.21 137 

2000 1.18 151 

2000 1.18 113 

100+50 0.20 137 

Farm boilers for 

sunflower 

and corn stalks, 

0.1-1 MWth / 9000 

1800 1.06 136 

Peat boilers, 

0.5-1 MWth / 800 

TOTAL 

600 

8380+100 

0.34 

5.26 

28 

805 

We consider that priority lines of bioenergy 

development must be determined in the state program 

which would have status of law that is would be 

compulsory for implementation. Ukraine’s national 

targets on biomass contribution to the total primary 

energy consumption should be fixed in an official 

document like Biomass Action Plan. Such a document 

was already drafted within the framework of a Dutch- 

Ukrainian intergovernmental project “Biomass and 

Biofuels in Ukraine” (2008-2009). Biomass Action Plan 

for Ukraine identifies the main challenges of Ukraine’s 

biomass sector and suggests actions to solve the 

problems. One of the suggested actions is adopting a 

political declaration with a clear statement of the national 

targets on biomass. The following contribution of 

biomass/biofuels to the final energy consumption seems 

to be realistic: 1% (1.4 mtoe) in 2010, 5% (7 mtoe) in 

2020, 10% (14 mtoe) in 2030. 

6 CONCLUSIONS 

Ukraine has good preconditions for the dynamic 

development of bioenergy sector. The main drivers for 

this are permanent rise in prices of traditional energy 

carriers and quite big potential of biomass available for 

energy production. 

Effectiveness of bioenergy development in Ukraine 

depends a lot on coordination of activity in this sector 

and right choice of priorities. In our opinion, the 

government should appoint a single state body fully 

responsible for all the issues concerning bioenergy and 

for the coordination of work of all the institutions related 

to this sector. Priority lines for the development must be 

stated in the state program for bioenergy development in 

Ukraine, and financial sources for the program 

implementation must be clear determined. 

Existing legislation also needs further improvement. 

The law on biofuels and the law on green tariff have 

some week points to be corrected. In addition we suggest 

to exempt biomass as a fuel from VAT and grant a state 

subsidy to purchasers of bioenergy equipment in the 

amount of 20% of the equipment cost. 

One of the serious barriers for bioenergy 

development in Ukraine is distortion of natural gas prices 

for some kinds of consumers. The price for population 

and communal services is artificially low that renders it 

impossible to introduce bioenergy technologies in these 

sectors. Establishment of the market price of natural gas 

for all kinds of consumers is a necessary precondition for 

large-scale substitution of natural gas by biomass. 

National targets on energy production from biomass 

must be stated in a official document like Biomass Action 

Plan. We consider the following targets to be real: 1% of 

the total energy consumption at the expense of biomass in 

2010 (that is equivalent to consumption of about 1.4 

mtoe), 5% in 2020, and 10% in 2030. 

6 REFERENCES 

[1] Law of Ukraine “On Amendments to Some Pieces of 

Legislation of Ukraine with regard to encouraging 

production and use of biofuels” N 1391-VI from 

21.05.2009. 

[2] Law of Ukraine “On Amendments to the Law of 

Ukraine “On Energy Industry” with regard to 

encouraging use of alternative energy sources” N 

1220-VI from 01.04.2009. 


61


BIOENERGY AT CLIMATE NEGOTIATIONS: VISIONS, CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES 

McCormick, K. 

International Institute for Industrial Environmental Economics (IIIEE) at Lund University 

PO Box 196, 22100 Lund, Sweden 

ABSTRACT: This paper provides observations and commentary on how bioenergy was presented and communicated at 

the 15 th Conference of the Parties (COP 15) held in Denmark in December 2009, including the main conference and side 

events as well as “unofficial” parallel events and activities. We can learn significantly from the experiences of COP 15 in 

regards to how to develop and present visions for bioenergy, the major challenges confronting the expansion of 

bioenergy, and the near-term opportunities for the bioenergy industry. With the 16 th Conference of the Parties (COP 16) 

to be held in Mexico in November 2010, this paper contributes to a better understanding of how the bioenergy industry 

can influence policy-makers, attract media attention, and engage the general public and key stakeholders in a constructive 

dialogue to take full advantage of the potential of bioenergy to contribute to climate mitigation and adaptation. At COP 

16 we need “to make it all happen”. 

Keywords: bioenergy industry, public awareness, climate change, political legitimacy, stakeholder involvement 

1 INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND 

The 15 th Conference of the Parties (COP 15) held in 

Denmark in December 2009 was a dramatic global event 

on climate change that culminated in the Copenhagen 

Accord. While there are strong differences of opinion on 

whether or not COP 15 and the Copenhagen Accord can 

be considered a “step in the right direction” or an outright 

failure, as well as who should do what and when, nothing 

has changed regarding climate science. A rapid 

transformation of our economies and societies towards 

low or zero carbon systems remains a fundamental 

requirement for reducing the effects of global warming 

over the next century. 

COP 15 attracted thousands of delegates and 

representatives from industry, government, academia, 

and civil society from around the world – many of which 

attended COP 15 to actively put forward visions and 

strategies for the future. In this context, we can ask what 

profile did bioenergy have at COP 15? This paper 

provides observations and commentary on how bioenergy 

was presented and communicated at COP 15 – both the 

official activities and the many “unofficial” events 

organised around the climate negotiations. Much can be 

learned from these experiences and applied at the 16 th 

Conference of the Parties (COP 16) to be held in Mexico 

in November 2010. 

This paper talks about the bioenergy industry in 

relation to climate negotiations. But what is the bioenergy 

industry? The bioenergy industry refers to a myriad of 

organisations and networks that are directly (and 

indirectly) involved in bioenergy resources, systems and 

technologies. Such organisations and networks cover a 

number of sectors, including energy, agriculture, forestry 

and the environment, as well as different spheres, such as 

government, industry and academia. The bioenergy 

industry does not “speak” with a unified voice. However, 

on the national level, the bioenergy industry is often 

represented by associations, such as the Swedish 

Bioenergy Association, and on the international level, the 

recently established World Bioenergy Association 

(http://www.worldbioenergy.org/). This organisation has 

taken a leading role in promoting bioenergy on the 

international “stage”. 

2 OBSERVATIONS AND DISCUSSION 

The most significant document prepared and 

presented at COP 15 was the position paper by the World 

Bioenergy Association based on a commissioned report 

entitled “Global Potential of Sustainable Biomass for 

Energy” [1]. This position paper and report highlight the 

very large potentials for bioenergy estimated by some 

studies. The “danger” with these estimated potentials is 

they are based on a range of assumptions that are under 

intense debate, such as land availability. Importantly, the 

position paper and report discuss the major challenges for 

expanding bioenergy, namely direct and indirect impacts 

on land use, as well as the overall sustainability of 

bioenergy and the need for robust certification schemes 

[2]. It is “smart” of the World Bioenergy Association to 

not only raise these issues in such documents but also 

show that the bioenergy industry is actively working with 

them. 

Kent Nyström of the World Bioenergy Association 

argues “There is a lack of awareness of the enormous 

potential of bioenergy worldwide both among politicians, 

the media and the public” [3]. There is indeed a lack of 

public awareness of bioenergy technologies and 

potentials, as well as the benefits of sustainable bioenergy 

systems that can go far beyond energy supply and include 

significant opportunities for regional development. 

Raising the profile of bioenergy in the public 

“consciousness” is very important. However, far greater 

resources will have to be invested by the bioenergy 

industry to achieve this goal. 

COP 15 involved hundreds of side events and 

exhibits – a number of which focused directly on 

bioenergy, and others which were relevant to the

ioenergy industry. The Climate Consortium Denmark 

and the Danish Agriculture and Food Council organised a 

side event called “Bio-based Society: A Sustainable 

Future based on Agriculture, Biotechnology and 

Resource Management” [4]. This event tackled the issues 

of increasing population and climate change through 

presentations on the role of agriculture and biotechnology 

to produce food, energy and materials. The challenge of 

reducing fossil fuels while at the same time producing 

more food for the growing population was debated. This 

type of event appears to be important to work through 

these major issues. 

Another side event at COP 15 entitled “Renewable 

Energy and Climate Change Abatement” organised by 

IEA Bioenergy and IEA Renewable Energy Technology 

Development, involved a presentation by Uwe Fritsche 

on better use of biomass for energy [5]. This presentation 

discussed a range of issues, including land use change 

and increased production of biomass for energy purposes. 

But there was also a strong point on how to maximise 

GHG emissions reductions from bioenergy, including the 

option to connect bioenergy systems with Carbon 

Capture and Storage (CCS) to produce “negative” carbon 

emissions. Overall, the presentation suggested that more 

stringent climate change policy will drive a better use of 

biomass for energy. The bioenergy industry should 

support such strong policy and continue to work towards 

more sustainable bioenergy systems. 

A range of parallel events, seminars and activities 

were organised in Denmark and its close neighbour 

Sweden in the lead-up to COP 15. Of particular interest 

was the largest alternative NGO meeting, called the 

Peoples Climate Summit (http://klimaforum.org/). At the 

summit a number of themes were very relevant to 

bioenergy, including “Sustainable Energy Technology 

and Energy Systems” and “Sustainable Agriculture and 

Forestry” [6]. This type of NGO event is likely to grow at 

COP 16 and perhaps receive greater media attention. The 

Peoples Climate Summit concluded with the statement 

“systems change not climate change”, which suggests the 

NGO movement is looking for more “radical” shifts in 

our societies and economies. What role bioenergy can 

play in such visions and discussions deserves some 

attention – at the very least to avoid confrontations and 

“listen” to concerns about bioenergy from the NGO 

sector. 

Lund University in Sweden hosted a number of 

events related to COP 15. The workshop on “Governance 

for a Low-Carbon Society” organised by Atomium 

Culture (http://atomiumculture.org/) focused on how the 

emerging low-carbon society can be governed [7]. There 

are a number of points from this workshop relevant for 

bioenergy. First, Atomium Culture actively works with 

universities, businesses, governments and newspapers. 

The inclusion of newspapers highlights the important role 

of the media and communication in establishing a lowcarbon 

society. Second, bioenergy was a major topic of 

discussion in relation to meeting sustainability goals. 

Again, we see the importance of institutions, policies and 

schemes that can ensure sustainable bioenergy systems. 

Third, CCS was on the agenda, and the link to bioenergy 

systems was also discussed and highlighted. This point 

about the synergy between CCS, bioenergy and 

producing “negative” carbon emissions should be more 

actively communicated by the bioenergy industry to the 

media and key stakeholders. 

COP 15 started with worldwide attention (and 

enthusiasm) about defining a strong global agreement but 

this did not eventuate. Joelle Brink for Biofuels Digest 

(http://www.biofuelsdigest.com/) perhaps best 

summarised the reactions from the bioenergy industry at 

COP 15 by saying that the first week of negotiations was 

promising with the UN assurance that bioenergy would 

be a priority in renewable energy plans. However, in the 

second week the UN negotiations stalled and resulted in a 

small group of nations (USA, China, India, South Africa 

and Brazil) developing the Copenhagen Accord with 

many other countries dissenting – “leaving the real work 

for Mexico in November 2010” [8]. It seems fair to argue 

that COP 16 will be under even greater “pressure” to 

move the climate negotiations forwards. 

3 CONCLUSION AND REFLECTIONS 

This paper perhaps asks far more questions that it 

answers? However, the main point is to raise discussions 

on how to improve the profile of bioenergy at major 

climate negotiations, especially the up-coming COP 16 to 

be held in Mexico in November 2010. This paper 

concludes with some reflections and suggestions for 

action. Many of these points could be debated and need 

to be further developed so as to make them more concrete 

and practical. 

Showing potentials is very important, but a major 

challenge for the bioenergy industry is to put bioenergy 

technologies and systems, and the overall potentials of 

bioenergy, into tangible contexts. In other words, it is 

vital to document and present functioning “real-life” 

bioenergy systems. This includes both case studies of 

specific places, and country studies that show the 

development of bioenergy over time. 

Working with all actors engaged in promoting 

renewable energy only strengthens the position of 

bioenergy. The decision of the WBA to join and support 

the International Renewable Energy Alliance 

(http://www.ren-alliance.org/) shows that there is 

cooperation between bioenergy and other renewable 

energy. There is little doubt that we will need all 

renewable energy to make significant reductions in GHG 

emissions and replace fossil fuels. 

Engaging with cities and regions should be a 

priority for the bioenergy industry at COP 16. 

Thousands of representatives from cities and regions 

attended COP 15. Cities and regions can often implement 

far more “radical” plans to reduce GHG emissions 

compared to nations, but they need help to find 

“solutions”. Bioenergy, in all its forms, can really 

contribute to cities and regions in their efforts on climate 

change. 

Learning from how the Copenhagen Accord was 

brokered is important to all actors working on climate 

change, including the bioenergy industry. The group of 

nations that really developed the Copenhagen Accord 

included China, India, the USA, South Africa and Brazil. 

This is a particularly interesting group of nations in 

respect to bioenergy, since they all have growing 

bioenergy sectors. Brazil, in particular, is a global leader 

on bioenergy. 

Enhancing communication activities and key 

collaborations in the lead-up to COP 16 is vital to 

successfully lifting the profile of bioenergy. 

Communication and stakeholder involvement are on the 

agenda more than ever for the fast-growing bioenergy 


63

industry. Avoiding major confrontations on controversial 

issues, such as sustainability certification schemes and 

land use changes, requires greater efforts on engagement 

with diverse actors. 

4 REFERENCES 

1. Ladanai, S. & Vinterbäck, J. (2009) Global Potential of 

Sustainable Biomass for Energy. Uppsala: Swedish 

University for Agricultural Sciences. 

2. World Bioenergy Association. (2009) Global Potential 

of Sustainable Biomass for Energy. Position Paper 

3. World Bioenergy Association. (2009) Global Potential 

for Bioenergy Sufficient to meet Global Energy Demand. 

Press Release. 

4. Climate Consortium Denmark and the Danish 

Agriculture and Food Council. (2009) Bio-based Society: 

A Sustainable Future based on Agriculture, 

Biotechnology and Resource Management. Workshop. 

5. Fritsche, U. (2009) Better Use of Biomass for Energy. 

Presentation. 

6. Klimaforum (2009) The Themes of Klimaforum at 

COP15. 

URL: http://www.klimaforum.org/ 

7. Atomium Culture. (2009) Governance for a Low- 

Carbon Society. 

URL: http://atomiumculture.org/ 

8. Brink, J. (2009) Bioenergy Industry Reacts at COP15. 

URL: http://www.biofuelsdigest.com/ 

5 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 

This paper is part of a research effort entitled “The 

emerging bio-economy: Investigating the role of 

communication and stakeholder involvement” which is 

funded for 2010-2013 by the Swedish Research Council 

for Environment, Agricultural Sciences and Spatial 

Planning. Visit the interactive bio-economy blog 

(http://bio-literacy.blogspot.com/) to follow the progress 

and developments of this work, make comments, and ask 

questions. 


SUPPLY CHAINS OF FOREST CHIP PRODUCTION IN FINLAND 

Kalle Kärhä 

Metsäteho Oy 

P.O. Box 101, FI-00171 Helsinki, Finland 

kalle.karha@metsateho.fi 

ABSTRACT: The Metsäteho study investigated how logging residue chips, stump wood chips, and chips from smallsized 

thinning wood and large-sized (rotten) roundwood used by heating and power plants were produced in Finland in 

2008. Almost all the major forest chip suppliers in Finland were involved in the study. The total volume of forest chips 

supplied in 2008 by these suppliers was 6.5 TWh. The study was implemented by conducting an e-mail questionnaire 

survey and telephone interviews. Research data was collected in March-May 2009. The majority of the logging residue 

chips and chips from small-sized thinning wood were produced using the roadside chipping supply chain in Finland in 

2008. The chipping at plant supply chain was also significant in the production of logging residue chips. 70% of all stump 

wood chips consumed were comminuted at the plant and 29% at terminals. The role of the terminal chipping supply chain 

was also significant in the production of chips from logging residues and small-sized wood chips. When producing chips 

from large-sized (rotten) roundwood, nearly a half of chips were comminuted at plants and more than 40% at terminals. 

Keywords: Comminution, Energy wood, Finland. 


The use of forest chips in Finland has increased 

rapidly in the 21 st century: In the year 2000, the total use 

of forest chips for energy generation was 1.8 TWh (0.9 

mill. m 3 ), while in 2008 it was 9.2 TWh (4.6 mill. m 3 ) 

[1]. Of this amount, 8.1 TWh was used in heating and 

power plants, and 1.1 TWh in small-sized dwellings, i.e. 

private houses, farms, and recreational dwellings, in 2008 

(Fig. 1) [1]. 

Of the forest chips used in heating and power plants 

(8.1 TWh), the majority (58%) was produced from 

logging residues in final cuttings in 2008 (Fig. 1) [1]. 

Forest chips derived from stump and root wood totalled 

14% and 4% came from large-sized (rotten) roundwood. 

24% of the total amount of commercial forest chips used 

for energy generation came from small-diameter (d 1.3200 GWh in 

2008) power plants in Finland [2]. However, they 

consume approximately 40% of forest chips used in 

Finland (Fig. 2) [2]. The use of forest chips is currently 

the greatest in Central Finland, and relatively low in 

Northern Finland (Fig. 3) [1]. 

Figure 2: Use of forest chips by the class of energy 

content (GWh) used in heating and power plants in 2008 

in Finland [2]. The figures are based on the data of the 

Finnish Forest Research Institute: the use of forest chips 

7.8 TWh in total of 427 energy plants in 2008. The 

figures exclude the data of TTS Research’s small heating 

plants (0.2 TWh & 333 plants). 


65

Figure 3: Use of forest chips by forestry centre in 2008 

in Finland [1]. 

Metsäteho Oy has annually surveyed the supply 

chains [3] used in the production of forest chips in the 

21 st century in Finland [4–8]. The Metsäteho study also 

investigated how logging residue chips, stump wood 

chips, and chips from small-sized thinning wood and 

large-sized (rotten) roundwood used by heating and 

power plants were produced in Finland in 2008. The 

main results of the study are presented in this conference 

paper. 


The supply chains of forest chips were investigated in 

the questionnaire of Supply Chains of Forest Chips in 

2008, which covered the production of logging residue 

chips, stump wood chips, chips from small-sized thinning 

wood, and chips from large-sized (rotten) roundwood. In 

the survey, the supply chains were determined as follows: 

• Terrain chipping: comminution at the harvesting 

site, 

• Roadside chipping (separate chipper and chip 

truck): comminution with a chipper or crusher at 

a roadside landing and road transportation of 

chips using a separate chip truck from the 

roadside to the plant, 

• Roadside chipping (integrated chipper–chip 

truck): comminution and road transportation of 

chips with the same unit, a so-called integrated 

chipper–chip truck, 

• Terminal chipping: forest chip raw materials 

(loose or bundled) to the terminal for 

comminution, and then transportation of the chips 

by truck/train/barge from the terminal to the 

plant, and 

• Chipping at plant: forest chip raw materials 

(loose or bundled) to the plant for comminution. 

Almost all the major forest chip suppliers in Finland 

were involved in the study. The total volume of forest 

chips supplied in 2008 by these (34) suppliers was 6.5 

TWh (Table 1). The study was implemented by 

conducting an email questionnaire survey and telephone 

interviews. Research data was collected in March-May 

2009. 

Table 1: Use of different types of forest chips at heating 

and power plants in 2008 in Finland [1], and the total 

volume supplied in 2008 by the forest chip suppliers who 


participated in the survey. 

Type of forest chips 

Total volume 

used 

in Finland [1] 

Total volume 

supplied 

by suppliers 

TWh 

Logging residue chips 4.7 3.5 

Stump wood chips 1.2 1.2 

Chips from small-sized 

thinning wood 

1.9 1.4 

Chips from large-sized 

roundwood 

0.4 0.5 

Total 8.1 6.5 

3 RESULTS 

3.1 Logging residue chips 

The best sites in Finland, and therefore those mainly 

used for recovering logging residues, are Norway spruce 

(Picea abies L. Karst.) dominated final cuttings. The 

typical logging residue removal is approximately 70–100 

MWh/ha. In 2008, the area where logging residues were 

recovered was more than 50,000 ha in Finland. 

Figure 4 shows that the most common place to 

comminute logging residues for chips is a roadside 

landing. In 2008, the total proportion of roadside 

chipping supply chains was 58%. The share of roadside 

chipping with a separate chipper and chip truck was 55%, 

and the share of roadside chipping with an integrated 

chipper–chip truck was 3% (Fig. 4). 

31% of the logging residues were comminuted at 

power plants in 2008 (Fig. 4). The share of chipping 

loose residues at the plant was 14%, and the share of 

chipping logging residue bundles at the plant was 17%. 

Currently, logging residues are bundled by around 15 

slash bundlers in Finnish forests [cf. 9, 10]. The 

proportion of terminal chipping supply chain was 11% in 

2008 (Fig. 4). 

Figure 4: Proportions of different supply chains in the 

production of logging residue chips during 2004–2008 in 

Finland. 

3.2 Stump wood chips 

Intensive development of stump and root wood 

harvesting began in Finland in the early 2000’s. Today 

stump wood is a competitive wood fuel, especially for 

large power plants. This is clearly evident in the stump 

chip supply chain figures: 70% of all stump wood chips 

used for energy generation in 2008 were produced at 

power plants (Fig. 5). In 2008, 29% of all the stump 

wood comminution was performed at terminals. Small

stump wood batches were also comminuted at the 

roadside landings by mobile crushers. 

In Finland, stumps for energy generation are 

extracted almost exclusively from spruce-dominated, 

final felling stands. The typical stump wood removal is 

150–180 MWh/ha. The period for stump lifting is limited 

to May–November when the ground is thawed. In 2008, 

stumps were removed from a total of around 7,000 

hectares. Heavy-duty (working weight around 20 tonnes) 

tracked excavators are mainly used for the lifting of 

stumps [9, 10]. Approximately 150 excavators are 

currently used for stump lifting in Finland [cf. 9, 10]. 

Figure 5: Proportions of different supply chains in the 

production of stump wood chips during 2004–2008 in 

Finland. 

3.3 Chips from small-sized thinning wood 

Chips from small-sized thinning wood are produced 

in Finland from small-diameter (mainly d 1.3

increased cost pressures on the total supply chain costs of 

forest chips. 

In the future, the management of supply costs in all 

phases of the logistics chain will hold vital positions [12]. 

The individual parts of the supply chains should work 

more efficiently (e.g. utilize the most efficient working 

methods, adoption of the most suitable production 

technology, maximization of loads in forest haulage and 

road transportation) and especially, increase integration 

between supply chains (e.g. minimization of waiting and 

terminal times). Moreover, quality management of chips 

(i.e. moisture content in the case of logging residues, and 

impurities with stumps) has to be increased to a suitable 

level than it is presently. 

Kärhä [12] estimated that chipping will move from 

roadside locations closer to the heating and power plants, 

partly to terminals, and partly directly to the plants. This 

will undoubtedly prove to be the case as, in approximate 

terms, the closer to the plant chipping is performed, the 

more cost-efficient it is. Differences will, nevertheless, 

remain between forest chip suppliers regarding the 

volumes of forest chips produced in terminals and at the 

plant. As the volumes of road transportation of 

uncomminuted raw materials for forest chips will greatly 

increase in the future, more efficient long-distance 

transportation solutions are required. The status of the 

terminals will also become more important. 

REFERENCES 

[1] Ylitalo, E. 2009. Puun energiakäyttö 2008. (Use of 


Research Institute, Forest Statistical Bulletin 15/2009. 

[2] Ylitalo, E. 2009. Use of forest chips by heating and 

power plants in Finland in 2008. Finnish Forest Research 

Institute, Unpublished statistics. 

[3] Kärhä, K. 2008. Metsähakkeen 

tuotantoprosessikuvaukset. (Flowcharts of supply 

systems for forest chip production in Finland). Metsäteho 



03_Metsahakkeen_tuotantoprosessi_kk_3.pdf. 

[4] Kärhä, K. 2005. Hakkuutähteiden korjuu 

päätehakkuualoilta. (Harvesting of logging residues from 

final cutting stands). In: Kariniemi, A. (Ed.). Kehittyvä 

puuhuolto 2005 – Seminaari metsäammattilaisille, 16.– 

17.2.2005, Paviljonki, Jyväskylä. Seminaarijulkaisu. p. 

68–75. 

[5] Kärhä, K. 2005. Tienvarsihaketuksella yleisimmin 

metsähaketta. (Forest chips most commonly with 

roadside chipping). BioEnergia Magazine 2/2005: 4–5. 



forest chips in Finland in 2005). Metsäteho 


http://www.metsateho.fi/uploads/Tuloskalvosarja_357_m 

etsahakkeen_tuotantoketjut_2005.pdf. 

[7] Kärhä, K. 2007. Metsähakkeen tuotantoketjut 2006 ja 

metsähakkeen tuotannon visiot. (Industrial supply chains 

of forest chips in 2006 and the visions of forest chip 


production). Metsäteho Tuloskalvosarja 5/2007. 

Available at: 


05_Metsahakkeet_kk.pdf. 



forest chips in Finland in 2007). Metsäteho 



04_Metsähakkeen_tuotantoketjut_kk_1.pdf. 

[9] Kärhä, K. 2007. Machinery for forest chip production 

in Finland in 2007. Metsäteho Tuloskalvosarja 14/2007. 

Available at: 


14_forest_chips_machinery_kk_1.pdf. 

[10] Kärhä, K. 2007. Production machinery for forest 

chips in Finland in 2007 and in the future. Metsäteho 

Review 28. Available at: 


[11] Kärhä, K. 2006. Whole-tree harvesting in young 

stands in Finland. Forestry Studies 45: 118–134. 

[12] Kärhä, K. 2007. Supply Chains and Machinery in 

the Production of Forest Chips in Finland. In: Savolainen, 

M. (Ed.). Book of Proceedings. Bioenergy 2007, 3 rd 

International Bioenergy Conference and Exhibition, 3 rd – 

6 th September 2007, Jyväskylä Paviljonki, Finland. 

Finbio Publications 36: 367–374. 

[13] Anon. 1999. Finland’s National Forest Programme 

2010. Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Publications 

2/1999. 

[14] Anon. 2003. Uusiutuvan energian edistämisohjelma 

2003–2006. Työryhmän ehdotus. (A programme to 

promote renewable energy 2003–2006. Proposal of 

working group). Ministry of Trade and Industry, Working 

group and committee papers 5/2003. Available at: 

http://julkaisurekisteri.ktm.fi/ktm_jur/ktmjur.nsf/all/4B1 

BDE137F9B5121C2256CE5002B3AC1/$file/tyto5eos.p 

df. 

[15] Anon. 2008. Long-term Climate and Energy 

Strategy. Government Report to Parliament 6 November 

2008. Publications of the Ministry of Employment and 

the Economy, Energy and climate 36/2008. Available at: 


_ja_ilmasto.pdf.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR PREPARATION OF PAPERS 

THE ECONOMIC, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL ISSUES, HINDERING THE ADOPTION OF BIOENERGY IN 

PAKISTAN: A CASE STUDY 

Umair Usman 

UCH 

Moonoo Chowk, Raiwind/Defence Road E. Lahore, Pakistan 

Umair@uch.com.pk, Tel: 92-42-5321636, Fax: 92-42-5321638 

ABSTRACT: The paper will inform the audience about the energy crisis that has crippled Pakistan’s economic growth 

since the last 4 years, and the role that Bioenergy can play in resolving the issue. In order to help ease Pakistan in its 

effort to curb this crisis and to get useful insights into the role that Bioenergy can play in solving Pakistan’s problems, 

business ventures were attempted. The results were not encouraging and shed light onto the financial and technical 

hindrances involved in creating and running bioenergy businesses in Pakistan. These issues themselves linked to the more 

general Social, Economic and Political barriers for the adoption of Bioenergy. The paper concludes by providing 

suggestions and recommendations, as to what the government, private sector as well as the international community can 

do in order to overcome the crisis. 

Keywords: Bio energy Policy, Biogas, Bio-ethanol, Third World, Pakistan 


Energy is considered to be the life line of any 

economy. It is significant determinant of socioeconomic 

development and is therefore one of the most important 

strategic commodities [26]. Traditional growth theories 

focus on the labour, capital and technology as major 

factors of production and ignore the importance of energy 

in the economic growth process [16]. 

In the era of globalization, even though dependence 

of economies on energy and its demand is rapidly 

increasing, the supply of it remains uncertain. Therefore 

energy shortage will be one of the biggest problems 

facing mankind in the next century [16]. 

One such country which is already facing an energy 

crisis is Pakistan. Energy plays an important role as 

compared to other variables included in the production 

and consumption function for Pakistan, as it is in an early 

stage of development [10]. Already Pakistan’s economy 

has been under constant stress due to is energy crisis [7], 

leading to a sharp decrease in its economic growth rate. 

In order to study the role that Bioenergy can play in 

overcoming the energy crisis, two business ventures were 

attempted i.e. selling Biogas plants and Bio-ethanol. 

Biomass seemed like a logical alternative energy solution 

due to the country’s large agricultural base. However 

both businesses failed at different stages of development 

due to several micro and macro factors. Reflecting on 

these failures, new business models are discussed that can 

help create a formal Biomass industry. 

However before details of the ventures are looked 

into, it is imperative that Pakistan’s energy profile is 

studied first, in order to better understand its needs. 

. 

2 PAKISTAN’S ENERGY PROFILE 

2.1 Country profile 

Pakistan is a middle income economy, with an 

estimated population of around 170 million, among the 

highest in the world. It is the founding member of 

SAARC, G-8 and the OIC. Not only is it a major military 

and nuclear power, but South Asia’s second largest 

economy and a front line state on the war in terror. 

It has sustained excellent growth record in the past 

decade thanks to liberalization, and an opening up of the 

economy. Due to economic growth that took place in in 

the first half of the 2000s, the GDP of Pakistan doubled 

between 1999 and 2007. The growth in GDP was even 

higher than the population growth and therefore GDP per 

capita increased by almost sixty percent between 2000 

and 2008. Recognizing Pakistan’s economic growth, 

Goldman Sachs now considers Pakistan to be among the 

‘Next Eleven Countries’ i.e. nations that are likely to 

become sizable economic powers and have greater 

impact on global business in the new century [34]. As 

Pakistan’s agriculture, industry, trade and services sectors 

have been growing rapidly, the government has remained 

negligent to the surge in energy demand, leading to a 

massive shortfall in energy, which is only expected to 

widen [26]. 

One of the key strategic objectives of the Musharraf 

era was to turn Pakistan into an energy corridor, 

connecting Central Asia (China and the oil producing 

countries) to the rest of the world (14; 13; 26). However 

Pakistan itself is now facing a major energy crisis. To 

look into this crisis in detail, it is imperative to look at 

Pakistan’s energy profile in order to better understand the 

supply and demand of different sources. 

2.2 Energy Profile: 


69

The primary energy supply in Pakistan is 

concentrated to only a few sources. The average share of 

Oil and Gas between 1997-2007 was 44.36% and 32.58% 

respectively i.e. 77% of the total supply (relatively, 

Hydroelectricity and coal accounted for 18% and other 

sources accounted for 5%). The share now stands at 31% 

for oil (82% is imported) and 48% for gas i.e. the total 

share has grown to 79%, where the share of oil decreased 

to 31 percent (relatively hydroelectricity and coal account 

for 20% and 1 percent from nuclear and imported energy) 

[16; 24]. 

Looking at total consumption of each source, the 

average percentage share of oil in energy consumption 

was 40.9% during 1998 to 2007, followed by gas 34.6%, 

electricity 15.7%, coal 7.5% and LPG 1.3% [16]. Noting 

consumption of energy by sector, the industrial sector 

consumed 37.3% of the energy, followed by transport 

sector with a share of 32.2% and domestic sector with a 

share of 22.2%. The agriculture sector, government and 

the commercial sector respectively consumed only 2.6%, 

2.5% and 3.3%. 

During the 1980s, about 86% of the energy demand 

was met by domestic sources and remaining 14% gap 

was filled by the imports [7]. At present Pakistan meets 

75% of its energy needs by domestic resources including 

gas, oil and hydroelectricity production [24]. Only 25% 

energy needs were managed through imports. Oil and 

Gas have taken major share in the energy mix and are 

likely to maintain their dominance [16]. 

It can be seen that from the above that Pakistan’s 

energy supply is dependent largely on Oil and Gas and 

electricity, and the share of imported energy is increasing 

over time. It can be noted therefore that shortages or 

difficulties in imports can have disastrous effects on 

industry and transport, and therefore cripple the industry. 

2.2 Energy crisis: 

During the mid 200s, the average economic growth 

rate of 7.6% in the 2000s. It was believed that assuming 

the growth of 6-7 percent which Pakistan had during the 

mid 2000s, energy demand will growth at 8% or rougly 

double within a decade [24]. However insufficient 

generation and exploration, limited planning and 

negligence of successive regimes, and inefficient use and 

wastage of energy resources [31], has created an acute 

energy crisis in Pakistan since 2006. [24; 26; 7]. 

[16] 

Table I: Energy Supply and Demand Gap (MTOE: 

Millions of Tons Oil equivalent) 

On the other hand according to Pakistan’s Energy 

Security Plan for 2005-2030 [16], the total primary 

energy consumption in Pakistan is expected to increase 

seven times to 360 MTOE and over eight-fold increase in 

the requirement of power by 2030 (Table I). 

As none of these problems were dealt with, Pakisan’s 

GDP growth rate plummeted to just 2.3% in 2008-2009 

growth, and 4.1% 2009-2010. Due to energy shortages, th 

large scale manufaturing sector declined by 7.7% last 


year, while overall manufacturing declined by 3.3% [7]. 

It must be noted that as GDP growth declines, the 

estimations of the widening gap already discussed might 

not materialize, but severe shortages will probabaly 

remain. In paticular Pakistan is likely to face a major 

shortage of natural gas, electricity and oil, the three major 

sources, in the next three to four year that could choke 

the economic growth. The biggest shortfall is expected in 

the natural gas supplies [16]. 

The demand-supply gap has therefore increased and 

is likely to increase in the future, exerting strong pressure 

on the energy resources in the Country [16; 33]. 

2.2.1 Gas 

Natural gas has emerged as the most important fuel 

in the recent past and the trends indicate its dominant 

share in the future energy mix as well [26]. 

Demand for natural gas in Pakistan increased by 

roughly 10 percent annually from 2000-01 to 2007-08, 

reaching around 3,200 cubic feet per day (MMCFD) 

against the total production of 3,774 MMCFD while by 

2008-2009, the demand for natural gas exceeded the 

available supply, with production of 4,528 MMCFD gas 

against demand for 4,731 MMCFD, indicating a shortfall 

of 203 MMCFD [30]. Hagler Bailly, a global 

management consulting firm warned in a 2006 study that 

Pakistan is going to witness gas shortage starting in 2007, 

and defecit will grow until it will cripple the economy by 

2025, when shortage will be 11,092 MMCFD (Million 

standard cubic feet per day) against total 13,259 MMCFD 

production i.e. demand will be 24351 [8]. This winter 

alone, the country dealt with a shortfall of 700 MMCFD 

of gas due to increasing use of heaters and geysers [17]. 

There are also about 2718 Compressed Natural Gas 

(CNG) stations in the country and approximately 1.9 

million vehicles are using CNG. Pakistan has seen an 

investment of Rs 70 billion has been made, creating some 

100,000 job [24]. With roughly 29,167 vehincles are 

converted run on CNG every month, Pakistan has now 

become the third largest CNG consumer in the world 

after Argentina and Brazil, and the biggest in Asia [20; 

28], However due to a shortage of Natural Gas, CNG 

stations are required to go on ‘forced holidays’ where two 

days in a week they are not allowed to sell gas. Gas 

powered generators for domestic use, have therefore been 

banned as well [37]. 

Industry too has been made to cut their gas usage for 

3 days every week, otherwise their gas supply will be cut. 

In winters, gas supplies to industry are cut for upto 2-3 

weeks, when demand is highest. During the same period, 

many residential areas, even within major urban centers 

do not have access to gas for weeks at a time [34]. 

2.2.2 Oil 

Oil is the second biggest source of primary energy for 

Pakistan, and imports 82% of all its needs [24]. The issue 

with oil has to do more with trade deficits than depletion 

of resources. Between 2008-2009 (July-March) 

Petroleum products and crude oil made up 28.5% of 

Pakistan’s imports, totaling to about 7.4 billion and by 

2009-2010, the share in imports has increased to 29.2% 

or $7.3 billion [19]. 

The situation reached its worst point in 2008. The 

2007-2008 Pakistan Oil bill was an all time high of $11 

billion, due to record world oil prices, and the 

depreciation in the rupee’s value. This put huge stress on 

the trade and current account deficit, and therefore

Pakistan’s reserves. Pakistani bureaucracy rushed to 

reach an agreement with the Saudi government to provide 

$5.9 billion of Oil on deferred payments i.e. 6 month 

supply [26]. Prior to this, oil prices in Pakistan reached 

unbearable levels and first signs of severe shortage had 

begun to appear as the government did not have the 

reserves to buy oil [30]. This incident exposed a major 

flaw in Pakistan’s energy security. 

2.2.3 Electricity 

Electricity is another important source of energy in 

Pakistan. The average share of electricity as a percentage 

of the total energy consumed was was about 18% during 

1998-2007. Electricity consumption grew in all economic 

sectors during the last five years. Currently Pakistan is 

facing severe electricity crisis as the shortfall has varies 

between 3000 to 4000 MW [24]. 

The current energy crisis stems from the decline in 

hydro sources of energy and over reliance on the 

expansive source of electricity. On top there are 30% 

transmission losses due to poor quality 

infrastructure and large scale power theft [25]. Another 

issues is what has come to be known as circular debt. 

IPPs or Independent Power Producers make up 45.23% 

of Pakistan’s electricity supply. These IPPs sell 

electricity to the government, however many of them 

have faced delay in payments, and many remain unpaid. 

Therefore many IPPs has stopped operations as they 

could no longer finance themselves [3]. 

The issue is also related to the problem of oil as oilbased 

thermal plants accounts supply 68% of generating 

capacity, far more than the 30% share of hydroelectric 

plants [7]. Rising oil prices and the depreciation of the 

rupee has led to huge generation costs, while several IPPs 

saw their costs rising and were forced to close down as 

payments were not made [5]. As a result, manufacturing 

costs and inflation are rising and, Pakistani exports are 

becoming expensive, further pushing pressure on the 

deficit ridden balance of payments [24]. All of this has 

negatively impacted economic growth. Overall the 

energy sector of Pakistan is poorly managed, service 

quality is low, theft of power and gas is rampant and until 

recently, most utilities are still receiving subsidies 

making them even more inefficient [32]. 

Therefore, it can see that Pakistan’s energy mix relies 

heavily on Oil, Gas and electricity, all of which are 

creating uncertainty for Pakistan’s energy needs. Even 

though average consumption of oil is falling, its unstable 

price creates havoc for Pakistan. Gas reserves too have 

depleted and soon Pakistan will start importing gas from 

Iran to fulfill its needs. Coming to electricity, generation 

is not keeping up with demand and there is a dire need to 

fill the gap as it has already has a significant negative 

impact on industry. To get Pakistan out of this crisis and 

prepare for the future there is an urgent need to expand 

and upgrade the domestic resource base, by exploring 

new sources, exploiting existing ones, improving 

efficiency, undertaking conservation efforts and diversity 

the energy mix through alternative energy [16; 7]. One of 

such alternative energy solution is Biomass, which seems 

very promising for Pakistan. 

3 POTENTIAL FOR BIOMASS: 

There are several alternative energy solutions being 

implemented throughout the world. Efforts range from 

capturing wind power though wind turbines, Solar energy 

using PV cells and even capturing kinetic energy of tidal 

waves in the oceans to produce what is known as Tidal 

Power. Biomass is one such solution which shows 

promise and potential within Pakistan. However to look 

at the significance and potential of Biomass as an 

alternate energy of fuel it is important to get insights into 

exactly what it really is. 

3.1 What is Biomass? 

Biomass essentially is organic matter i.e. plants, that 

can be used as renewable energy. The energy comes from 

stored sun light through photosynthesis, known as Bio 

energy. Unlike Fossil fuels, which have been created 

through millions of years of heat and pressure, Biomass 

comes from fresh sources that can be grown again with 

relative ease [22]. Most Biomass fuels recycle agriculture 

byproducts. This can be from, cow dung [biogas] and 

agricultural residues [bio diesel or ethanol] or non 

agriculture byproducts such as fuel wood from forests, 

while traditional biomass, relies on such things as directly 

incineration firewood or cow dung, have serious 

implications for health and emissions [34]; however they 

are still prevalent in developing countries, where 2.4-2.5 

billion people still rely on it (mainly for cooking), a 

number that is set to increase to 2.7 billion by the year 

2030. Already in the South Asia region 70-80% 

individuals rely in some way to traditional Biomass. In 

Pakistan 19% of Biomass energy is sourced from, cow 

dung, 22% from crop residue and 60% from fuel wood 

[10]. 

As the source of Biomass is basically agriculture (and 

forestry), there is immense potential for Biomass within 

Pakistan, which is largely an agricultural economy. 

3.2 Bio energy Potential of Pakistan 

Agriculture accounts for for 21% of the GDP and 

employees 45% of the total workforce and is hence the 

largest employer [11; 7]. 62% of the population already 

lives in the rural areas, where agriculture is the main 

source of income. 

Of the Total area of 79.61 million hectares of the 

country, 27% is cultivated while only 8% is forest [12]. 

The ratio of cultivated land to population is 0.16 ha per 

person. Of the cropped area, Food grains are grown on 

56%, cash crops on 17%, pulses on 7%, oilseeds on 3%, 

fruits on 2%, vegetables and condiments on 1% each, and 

other crops, including fodder, on 13%. Most of the 17.2 

million hectares of cultivated area is irrigated and 70% of 

the water is supplied by canals, thanks to the Indus Basin, 

the largest continuous irrigation system in the world, 

provides most of the canal irrigation. 30% of water 

comes from wells. Traditionally monsoons in July and 

August and conventional winter rains ,in January and 

February have been a source of irrigation as well. 

It must be noted that Maize and Sugar Cane, are both 

large sources of Bio-ethanol, and are among the top 5 

major crops of the country [7]. Looking at livestock, 

while the contribution of the crop sector declined from 65 

percent of the total agricultural activity in 1990-91 to just 

43.9 percent in 2009-2010, the share of livestock has 

risen from 30 percent to 53.2 percent over this period, or 

11.4% of the total GDP, therefore becoming the biggest 

contributor to agriculture [7; 8]. This is derived from an 

estimated livestock population of 30.8 millon Buffaloes, 

34.3 million cattle, 59.9 million goats , sheep 27.8 and 

610 milion chickens [7], averaging close to 2-5 cattle per 

household [23]. The estates for making biogas from these 


71

sources varies between 57488 million m³ [4] to around 

858,000 million m³ per day [11], cattle size estimates, 

and the amount of biogas that can be produced, 

However, even though it looks as if Pakistan is all set 

to embrace Biomass, it must be remembed that Pakistan 

is currently under severe ‘Water Stress’, and is likely to 

become a water scarce nation perhaps as soon as 2010 

[29]. The issue has been related to Pakistan’s 

mismanagement of water resources as well as what is 

allegedly regarded as India’s illegal construction of dams 

to collect water for itself, which is against the Indus 

Water Treaty. Water scarcity will not only have a 

devastation impact on crops, where already there is a 

‘water schedule’ in place to distribute the limited amount 

of water to fields at particular times only [18]. This will 

likely have an impact on livestock as well, as water 

shortage is leading to the emergence of ‘waste lands’ that 

have caused a shortage of fodder for livestock, situation 

that will only worsen in the future if nothing is done [1]. 

In any case, noting the potential for Bio liquid fuels 

and Biogas, it seemed logical to attempt business 

ventures in these fields. However, even though there 

were opportunities in the field, there were may 

unforeseen hindrances as well. 

4 HINDRANCES TO BIOENERGY VENTURES 

Keeping the view that commercialization of Biomass 

solutions could create a private industry through 

demonstration effects of a profitable model, two 

businesses were planned. The intention was to get better 

insights into the opportunities presented by Biomass and 

how it can be used to resolve the energy crisis. 

4.1 Biogas 

Biogas has several advantages for communities. Apart 

from the health benefits of using dung in such a manner, 

it saves time and money, while the left over manure from 

the Biogas plant can be a used as an even better fertilizer 

than traditional dung [29]. 

4.1.1 Commercializing Biogas Plants 

A simple and cheap fixed dome Biogas plant, was to 

be constructed for each home in a village on the outskirts 

of Lahore. The location was selected due to the low 

levels of penetration by non profit groups that establish 

Biogas plants for free. To try out the plan, a household 

with 4 Buffaloes was selected and taught how to use the 

plant, in terms of loading, cleaning and maintenance. 

Although they were skeptical in the beginning, 

particularly because as it was expensive, the household 

eventually agreed to use it on a lease of 5 years. However 

several factors created massive hindrances to the growth 

of the idea 

4.1.1.1 Micro level Hindrances: 

There was alot of suspicion, skepticism and resistance 

to the idea of using Biogas. Villagers, often simply did 

not accept the fact that burning cow dung in a traditional 

manner effects health, or that the waste slurry from the 

plant will be a better fertilizer. 

Another issue was the price. Although subsidies of 

over Rs 17,000 for a BioGas plant are available from the 

government, simply getting this subsidy was hectic and 


full of red tape [6]. The cost of the system increased 

further when it was realized that the household would to 

change their cooking utensils and stoves to work with the 

new supply of energy. 

Biogas often was not enough as there were only 4 

buffaloes, to support a large family of six and the 

buffaloes themselves were mal-nutritioned. The 

uncertainty of supply, was therefore an issue. The 

household stopped using Biogas themselves in a few 

months, and did not pay. 

This experience sheds light on to why not many 

private sector companies would not want to join Biogas 

initiatives. It is still a relatively new product and there is 

not much awareness among consumers about its long 

term financial and health benefits, making the market too 

uncertain and immature. However the biggest issue 

remains the initial price, which remains high for the 

average villager. This gets worse when it is learned that 

powerful local land owners, who are often politicians, are 

not willing to support such small businesses either. 

4.1.1.2 Macro- level hindrances 

Biogas, although subsidized, has not bee pushed out 

to the masses the way it should have been. The biggest 

promoter and installer of Biogas systems in Pakistan is 

still SNV, a Dutch initiative [29]. Even though there have 

been past claims by the government to promote the 

concept, not much has been done and villagers still use 

cow dung and other traditional fuels. Therefore 

government will and support seem to be the biggest 

hindrance to the growth of Biogas usage. 

There are also social issues, namely resistance to 

change, as here a large population would not only have to 

change the way they heat themselves or cook their food, 

but even change the cooking utensils they use, in order to 

adapt to the new system. It is therefore likely to take 

some time to catch on. Another problem however is that 

there are no formal distribution networks for those who 

do not have enough of their own manure, which is likely 

for villagers with smaller holdings. All of these would 

require heavy government action, and support from 

private for and non profit organizations, all of which 

have been limited until now. 

4.1.2 Commercializing Bio-ethanol fuel: 

Most cars in Pakistan are run on Petrol and therefore it 

was natural to go for a Bio-ethanol plant with a capacity 

of annual production of 1 milion gallons, with the support 

from American consultants. Sweet Sorghum was chosen 

as the feedstock for several reasons. It can give 2-3 crop 

rotations a year and unlike maize, or sugar cane, is not a 

major food source. Fuel grade ethanol was initially to be 

marketed directly to domestic car owners and businesses 

to reduce their cost of fuel who could make their own 

ethanol mixtures such as E-10 or E-20. However, even 

before the business begun there were several limitations 

that stopped its inception. 

4.1.2.1 Micro Level hindrances 

A major problem was the availability of Sweet 

Sorghum. It is usually not sown on a large, commercial 

scale anywhere in Pakistan, as it is not used as cattle 

fodder or as a food source. Due to little market value 

there is just not enough supply for a medium scale 

business of the sort. Maize and Sugar Cane could have 

been used, but due to the exploitative nature of food

distributors in Pakistan, and the reputation of Biofuel 

businesses to increase food prices, it was not attempted. 

Another problem was the continuous power shortages 

in the city of Lahore, where the plant was to be based. At 

the time of planning, 12-14 hours of power outages were 

common, while the system being employed needed to be 

in continuous operation, as it did not start well. 

Employing a generator using ethanol itself, was not found 

to be feasible either. 

This brings us to the issue of financial feasibility. 

Although cost savings were identified when used with 

petrol (an E-10 to E-20 mixture was envisioned), the 

margin was not large, and slight changes in petrol, power 

or feedstock prices could have offset any price advantage 

of the fuel. If a generator was to be used, it was 

impossible to sell the product on a ‘price’ basis, due to 

higher costs. Ethanol based fuels were never going to 

sell the fact that they were ‘eco friendly’ and ‘renewable’ 

in a price conscious market like Pakistan in any case. 

Overall the system was too expensive (fixed and running 

costs) for it to be a viable business, unless subsidies were 

available, but there were none. 

4.2.1.2 Macro level hindrances 

Government support had been promised since 

General Musharraf was in power, however even though a 

policy was drafted, it was never implemented. Therefore 

government delay in taking action can be noted as a 

major hindrance to the promotion and adoption of 

Biomass. 

A major, and perhaps the biggest hindrance to the 

development of Bio-ethanol is the market price of crops. 

Sugarcane and Maize, are still the best contenders for 

making Biofuels as they are grown on a massive scale 

that can be used as feedstock. However even slight 

shortages in supply can cause the prices to rise 

exuberantly. This is due to the illegal cartels who control 

food distribution and supply and regularly exploit 

rumours of slight shortages. This could have a 

devastating impact on inflation and the quality of life for 

the common man. 

A major hindrance is also the issue of creating a 

network. No business can expand on ethanol based fuels 

by themselves and therefore a distribution agreements 

with powerful ‘Oil Marketing Companies’ (OMC) is 

necessary. Approaching a massive OMC is not an easy 

task and creating a market through direct marketing will 

be a slow process that can never reach the masses. This 

issue was was to be resolved in the government draft, 

which was planned years ago but is still at the 

preliminary stage of its implementation [6; 24]. However 

the energy crisis itself also feeds into the problem of 

large scale manufacturing (which includes producing 

ethanol), which has been declining since a couple of 

years, due to ever increasing costs of production [7]. 

A major hindrance, to the adoption of Biogas and Bioethanol 

that was identified was the unwillingness or the 

half hearted support of the government to such efforts in 

terms of passing legislation, enforcing laws and 

providing subsidies [5]. Another problem is the fact that 

the political system is highly corrupt and non transparent, 

which means usually funds are not acounted for. Another 

issue is that usually, official policies change successive 

governments [33] and unless there is deep involvement of 

foreigners and the private for and nonprofit sectors, such 

policies are unlikely to sustain over a longer period. 

5 Recommendations 

It is apparent that there are no quick solutions to the 

problem of energy in Pakistan, however many 

possibilities exist to create a successful future. 

For the mass promotion and acceptance of biomass, it 

is imperative that the private and public sector work 

together. Neither the public, nor the private sector alone 

has the will and the resources to create a sustainable 

biomass industry on their own. This includes federal and 

local governments and agencies, businesses and industry 

associations, universities, supra national agencies such as 

Asian Development or World Bank as well as not for 

profit organizations. 

Universities could train personnel, undertake 

research, disseminate information and overall develop the 

necessary human resource, banks can help fund projects, 

and of course entrepreneurs could organize all these 

resources and networks to make it happen. The public 

sector on the other hand would need to promote the 

industry by controlling market prices and overall supply 

of feedstock, especially food items and manure. It would 

also play a major role by disseminating information 

among rural areas where the private sector does not have 

sufficient networks, and also provide help in providing 

funds and subsidies to these projects. Other stake holders 

and international agencies such as USAID and the World 

Bank can also be involved for providing funding and 

expertise. However the major role will still be of the 

government which would have to bring all stake holders 

together. Red tape would have to be reduced, the transfer 

of funds would have to be made transparent and fair, and 

ensure that there is total commitment resolving the issue 

of energy shortage, for the long term. 

5.1 Possible Biogas Public-private partnership for 

households 

A possible business model for a private-public 

partnership could be based on Community Biogas plants, 

which at one point was to be attempted on a large scale 

by the government [20]. The federal government could 

help acquire and direct funds from local governments to 

subsidize community plants, which will help involve the 

whole community rather than a household and therefore 

reduce resistance to change and lower costs. Knowledge 

and expertise would be brought in by the private sector, 

which will also monitor progress, conduct R&D and 

improve the design. The private sector will also be 

responsible for establishing a constant supply of raw 

material by providing sufficient quantities of manure 

when not available. They can also provide after sales 

service for which they can charge a minimal price and 

also help install standardized kitchen utensils. An area 

could be identified by the government, which can then 

work on it together with private vendors, or, it can be the 

other way around as well. The government can identify 

what vendors to work with based on experience, expertise 

and finance. This approach is similar to the partnership 

between the private plastics firm ‘Sintex’ and the Indian 

government, which have been working together for the 

development of rural biogas [15]. 

The biggest role would be played by the government 

however, which will have to pass laws that would make 

Biogas compulsory and eventually ban the use of 

traditional manure incineration. This will require strict 

policing of the new local laws. It is possible that the 

government’s Gas distribution company, the Sui 


73

Southern or Northern Pipelines, could help spread 

awareness and educate villagers about the benefits of 

Biogas, as it is directly responsible for the distribution of 

natural gas. 

Consultants can also be hired in order to learn from 

expertise of the ones who have been successful at Biogas 

deployments. Working with non-profit organizations 

such as SNV, which has had immense success in Asia, 

will be necessary. The Indian Government, which has 

deployed community biogas plants on a large scale, and 

has had public-private partnership program in place since 

a couple of years, can also be asked for support [15]. 

However a major hindrance to such a system would 

be the issue of availability of suitable land. Even though 

it might be leased from a private landholder, or provided 

by the government, it would definitely slow the process 

as land ownership can be a serious issue in the rural area. 

A short term disruption of availability of fertilizer in a 

community may also arise until slurry can be used. A 

long term disadvantage of such a system is that it can 

eventually lead to a higher market price of manure, which 

is widely used as fertilizer. Another problem in the long 

run could be animals that are acutely malnourished, as 

they might be fed to produce manure rather than quality 

meat and milk, however this might already be the case, as 

manure can be used as fertilizer or sold in the market. 

Of course such a system is for domestic use only, 

and Natural gas for transportation will require a different 

model than this, characterized by a distribution channel 

that connects the rural and urban areas of the country. On 

the other hand, gas for industry too will require a 

different model. 

5.2 Possible ethanol fuel Public-private partnership for 

use in transport 

The cost of producing ethanol fuel is still high, 

therefore the best way to produce it would be to take the 

path the government has been trying to attempt for a 

couple of years. Pakistan has a massive sugar refining 

industry that uses sugar cane to make refined sugar. 

Many of these are already making ethanol, and they are 

most likely to already have the existing scale, financial 

strength, and the cost base, to produce ethanol in large 

quantities, on their existing sugar mills [9]. The 

government would have to work with these Sugar Mill 

owners and give them incentives to start producing fuel 

grade ethanol from Sugar cane. One of the incentives that 

can be given to these Sugar Mill owners would be a fixed 

price of ethanol, independent of market price. On top of 

that, simply finding a steady buyer would be a great 

incentive as well, as it would help reduce overall risk and 

uncertainty. The role of foreign private and public sector 

would be to support in terms of expertise, technology 

transfers and of course, bringing in funds. The help of 

experts from Brazil and the US, which are by far leaders 

in terms of technology and prevalence of Bio-ethanol, 

will be necessary. Work has already begun on such a 

business model, however it is currently at the testing 

stage and only the government owned ‘Pakistan State 

Oil’ is allowed to sell it. It is currently being supplied in 

the south of the country. 

It must be remembered that this model needs to be 

further expanded to include all Major Oil Marketing 

Companies and perhaps also encourage mill owners to 

use multiple feed stocks, such as Maize or Sweet 

Sorghum as well, rather than just sugar cane, in order 

ease the supply pressures that will be put on sugar cane. 


Therefore the most important part of the government 

would be to control the prices of Sugar Cane and Sugar 

Cane products, and therefore prices in the market, which 

would be highly open to exploitation by distributors to 

produce artificial shortages in such a condition. Hence 

apparent that the possible setbacks of this model is that if 

it is not implemented correctly with proper policing, 

sugar supplies can fall (genuinely and artificially) as 

resources are diverted to making ethanol, ultimately 

resulting in high prices (and rising imports) of Sugar (or 

any other crop). Ideally, a non food source should be 

used as feedstock; however that will require heavy 

investments of time and effort before a complete industry 

can be established, as such crops usually have little 

market value and therefore are short in supply to begin 

with. 

In the end, it must be remembered that the problems 

of an inattentive and negligent governance, corrupting 

and misappropriation of funds is something that is likely 

to continue in the current political and bureaucratic 

culture in Pakistan. It is a long term challenge and needs 

to be solved for any real progress, in any field. Already 

Pakistan’s current energy policy is not being 

implemented [5]. Also Pakistan dwells in a fragile 

political system that is both corrupt and uncertain. 

Usually, policies are not retained or sustained over longer 

periods and successive governments. Stakeholders such 

as the IMF, or Asian Development Bank, whose help 

would be needed in acquiring fund and expertise, could 

become tools of accountability. Also involvement of 

other stake holders such as universities, domestic and 

foreign private and public sector companies and nonprofit 

organization, could help keep accountability, and also 

make sure that policies transcend governments. 

6 CONSLUSION 

The energy crisis in Pakistan is deep and worsening. 

By 2030, energy supply and demand gap is expected to 

increase to over 140.9 MTOE i.e. 64% of the total supply 

[16]. Due to Pakistan’s large agriculture base, Biomass is 

one of the alternative energy solutions that can help ease 

this crisis. However it cannot be done by the private or 

public sectors alone, and would require help of all kinds 

from foreign governments, agencies (e.g. The World 

Bank or USAID), technology companies, nonprofit 

organizations (such as SNV), universities and 

consultancies, in order acquire the expertise and the funds 

to make it all happen. 

It must be remembered though that there are serious 

long term issues that need to be overcome for any real 

progress. One such issues is that of water stress that 

Pakistan is under. Water could soon be scarce in 

Pakistan, which can have a significant negative impact on 

the economy in general and the agriculture sector, 

including crops and livestock, in particular (1; 28; 30). 

Overall, Pakistan’s culture of corruption and the 

inability to implement and sustain policies with changing 

governments is another major issue. can be overcome by 

involving as many stakeholders a possible, including 

international agencies, foreign and domestic private 

companies, therefore helping put pressure on successive 

governments to continue legislation and government 

initiatives. 

However, Bio Energy alone cannot solve Pakistan 

problems. With all the issues arising from Biomass, and

other sources of energy, it is imperative Pakistan utilizes 

its immense Hydro, Thermal and Wind power potentials 

as well. Each approach has its own advantages, 

disadvantages, according to the location, distribution, 

costs, maintenance and sustainability [5]. This will also 

help Pakistan diversify its energy mix, which relies 

heavily on oil, gas and electricity [24; 26]. One estimate 

of the potential electricity generation capability of 

Pakistan’s coastal areas from wind power is over 50,000 

MW [5]. The hydel power potential of the Indus River 

System itself is estimated to be around 54,000 MW 

while coal resources are estimated at 185 billion tons ( oil 

equivalent, this is higher than the reserves of Saudi 

Arabia and Iran, combined) [24]. Therefore it is 

imperative that Pakistan does not reply on a few sources 

of energy and rather have a very diverisified energy mix 

(in which Bioenergy can play a very important role). 

Even though the crisis Pakistan faces is severe, if the 

intenrational community works with the private and 

public sector organizations in Pakistan, in a ‘war like 

urgency’, not only can the problem be solved, but 

Pakistan will be able able to become an economy with a 

broad energy mix, with heavy reliance on bioenergy. 

Therefore becoming self sufficient to a very large extent, 

and in the process developing new business, technologies 

and generate continuous economic growth and prosperity. 

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77


D BIOfuELs fOR TRaNspORT 

– BIOGas, BIOEThaNOL aND BIODIEsEL

BIOGAS UPGRADING BY TEMPERATURE SWING ADSORPTION 

Tamara Mayer, Michael Url, Hermann Hofbauer 

Institute of Chemical Engineering, Vienna University of Technology 

Getreidemarkt 9/166, 1060 Vienna, Austria 

Phone: +43 1 58801 15901, Fax: +43 1 58801 15999, Mail: tamara.mayer@tuwien.ac.at 

ABSTRACT: This paper presents a novel process for biogas upgrading by means of temperature swing adsorption. 

Temperature swing adsorption process experiments were carried out in a laboratory test rig focusing on the process 

step of desorption. Desorption experiments were performed using three different variations of regeneration. Further 

on, performance and efficiency of the applied desorption variations were investigated. As a result, desorption by any 

combination of direct and indirect heating is considered as the best and most efficient way. Referring to the 

adsorption step, separation performance is excellent, carbon dioxide is fully adsorbed and pure methane can be 

obtained. 

Keywords: biogas, upgrading, adsorbents 


Natural gas had a share of 24% in the gross energy 

consumption of the EU-27 in the year 2007. Therefore 

Europe’s dependence on natural gas can be considered as 

quite high. Due to the fossil origin of natural gas, it has 

two drawbacks. First, it will for sure run out at some 

point in the future and second, emissions deriving from 

natural gas are not carbon neutral but they affect the 

climate involving the whole issue of green house gas 

emissions and global warming. For these two reasons 

alternatives for natural gas have to be found and biogas 

represents one option thereby. 

Biogas is a renewable energy source deriving from 

anaerobic digestion of organic matter. If biogas should 

replace natural gas, it has to possess a certain quality 

similar to natural gas. In order to achieve this quality and 

to obtain gas which is suitable for replacing natural gas, 

biogas must be upgraded. 

This paper investigates a novel process for biogas 

upgrading based on the principle of temperature swing 

adsorption (TSA). 

2 OVERVIEW OF BIOGAS UPGRADING 

TECHNOLOGIES 

Biogas typically consists of about two thirds methane 

balanced by about one third carbon dioxide and 

impurities such as hydrogen sulphide [1]. Moreover, 

biogas is usually saturated with water when leaving the 

anaerobic digestion plant. If biogas should be injected 

into the natural gas grid, it needs to exhibit a certain 

quality similar to natural gas which consists mainly of 

methane. Hence, gas components such as carbon dioxide 

and hydrogen sulphide have to be removed from biogas 

in order to obtain a high amount of methane. 

The entire process of biogas upgrading roughly 

comprises separation of water and hydrogen sulphide as 

well as methane enrichment. 

2.1 Overview 

Among currently available biogas upgrading 

technologies, water scrubbing and pressure swing 

adsorption are clearly the two most applied ones [2] and 

they can therefore be classified as state of the art for 

biogas upgrading. Other technologies like chemical or 

organic physical absorption processes along with 

membrane based techniques are in an advanced state of 

development or even under demonstration. Although 

there are established technologies, which are already well 

developed and going to be continuously improved and 

optimized, innovative technologies find their way. These 

emerging biogas upgrading technologies include for 

instance cryogenic upgrading or in situ methane 

enrichment. 

Comprehensive reviews of biogas upgrading 

technologies and further related information are given 

elsewhere (e.g. in [3] or [4]). 

2.2 Comparison of biogas upgrading technologies 

Biogas upgrading processes can be categorized into 

wet and dry processes depending on whether a liquid 

phase is required or not. Accordingly, all kinds of 

absorption processes are related to wet processes whereas 

dry processes involve adsorption processes and 

membrane processes like gas permeation. Wet biogas 

upgrading processes are characterized by the need of a 

liquid such as water or organic solvents in order to 

perform removal of carbon dioxide along with further 

undesired components. Disadvantages deriving from 

utilization of any kind of liquid are on the one hand the 

need of disposal and on the other hand possible treatment 

of the liquid before disposal. Moreover, wet processes 

require drying of the upgraded gas before it leaves the 

plant, what represents an additional process step 

compared to dry processes. However, pressure swing 

adsorption processes use activated carbon beds as guard 

filter for protection of the actual adsorbent which is a 

carbon molecular sieve. This process configuration 

causes the need of disposal of saturated activated carbon. 

Furthermore, biogas upgrading processes can be 

categorized according to the need of pressurization of 

raw gas. Correspondingly, the processes of pressure 

swing adsorption, water scrubbing, organic physical 

scrubbing as well as gas permeation require the raw gas 

to be compressed in order to perform the upgrading. 

On the contrary, chemical scrubbing with amines and 

the temperature swing adsorption process presented in 

this paper are so called pressure less processes. Further 

similarities of these two processes are utilization of 

amines as sorbent, low methane losses during the process 

and high methane content in the upgraded gas (98% or 

even above) because of excellent selectivity of the amine 

for carbon dioxide. However, there are differences 

concerning regeneration of saturated amines. Regarding 


79

chemical scrubbing, amines are regenerated with steam, 

indicating the need of high temperatures and 

consequently high energy demand. Regeneration within 

the temperature swing adsorption process requires only 

low temperature heat. 

The presented temperature swing adsorption process 

shows some advantages compared to the other biogas 

upgrading processes mentioned above. Among them are, 

e.g. high methane content in the enriched biogas - typical 

values are 98% or even above, and very low methane 

losses during the whole process. Moreover, low energy 

demand represents another advantage since for ad- and 

desorption processes low temperature heat is used instead 

of electricity or process steam. The heat is mainly 

achieved from combined heat and power processes which 

are located at a biogas plant in most cases. Considering 

the point of compression of upgraded biogas, it would 

take place after carbon dioxide removal. Hence, the mass 

flow of the enriched gas is noticeable lower than that of 

raw biogas and consequently less compression power is 

needed. 

3 TEMPERATURE SWING ADSORPTION 

The process of temperature swing adsorption is based 

on the correlation of different equilibrium loads of the 

adsorbent to different temperatures. At low or ambient 

temperatures equilibrium load of the adsorbent is high 

and therefore the adsorbent is able to bind high quantities 

of gases. On the contrary, at elevated temperature levels 

equilibrium load decreases, the amount of gas possible to 

be bound by the adsorbent decreases too and this may 

lead to desorption of already adsorbed gases [5]. 

Adsorption of gases on the adsorbent is performed at 

ambient temperatures whereas for desorption of already 

adsorbed gases higher temperatures are required. 

During the adsorption process, the temperature in the 

column rises due to the exothermic characteristic of the 

adsorption leading to lower gas uptake of the adsorbent 

due to lower equilibrium load at this elevated 

temperature. In order to prolong adsorption time and thus 

enlarge the amount of gas adsorbed, one possibility is to 

cool the adsorbent during the adsorption phase by an 

integrated cooling system. This system should keep 

temperature at a quite low level where equilibrium load is 

high. 

At the end of the adsorption process the adsorbent is 

saturated with gas components. Hence, it has to be 

regenerated by desorbing the bound gas components. In 

the case of temperature swing adsorption processes, 

desorption is performed at elevated temperature levels. 

Therefore, increasing the temperature is necessary 

because of the endothermic characteristic of desorption 

and in order to achieve higher temperature levels. This 

could be done either by direct heating, which means that 

a hot purge gas passes through the column and heats the 

adsorbent, or by indirect heating. In the latter case a 

heating system is built inside or outside the column and a 

heating medium such as hot water warms the adsorbent 

indirectly. As mentioned above, elevated temperature 

levels are correlated to low equilibrium load causing 

desorption of the adsorbed gas (see figure 1). After all the 

desorbed gas left the column, the column needs to be 

cooled down to ambient temperatures in order to assure 

optimal adsorption conditions for the next cycle. 


4 ADSORBENT 

In the present work the adsorbent Diaion WA21J 

provided by Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation was used. 

This adsorbent consists of amine groups integrated into a 

polymeric matrix made of polystyrene (see Table I). 

Table I: Properties of Diaion WA21J [6] 

Matrix 

DVB-crosslinked 

copolymer of styrene 

Functional group Ternary amine 

Operating temperature 100°C max 

Particle size 300 – 1180 µm 

Apparent density approx. 643 g/l 

The weakly basic property due to the functional 

amine group enables the adsorbent to selectively and 

reversibly bind sour gases such as carbon dioxide or 

hydrogen sulphide. 

The adsorbents adsorption capacity for carbon 

dioxide was determined by means of thermo gravimetric 

analysis. Thermo gravimetric analysis measures changes 

in weight in a material under a controlled atmosphere as a 

function of temperature and time [7]. The analyzer, 

roughly outlined, consists of a high-precision balance 

connected to a dish filled with the sample which is, in 

this case, the adsorbent. The dish is placed in an oven and 

the atmosphere within the oven can be purged with 

different gases. Analysis is carried out by increasing the 

temperature and/or purging with gases leading to changes 

in weight of the sample. During the analysis, weight 

against temperature and time is measured. 

Adsorption isotherms of carbon dioxide on Diaion 

WA21J are shown in figure 1. 

Figure 1: Equilibrium adsorption isotherms of carbon 

dioxide on Diaion WA21J [8] 

The adsorbent exhibits high selectivity for carbon 

dioxide whereas its affinity for methane can be 

considered as negligible. Moreover, investigations have 

shown that the adsorption capacity is not reduced by 

simultaneous adsorption of water. 

5 LABORATORY TEST RIG 

TSA process experiments were carried out using a 

laboratory test rig shown in figure 2. First of all, the 

desired gas mixture is adjusted with the help of mass 

flow controllers, thereby the single gases are provided by 

pressurized gas bottles. Afterwards the gas mixture flows

into the adsorber (more information see table II), either 

straightly or indirectly making a detour through a gas 

heater. Within the adsorber, which is filled with the 

adsorbent Diaion WA21J, adsorption of the gas takes 

place. Not adsorbed gas leaves the adsorber and is 

analyzed with regard to its composition and concentration 

by an NDIR-analyzer (non-dispersive infrared). 

Inside the adsorber, a tube bundle is placed providing 

the possibility of water passing through. Water which is 

let through the tubes can either be cold or warm. In this 

way, the adsorbent is cooled or warmed indirectly. In 

case of cooling, adsorption time is prolonged due to 

Figure 2: Flow sheet of laboratory test rig 

6 EXPERIMENTAL 

TSA experiments focused on investigating the 

process step of desorption. In order to desorb a saturated 

adsorbent, it has to be heated up whereas for heating 

different ways are available. On the one hand, heating 

can be carried out directly, i.e. with preheated gas passing 

through the adsorber. On the other hand, heating can be 

done indirectly, i.e. by heat exchange with hot water. In 

the course of the experiments three ways of desorption 

were tested 

• desorption by indirect heating with hot water 


and afterwards purging (with N 2) 


and simultaneous direct heating with purge gas 

(N 2). 

All TSA process experiments followed a certain 

procedure. During the process step of adsorption a binary 

gas mixture containing methane and carbon dioxide was 

applied. Thereby, carbon dioxide and small amounts of 

methane were adsorbed while methane passed through 

and left the adsorber. Moreover, during the adsorption 

step cold water was applied in order to prolong 

adsorption time by dissipating heat deriving from the 

actual adsorption process. At the moment when carbon 

dioxide breakthrough occurred, application of the binary 

gas mixture was stopped and the process was switched 

from adsorption to desorption. During the process step of 

desorption the adsorbent was heated up in one of the 

ways mentioned above. The heating let to desorption of 

the adsorbed carbon dioxide and methane. Desorption 

was stopped when neither methane nor carbon dioxide 

were detected in the gas analyzer placed after the 

keeping the adsorbent at low temperatures by dissipating 

adsorption heat. Warm water is applied for the process 

step of desorption. 

Table II: Adsorber dimensions 

Height 1000 mm 

Inner diameter 41,4 mm 

Outer diameter 46 mm 

Material Borosilicate glass 

adsorber. After desorption, the adsorbent was cooled 

down to ambient temperatures with cold water and then a 

new cycle including adsorption, desorption and cooling 

was carried out. One entire TSA process experiment 

consisted of five cycles, each cycle including adsorption, 

desorption and cooling. 

In table III all test parameters are given. 

Table III: Test parameters 

Adsorption 

Gas mixture 65% CH 4, 35% CO 2 

Gas flow rate 2.2 Nl/min 

Water temperature approx. 10°C 

Desorption 

Water temperature 75°C 

Purge gas N 2 

Purge gas temperature 75°C 

Purge gas flow rate 25 Nl/min 

7 RESULTS 

Results obtained from the TSA process experiments 

carried out in the laboratory test rig are described in the 

subsections below. 

Figures depicted in these subsections show only the 

first cycle of each TSA process experiment. The 

temperature illustrated in these figures presents the 

temperature in the middle of the adsorber. 

7.1 Desorption by indirect heating with hot water 

Figure 3 shows the TSA process with desorption 

carried out by indirect heating with hot water. 

During the adsorption step the binary gas mixture fed 


81

in the adsorber is separated, carbon dioxide is adsorbed 

entirely and pure methane is obtained. Adsorption lasts 

for about 950 sec and is ended when breakthrough of 

carbon dioxide occurs. 

Figure 3: TSA process with desorption by indirect 

heating with hot water 

Desorption is achieved by heating the adsorbent 

indirectly with hot water. Thereby, water is heated and is 

let through tube bundles placed inside the adsorber. As a 

consequence, heat exchange between the hot water and 

the cold adsorbent takes place and heats the adsorbent. 

During the desorption step methane is desorbed at 

first. Methane comes to the most part from the space 

between the adsorbent grains (porosity approx. 45%) as 

well as from the space under the adsorber, since 

adsorption capacity of the adsorbent with regard to 

methane is quite low. The peak of carbon dioxide 

desorption occurs after methane desorption, but after this 

peak the flow rate of carbon dioxide decreases steadily 

and in the end remains at a very low level. Desorption 

lasts about 2000 s what is twice as long as adsorption 

time. 

Referring to temperature, the temperature increase 

during the adsorption step indicates the arrival of the 

adsorption layer. Adsorption is an exothermic process, so 

heat is released and it heats the adsorbent. This 

phenomenon can be clearly seen with the steep rise of the 

temperature of 30°C. Although cold water is applied 

during the entire adsorption step, its coolness is not 

sufficient in order to carry off the released heat. 

Nevertheless, cold water application has an effect 

because after the peak the temperature decreases very fast 

and this allows adsorption to take place for a prolonged 

time period. Temperature during desorption increases 

steadily but it takes about 2000 s in order to get to a 

temperature of 70°C. 

Regarding the following cycles of this experiment, 

adsorption capacity in each of them decreased to one 

third of the capacity in the first cycle. The reason for this 

lies in the only partial desorption of carbon dioxide. 

Desorption by heating with hot water does not allow 

complete desorption of the entire adsorbed gas 

components; only partial desorption, correlated to the 

equilibrium and adsorption capacities at certain 

temperatures, is possible. 

Desorption by indirect heating with water is 

considered as a very inefficient way of desorption due to 

long desorption time as well as low desorption efficiency. 

7.2 Desorption by indirect heating with hot water and 

afterwards purging 

Figure 4 depicts the TSA process with desorption 


carried out by indirect heating with hot water and 

afterwards purging with nitrogen. 

This process is very similar to that described above 

with one difference occurring not until the end of the 

desorption step. 

During the adsorption step separation performance is 

excellent as well and also here adsorption lasts for about 

950 s. Within the first 2000 s of desorption, desorption is 

also carried out indirectly by application of hot water 

functioning as heat exchange medium. The characteristics 

of desorbed gases are similar too, with methane 

desorbing at first followed by carbon dioxide. 


heating with hot water and afterwards purging 

After 2000 s of indirect heating, no more desorption 

of methane or carbon dioxide takes place. As already 

explained above, complete desorption is not achievable 

by indirect heating and therefore purge gas (N 2) was 

applied, for about 200 s. Desorption with purge gas 

allows complete desorption due to changes in partial 

pressure and the correlated adsorption capacity at 

equilibrium. As a consequence, still adsorbed gas 

components should theoretically be desorbed. Figure 4 

shows clearly that application of purge gas leads to 

further desorption of gas components. Obviously, the 

desorbed gas consists for the most part of carbon dioxide 

but also contains small amounts of methane. 

Regarding temperature, during the desorption step of 

indirect heating with hot water, temperature increases 

steadily but during purging temperature decreases again, 

although the purge gas is preheated to 75°C. The reason 

for temperature decrease is the desorption process itself 

which is of endothermic nature. Desorption of this 

remarkable amount carbon dioxide and methane needs 

energy and this causes temperature decrease. 

Referring to the following cycles of this experiment, 

adsorption capacity in each of them decreased only by 

approximately 1 w% compared to the capacity in the first 

cycle. 

Desorption by indirect heating with water is 

considered as a rather inefficient. However, application 

of purge gas led to further desorption of methane and 

carbon dioxide, what causes extended adsorption 

capacities (compared to desorption only with hot water) 

in the following cycles and therefore improves the entire 

process efficiency. 

7.3 Desorption by indirect heating with hot water and 

simultaneous direct heating with purge gas 

Figure 5 illustrates the TSA process with desorption 

carried out by indirect heating with hot water and 

simultaneous direct heating with purge gas.

Once again, the binary gas mixture passing through 

the adsorber is separated during the adsorption step, 

carbon dioxide is adsorbed up to 100% and pure methane 

is obtained. Adsorption lasts for about 950 s and is ended 

when breakthrough of carbon dioxide occurs. 


heating with hot water and simultaneous direct heating 

with purge gas 

Desorption is carried out by heating the adsorbent 

indirectly with hot water and at the same time directly 

with preheated purge gas (N 2). 

During the desorption step methane and carbon 

dioxide are desorbed quite simultaneously. The 

concentrations depicted in figure 5 are rather low but this 

is due to the high purge gas flow rate of 25 Nl/min. 

Desorption lasts for about 1000 s what is in the same time 

range as adsorption time. 

Referring to temperature, during the desorption step 

temperature increases faster compared to desorption ways 

described above; it takes only about 1000 s instead of 

2000 s to reach a temperature of 70°C within the 

adsorber. The reason for this fast temperature increase is 

on the one hand the combined heating and on the other 

hand the high purge gas flow rate which enhances the 

heat transfer. 

The temperature profile shows one inflection point 

during the desorption step. The inflection point indicates 

the almost complete desorption of carbon dioxide. From 

that point on, supplied heat is used mainly for adsorbent 

heating, leading to a more steeply rise of the temperature 

profile. 

Regarding the entire experiment, adsorption capacity 

remained stable in each cycle. 

Desorption by indirect heating with hot water and at 

the same time direct heating with purge gas is a very 

effective way of desorption. This combined way of 

heating has two effects. First, temperature rises faster 

compared to only indirect heating, leading to a shorter 

time period of desorption. And second, desorption is very 

effective indicated by stable adsorption capacities in each 

cycle. 

8 CONCLUSION 

This paper presented a novel process for biogas 

upgrading by means of temperature swing adsorption 

(TSA). TSA process experiments were performed in a 

laboratory test rig. Results clearly show that biogas 

upgrading by TSA is feasible. Separation performance is 

excellent since during the adsorption step carbon dioxide 

is adsorbed to up to 100% and pure methane is obtained. 

Experiments also investigated different ways of 

desorption. Thereby, desorption by any combination of 

direct and indirect heating is considered to be the best 

and most efficient way of desorption, in terms of 

desorption time as well as of desorption efficiency. One 

drawback arises from purge gas application. Nitrogen as 

purge gas causes dilution of the desorbed gas, making the 

valuable desorbed gas complicated to handle for further 

utilization. In order to avoid dilution, alternative purge 

gases such as carbon dioxide or methane have to be 

evaluated. 

9 REFERENCES 

[1] P. Weiland, Biogas, Thieme Römpp Online (2010) 

[2] M. Persson, O. Jönsson and A. Wellinger, Biogas 

Upgrading to Vehicle Fuel Standards and Grid Injection, 

IEA Bioenergy (2006) 

[3] W. Urban, K. Girod and H. Lohmann, Technologien 

und Kosten der Biogasaufbereitung und Einspeisung in 

das Erdgasnetz. Ergebnisse der Markterhebung 2007- 

2008, Fraunhofer UMSICHT (2009) 

[4] A. Petersson and A. Wellinger, Biogas upgrading 

technologies – developments and innovations, IEA 

Bioenergy (2009) 

[5] W. Kast, Adsorption aus der Gasphase, VCH (1988) 

[6] Resindion, Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation, Product 

Data Sheet and Material Safety Data Sheet (2004) 

[7] E. Buss, Gravimetric measurement of binary gas 

adsorption equilibria of methane-carbon dioxide mixtures 

on activated carbon, Gas Sep. Purif. Vol. 9 No. 3, 

Elsevier (1995) 

[8] H. Feichtner, Experimente und numerische 

Berechnungen zur Entwicklung eines Festbettverfahrens 

zur Abtrennung von Kohlendioxid aus Biogas durch 

Adsorption an einem polymeren Adsorbens, PhD Thesis, 

Vienna University of Technology (2007) 

10 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial 

support of Klima- und Energiefonds. 

Dieses Projekt wurde aus Mitteln des Klima- und 

Energiefonds gefördert und im Rahmen des Programmes 

“ENERGIE DER ZUKUNFT“ durchgeführt. 


83


E pELLETs – 

ThE NEW LaRGE ENERGY COMMODITY

EMISSIONS CHARACTERISTICS OF A RESIDENTIAL PELLET BOILER AND A STOVE 

Kaung Myat Win, Tomas Persson 

Solar Energy Research Center, Dalarna University, 781 88 Borlänge, Sweden 

Tel: +46 23 778704, Fax: +46 23 778701, Email: kmw@du.se 

ABSTRACT: Gaseous and particulate emissions from a residential pellet boiler and a stove are measured at a realistic 6day 

operation sequence and during steady state operation. The aim is to characterize the emissions during each phase in 

order to identify when the major part of the emissions occur to enable actions for emission reduction where the savings 

can be highest. The characterized emissions comprised carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxide (NO), total organic carbon 

(TOC) and particulate matter (PM 2.5). In this study, emissions were characterised by mass concentration and emissions 

during start-up and stop phases were also presented in accumulated mass. The influence of start-up and stop phases on 

the emissions, average emission factors for the boiler and stove were analysed using the measured data from a six-days 

test. The share of start-up and stop emissions are significant for CO and TOC contributing 95% and 89% respectively at 

the 20kW boiler and 82% and 879% respectively at the 12 kW stove. NO and particles emissions are shown to dominate 

during stationary operation. 

Keywords: emissions, pellet boiler, stove, combustion, start-up, stop. 


Emission characteristics at each phase of pellet boiler 

operations are important aspect to reduce the annual 

emissions from residential pellet combustion. 

Characterisation of the emissions during different 

operation strategies makes it possible to identify the 

phase when the major part of the emissions occur and 

helps to take actions for emission reduction that can 

achieve highest possible savings. A residential pellet 

boiler may start and stop several thousand times [5] and a 

considerable part of uncombusted are emitted during start 

and stop periods [1, 2, 3]. Fiedler and Persson [2] and 

Persson [4, 5] showed that the dominating part of the COemissions 

in most pellet boilers were emitted during 

start-up and stop phases of the burner. Several simulation 

studies shows the possibility to substantially reduce the 

annual CO-emissions by changing from ON/OFF control 

to modulating operation, which results in fewer start-up 

and longer operation periods with lower combustion 

power [4, 5]. Good and Nussbaumer [3] have recently 

reported gaseous and particles emission factors for two 

pellet boilers. 

2 MEASUREMENTS 

A 20 kW wood pellet boiler and a 10 kW pellet stove 

(extended room heater) were measured during steady 

state operations and a six-days test. The six-days test was 

developed for measuring of solar heating systems during 

six days that should give results representative for annual 

operation [5]. The steady state operations were measured 

applying a constant heating load to avoid combustion 

power modulation. In order to take the average, the 

steady state measurement was repeated 3 times. In the 

realistic six day test, the combustion devices were 

connected to emulated domestic hot water and space 

heating load and run according to a measurement 

sequence developed by Bales [1] for comparable 

measurements of solar-combi systems, which are 

designed to give representative conditions of a full year 

operation. The stove was connected to a storage tank with 

a volume of 750 litres and an emulated 9 m 2 flat plate 

solar collector. 

The time of start-up and stop phases were chosen 

according to the related emissions and combustion 

power. Start-up phases commences after the ignition and 

lasts until the emission concentrations and combustion 

power have reached to the same level as a stationary 

operation. Similarly, stop phase begins with a abrupt rises 

of emissions followed by a slow decrease and continues 

until the emissions are completed. In case of an 

uncomplete stop phase followed by a start-up, the stop 

phase is only taken to the beginning of the following 

start-up. 

2.1 Measurement set up 

Figure 1: Schematic of the measurement set up 

The measurement set up was shown in figure 1. A set 

of multi-port averaging pitot-tubes calibrated in 


85

combination with pressure transducers specifically to the 

installed chimney is used to measure the transient flue 

gas flow in the chimney during start-up and stop phases. 

The whole set of the boiler/stove was installed on a scale 

and the fuel consumption was continuously monitored. 

However, the fuel consumption during the start-up and 

stop period was too small relative to the scale’s 

measurement resolution. Therefore, the fuel consumption 

during start-up and stop phases are calculated using 

measured flue gas flow with the combustion calculation 

according to Wester [6]. 

The sample flue gas is extracted from the chimney 

and transported via a heated tube (180°C). Carbon 

dioxide (CO 2), carbon monoxide (CO) and nitrogen oxide 

(NO) are measured with an non- dispersive infra-red gas 

analyser, oxygen (O 2) with a paramagnetic gas analyser 

and total organic carbon (TOC) with a flame ionisation 

detector (FID). The emissions of TOC are presented in 

propane equivalent. The particle emissions are sampled 

in the dilution channel (Figure 1) with an electrical low 

pressure impactor (ELPI). Particulate matters are 

measured in number concentration and size distribution 

in the range of 7 nm to 10 µm and are characterized for 

PM 2.5. 

2.2 Combustion devices 

Both boiler and stove are modern pellet heating 

devices with electrical ignition and automatic pellet 

feeding from above. The 20 kW boiler has an integrated 

hot water preparation unit with water volume of 150 

liters. The maximum combustion power was set to 80% 

of the nominal power and combustion air supply and. The 

boiler has a cleaning routine during a stop phase in which 

the glowing pellet are blown with compressed air into the 

ash box and the stove has 1.5 cleaning routine at every 

1.5 hours of operation. 

2.3 Pellet 

Only a brand of soft wood pellet were used. 

However, two batch or order were made through all the 

measurements. The composition of the pellet fuel used in 

the measurements are listed in table I. 

Table I: Fuel composition of the pellet 


Element Unit Start-up Stop 

Carbon wt% dry 51.20 50.74 

Hydrogen wt% dry 42.00 42.52 

Oxygen wt% dry 6.30 6.23 

Nitrogen wt% dry 0.20 0.10 

Ash wt% dry 0.30 0.41 

Moisture wt% dry 8.20 6.80 

Lower heating 

value 

3 RESULTS 

MJ/kg 19.14 18.99 

The accumulated emissions measured during start-up 

and stop phase of the boiler and stove are presented in 

table II. The duration of the start-up phase and stop phase 

of the boiler are 5 minutes and 24 minutes. Comparing 

with the boiler, the stove has higher accumulated 

emissions during start-up with 12 minutes duration and 

lower emissions during stop phase with 25 minutes. 

Cleaning with compressed air during stop phases of the 

boiler caused glowing in the ash box resulting higher 

emissions for stop phase. 

Table II: Accumulated emissions of start-up and stop 

phase of 20 kW boiler and 12 kW stove 

Boiler* Stove 

Start-up Stop Start-up Stop 

CO (g) 0.72 8.99 1.05 6.78 

NO (g) 0.10 0.04 0.35 0.03 

TOC (g) 0.15 0.43 0.12 0.01 

PM 2.5 (g) 0.23 0.41 0.35 0.17 

Energy (MJ) 2.12 1.22 6.81 1.02 

* Win,. et al.[7] 

Emission concentrations during start-up, steady state and 

stop phases are compared in figure 2. Steady state 

emissions characterised per MJ combusted fuel are in 

general lower than start-up and stop emissions. CO 

emissions during steady state operation of the stove is 

higher than from the boiler due to the cleaning routine at 

every 1.5 hours occurred during long steady state periods. 

Figure 2: Average emission concentrations during startup, 

stationary periods and during stop periods 

Steady state emissions are lower than from start-up 

and stop periods, significantly in CO and TOC. Cleaning 

with compressed air during stop phases of the boiler 

caused the accumulation of uncombusted pellet in the ash 

box leading to glowing in the ash box resulting in higher 

stop emissions. The 1.5 hourly cleaning routine of the 

stove was taken into the steady state. Both the boiler and 

the stove has near zero TOC emissions during steady state.

Figure 3: Accumulated emissions from the boiler during 

first 12 hours operation in the realistic sequence. 

Figure 4: Accumulated emissions from the stove during 

first 12 hours operation in the realistic sequence. 

Accumulated total emissions during the six-days test 

are plotted together with CO emission to show operating 

cycles in figure 3 for the boiler and in figure 4 for the 

stove. The boiler had higher number of start-up and stop 

within the same time interval due to its higher nominal 

power and smaller heat storage. Sudden rises of CO and 

TOC emissions are shown during start-up and stop. 

The NO emissions emitted during the stop period was 

small in relation to the accumulated NO emission. 

Particles during start and stop periods are not as 

dominating as for CO and TOC although emissions peaks 

occur. The contribution of start-up and stop phases to 

total accumulated emissions are shown in figure 5. The 

start-up and stop phases contribute 39% of the total PM 

emission for the boiler and 23% of PM for the stove. The 

amount of start-up and stop emissions are dominating for 

CO and TOC emissions contributing by 95% and 89% 

respectively at the 20kW boiler and 82% and 89 % 

respectively at the 12 kW stove. 

Figure 5: Accumulated start-up and stop emissions 

during six days test 

Figure 6: Emission concentrations for whole six days 

test 

The calculated total emissions related to fuel 

consumption for the whole six days period are presented 

in figure 6 divided between emissions during start-up and 

stop periods and stationary operation. The 20 kW boiler 

has higher emissions contributed partly by the higher 

number of start-up and stop. Since the six-days should 

give representative condition of a full year operation of a 

domestic heating system, the average emissions 

concentration from the tests should give representative 

annual emissions factors for the heating devices. The 

average annual emissions factors for the boiler are CO 

(491 mg/MJ), NO (55 mg/MJ), TOC (54 mg/MJ) and 

PM2.5 (93 mg/MJ) and for the stove CO (159 mg/MJ), 

NO (54 mg/MJ), TOC (2 mg/MJ) and PM2.5 (39 

mg/MJ). 

4 CONCLUSIONS 

Substantial parts of CO and TOC emissions are 

contributed from start-up and stop while NO and particles 

dominate during stationary operation. Higher operating 

combustion power of the heating device in a domestic 

heating system can results higher number of start-up and 

stop and consequently higher annual emissions. 

5 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 


87

This work was performed within the project SWX-Energi 

financed by the European Union, Region Dalarna Region 

Gävleborg and Högskolan Dalarna. 

6 REFERENCES 

1. Bales, C., Combitest - A New Test Method for 

Thermal Stores Used in Solar Combisystems, in 

Department of Building Technology. 2004, 

Chalmers University of Technology: Göteborg, 

Sweden. 

2. Fiedler, F. and T. Persson, Carbon monoxide 

emissions of combined pellet and solar heating 

systems. Applied Energy, 2009. 86(2): p. 135- 

143. 

3. Good, J. and T. Nussbaumer, Emissionsfaktoren 

moderner pelletkessel unter typischen 

heizbedingungen. 2009, Hochschule Luzern – 

Technik & Architektur: Bern, Switzerland. 

4. Persson, T., Solar and Pellet Heating Systems : 

Reduced Electricity Usage in Single-family 

Houses ed. V.V.D. Müller. 2009, Saarbrücken, 

Germany: VDM Verlag Dr. Müller. 153. 

5. Persson, T., F. Fiedler, M. Rönnelid, and C. Bales. 

Increasing efficiency and decreasing COemissions 

for a combined solar and wood pellet 

heating system for single-family houses. in 

Pellets 2006 Conference.30 May - 1 June. 

2006. Jönköping, Sweden. 

6. Wester, L., Förbrännings- och rökgasreningsteknik, 

in Compedium to the course: "Förbrännings 

och rökgasreningsteknik". 2009, Mälardalens 

Högskola: Västerås, Sweden. 

7. Win, K.M., Paavilainen, Janne, Persson, T. Emissions 

Characterisation of residential pellet boilers 

during start-up and stop periods in 3 rd 

International Scientific Conference on “Energy 

systems with IT".16-17 March. 2010. 

Stockholm, Sweden. 


NEW INSIGHTS IN THE ASH MELTING BEHAVIOUR AND IMPROVEMENT OF BIOMASS ENERGY 

PELLETS USING FLOUR BOND 

J. van Soest, J. Renirie, S. Moelchand, M. Schouten, A. van der Meijden, J. Plijter 

Meneba B.V., www.meneba.com 

Brielselaan 115, 3081 AB Rotterdam, The Netherlands. 

Tel. +31 104238130, Fax. +31 104238299, J.vanSoest@meneba.com 

ABSTRACT: New insight was obtained in the effect of ash composition on the ash melting behavior. It was shown that 

there is a good correlation between the amount of calcium (Ca), silicon (Si) and potassium (K) contents of the ash and the 

ash melting temperature (Tmelt) of bio-energy products like wood, agro- and sludge pellets (n=164). Using PCA and 

linear regression analyses led to a good prediction of the Tmelt by using an easy to use formula: 

Ln [Tmelt] = 7,24 -0,33*Si-0,70*K+1,28*K*Ca (variance accounted for is 72%) 

The new formula gives much better predictions of ash Tmelt of wood pellets and other solid bio-energy or biofuel 

products than previous fits. As expected Ca plays an important positive role. K and Si sink the Tmelt. Other metals play a 

less dominant role, such as iron (Fe), aluminium (Al) and magnesium (Mg). The new insight was put into practice by 

showing that by adding FlourBond®, a pressing aid high in Ca, the Tmelt of wood pellet ash can be increased. It is 

envisaged that an elevated ash Tmelt reduces the risk of slagging of solid biofuels. 

Keywords: pellets, ash, biomass production, biomass characteristics, sintering 


Wood pellet combustion is nowadays known as a 

reliable and comfortable heating system. However, 

the pellets have to be of high quality to ensure stable 

and long-‐term usage of the heaters. The pellets have 

to be made according to strict quality criteria as put 

down in the Önorm or DIN+ or ENplus [1]. It is 

important to control the pellet properties such as 

water content, hardness, abrasion, fines, ash content 

and heating value. In particular ash melting behaviour 

can create problems in ovens such as corrosion, 

erosion and slagging [2-‐7]. 

Some of the pellet properties can be improved by 

using pressing aids, such as starch or rye meal. Pure 

starches can be very expensive and rye meal, corn 

grits or lower quality starches can result in high ash 

content and melting temperature and severe slagging 

beside resulting in worse processing and pellet 

abrasion properties. Therefore, development of a, for 

the pellet market dedicated, cheap multifunctional 

pressing aid has become of great importance. 

New insight has been obtained in the behavior of 

pressing aids in the production of wood pellets. On the 

basis of this a novel multifunctional pressing aid was 

developed with a high calcium content (FlourBond®)[8]. 

It was shown that free flowing properties were improved 

making the product easier to use in the pellet factory and 

control dosage level. The output of the pellet presses 

could be enhanced resulting in lower energy usage. The 

pellet properties were improved at lower contents than 

with currently used pressing aids such as most starches. 

The pressing aid is readily available and an excellent 

performing alternative for expensive starches. 

In this detailed study, the properties of ash from 

pellets produced in industrial conditions with various 

pressing aids were investigated. The study includes the 

effect of the new pressing aid with high calcium content 

on pellet ash properties. A broad range of pellets (n=35) 

were made on different industrial presses based on 

various wood resources (containing both soft and hard 

woods, see figure 1). The ash melting behavior and 

composition were studied and compared with data from 

literature on the ash composition and melting behavior of 

various pellets and other bio-energy products [9-20]. The 

total data set consisted of 164 products. 

Figure 1: Various pellets 

2 MATERIALS AND METHODS 

Various wood pellets (n=35) were made based on 

miscellaneous wood resources (soft, hard and mixed 

woods as well as fresh and waste woods). Pellets were 

made using various presses and pressing aids, including 

FlourBond. Ash (composition and melting behavior) was 

characterized according to the following DIN standards: 

v Water content DIN CEN/TS 14774-3: 2004-11 

v Ash content DIN CEN/TS 14775: 2004-11 

v Ash composition DIN 51729 part 1 & 11 (as Oxide) 

v Ash melting DIN CEN/TS 15370-1 

Other ash melting data were taken from literature [9- 

19]. A large data set was obtained of in total 164 

products. Beside wood pellets, the data set contains 

products consisting of woods, grasses, hay, straw, cereal 

based products, whole crop products, sludge, municipal 

and food processing waste products, and waste streams 

from chemical industry such as paper and textile. 

From the raw data the metal compositions were 

calculated expressed as % of the total ash and as mg/kg 

of the bio-energy products or wood pellet. The sintering 

(SST), softening (DT), hemispheric (HAT) and flowing 

(FT) temperatures were used to characterize the ash 

melting behavior. 

3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 


89

It is seen that the total data set, existing of 164 

products, have a broad range of differences in ash content 

and composition. The lowest ash values are found for soft 

wood consumer pellets (0,20-0,64%). Hard, mixed and 

waste wood pellets have ash contents between 0,8-2,5%. 

Miscellaneous non-pellets woods (such as chips, logs, 

saw dust, flour, bark) have been studied with ash contents 

in the range of 0,23-5,9%. Non-wood plant based 

products were studied with ash contents varying between 

0,8-14,7%. Waste stream or sludge products had ash 

contents of 3,5-46%. The main elements of wood based 

products are calcium, silicon, potassium and magnesium. 

Calcium contents range from 386 mg/kg for a soft wood 

pellet to 12990 mg/kg for a product consisting of mixed 

bark. The waste stream and sludge products are much 

more divers in composition then the wood or plant based 

products, having also significant differences in Al, Fe, Na 

and P contents. Typically sewage sludge products have 

high iron contents in the range of 10-20 g/kg. 

The sintering melting temperatures (SST) are found 

in the range of 578°C for rye straw to 1585°C for kenaf. 

One has to take into account, while interpreting the 

results, that the determination of ash melting 

temperatures can have a standard deviation of up to 50°C. 

As expected, the melting T of ash of soft wood consumer 

pellets are higher than of the less clean industry pellets. 

Typically low melting ash is obtained from grasses and 

cereal based products (non wood based plants). 

Figure 2: %Ca of total ash versus ash melting 

temperature of all products. Logarithmic fit is shown 

without ash consisting of mixed ash from waste and 

sewage sludge ash [10]. 

In figure 2 the ash melting T is shown as a function 

of %Ca of the total ash for the complete data set. It is 

known from literature that calcium plays an important 

role in the ash melting behavior. Authors [9,11,18,19] 

describe the increase of ash melting T by increasing the 

Ca content of incineration ash. However, it is clear that 

calcium content itself is not enough to predict ash melting 

temperatures of the products. In particular waste, sludge 

and non-wood plant based products show less correlation 

between T and %Ca of the ash. 

The ash melting temperature is correlated to all of 

wt% per element in the incineration ash (Ca, Mg, Fe, Si, 

Al, P, Na) for the complete data set studied (n=164). 

Clearly seen is that calcium is the most important element 

for affecting ash melting leading to an increase in ash 

melting T. Silicon and potassium are the 2nd and 3rd 

most important elements affecting ash melting by 

lowering the melting T. Fe and Al seem to have a limited 

effect while, within the data set studied. Na, P and Mg 


show hardly any significant effect. The results were 

confirmed with principle component analyses (PCA). 

Remarkable is that magnesium shows on average for this 

data set almost no negative influence on ash melting. In 

literature some authors have stressed the importance of 

magnesium in lowering ash melting T but others also 

have seen increased melting T. Of course, one has to take 

into account that probably also the interactions between 

the various elements play an important role. Mixed 

oxides will all have their different melting characteristics 

depending also on thermal-physical history of the ash. 

It is very likely that the total composition of the ash is 

of great importance for the ash melting behavior. 

Therefore, it is thought that the ratios of various elements 

are important. In figure 3 the most important example is 

given of ash melting T as function of a typical ratio of 

elements (Ca/[K+Si]). 

Figure 3: Ratio combined elements (mg/kg product) 

versus ash melting T of all products. 

It is seen that again, as expected, in particular 

calcium is having a positive influence on the effect of 

Mg, Si en K on the ash melting. The Ln-fit of the ratios 

Ca/K, Ca/Si en Ca/Mg show a reasonable correlation. 

The effect of calcium on sodium is less dominant. It is 

thought that calcium containing silicates have higher 

melting points than mixed Mg-K-Na silicates. The 

presence of Fe en Al probably gives a slight increase in 

the melting of mixed silicates compared to silicates, 

which have high Na and K content. Mg and P show no 

correlation with Si. Therefore, it is seen that the Ln of the 

ratio of the most dominant elements Ca/(K+Si) gives a 

good correlation with a R 2 of 0,65. The correlation with 

ratios without Si, K or Ca are worse or even bad. A slight 

improvement is found for ratios were Al or Fe are 

included as a positive effect and Na as a negative effect 

on the Tmelt. However, the improvements are small. 

Including Mg gives no significant improvement in the fit 

compared to the ratio Ca/(K+Si). The prediction using 

the Ln fit of the ratio Ca/(K+Si) is already good as well. 

Research was extended by using statistics (linear 

regression analyses) to gain more insight in the 

interactions between the elements. The main results are 

shown in figure 4 and 5.

Figure 4: Statistical analyses (linear regression) results. 

One could say that Ca, K, Si are indeed the most 

important elements (of the studied elements in this data 

set) for determining the ash melting T. Apparently, Mg 

plays less a role. In particular, the prediction of the ash 

melting T of the wood pellets is very good. Most outliers 

are from some non-wood plant based products such as 

kenaf and hemp or waste products. 

Figure 5: 3-D graphical representation of the model Ln 

Tmelt = 7,24 -0,33*Si-0,70*K+1,28*K*Ca. high T = 

right below (high Ca), low T = top left (high K). 

An extensive comparison of various literature fits 

(see figure 6 - more details of this study can be found in 

reference [20]), has been made, that have been taken 

from literature references [9,10,19]. It is obvious that the 

fits are reasonable for the limited data set used in the 

papers [9,10,19]. However, the fits do not give useful 

predictions for our more broad and larger data set. But 

they do not give a good, more universal applicable, 

prediction of the ash melting temperature. Some formulas 

make use of polynomial fits. This leads to large 

deviations of the predictions for products with large 

differences in ash compositions. The data set in the fit 

used to design the formulas was probably too small. 

Some formulas are already better but still there are large 

deviations and multiple outliers. According to most 

formula calcium and potassium are important as in 

agreement with our findings. The role of magnesium is 

also taken into some fits, while our findings show that 

magnesium plays not a dominant role. More important is 

the situation if silicon is left out of the equation. One 

formula takes into account silicon and calcium, but they 

do not take into account the effect of potassium. This is 

probably due to the fact that K is not a very dominant 

component in the incineration ash the authors studied. 

However, in lignocellulosics, such as wood pellets and 

plant based bio-energy products, this can be an important 

component of the ash. Probably a linear fit is also not the 

best option looking at the physical phenomenon it needs 

to describe. 

Figure 6: Comparison of formulas from literature and the 

new formula based on the Ca/(K+Si) ratio. Top: formula 

based on synthetic ash. Middle: fit based on 

lignocellulosics. Bottom: formulas based on waste-sludge 

ash. 

Figure 7: Influence addition FlourBond on pellet 

processing and properties. 

Pressing aids are used to obtain improved pellet 

processing and quality. A pressing aid can have effect on 

the ash melting. The effect of FlourBond , a pressing aid 

high in Ca, on soft wood pellets was studied, starting by 

comparing two properties, i.e. abrasion (%fines) and 


91

amperage of the pellet press. Experiments (see figure 7) 

using 1% FlourBond in comparison with pellets made 

without additive, 1% corn starch or FlourBond-IP (a new 

product), were performed by Holzforschung Wien at 

controlled conditions and show the positive effects of 

FlourBond on pellet processing and quality. 

The effect of FlourBond on the ash Tmelt of 

consumer softwood based pellets and mixed waste wood 

pellets is shown in figure 8. The Ca/K ratio was taken 

because the Si level was constant for the pellets because 

the two type of woods used originated from the same 

resources and were processed during one production run. 

The amount of FlourBond was between 0-5% and 0-3%, 

respectively for the soft wood and mixed waste wood 

pellets. FlourBond has a high level of calcium compared 

to other pressing aids. It is shown that by adding 

FlourBond the Tmelt is clearly increased. 

Figure 8: Influence addition FlourBond on ash melting 

temperature. 

4 CONCLUSIONS 

The Ca/(Si+K) ratio can be used to give a good 

prediction of the ash melting temperatures of all kind of 

bio-energy products such as wood pellets. Using PCA 

and linear regression analyses led to an even better 

prediction of the Tmelt by using an easy to use formula: 

Ln [Tmelt] = 7,24 -0,33*Si-0,70*K+1,28*K*Ca 

(variance accounted for is 72%). By using FlourBond as 

the pressing aid, the ash melting temperature can be 

increased due to an increase of the Ca/(Si+K) ratio. It is 

envisaged that as a result the change or risk of slagging 

can be diminished for pellets made with more difficult 

woods or other biomass resources. 

5 REFERENCES 


1. Englisch, European standards, quality and 

certification systems in Europe, 8. Pellets Industry 

Forum, 2008, Conference Book, pp 102 

2. Arvelakis et al., Biomass and Bioenergy 20 (2001) 

pp. 459 

3. Friedl, Wopienka, Haslinger, Schlackebildung in 

Pelletsfeuerungen, Beitrag zum Stuttgart 7. 

InterPellets, 9.-10. Oktober 2007 

4. Paulrud, Upgraded Biofuels - Effects of Quality on 

Processing, Handling Characteristics, Combustion 

and Ash melting, Unit of Biomass Technology and 

Chemistry, Umeå, Doctoral thesis, Swedish Univ. 

Agric. Sci. 

5. Ottmann, Verbrennung biogener Brennstoffe in 

stationären Wirbelschichtfeuerungen, Vollständiger 

Abdruck der von der Fakultät Wissenschaftszentrum 

Weihenstephan für Ernährung, Landnutzung und 

Umwelt der Technischen Universität München 

Dissertation. Technischen Universität München 

2007 

6. NEBrA – Nachhaltige Energieversorgung durch 

Biomasse aus regionalem Anbau, Vortrag 

Bloischdorf, 31.8.2007 H-B Rombrecht 

7. Thy et al., Prepr. Pap.-Am. Chem. Soc., Div. Fuel 

Chem. 2004, 49 (1), 89 

8. Meneba, Flour Bond erhốht ergiebigkeit von 

Holzpellets, Pellets Markt und Trends 2008, nr. 5 

9. Hartmann et al., 2000, Naturbelassene biogene 

Festbrennstoff, Bayerisches Landesanstalt f. 

Landtechnik (Germany) 

10. Kim et al., 2000, www.cheric.org 

11. Launhardt, 2002, Thesis Umweltrelevante Einflüsse 

bei der thermischen Nutzung fester Biomasse in 

Kleinanlagen Schadstoffemissionen, Aschequalität 

und Wirkungsgrad, Dept für Biogene Rohstoffe und 

Technologie der Landnutzung, Lehrstuhl für 

Landtechnik der Technischen Universität München 

12. Analyseergebnisse aller mốgliche Rohstoffe zur 

Pelletproduktion, BTU Cottbus, Lehrstuhl 

Kraftwerkstechnik, www.kwt.tu-cottbus.de 

13. Ragland, D.J. Aerts, Bioresource Technology 37 

(1991) pp. 61 

14. Lasselsberger, Österreichischer Biomassetag 2006, 

Lecture Monitoringprojekte Der Bundesländer NÖ 

& OÖ 

15. Huber, Frieß, 1997 München, Emissionen 

Bayerischer Biomassefeuerungen Ergebnisse einer 

Grundsatzuntersuchung 

16. Bakker, Elbersen, Managing ash content and -quality 

in herbaceous biomass: An analysis from plant to 

product, WUR, Institute Agrotechnology & Food 

Innovations-Biobased Products\ 

17. Anon. www.vt.tuwien.ac.at/Biobib/ 

18. Behr, Einflußfaktoren auf das 

Ascheschmelzverhalten bei der Verbrennung von 

Holzpellets, Holz-Energie-Zentrum Olsberg GmbH, 

Tagungsband Vorlage 7. Industrieforum Pellets 

2007 Stuttgart 

19. Lin, J. Air & Waste Managem. Assoc. 56, pp. 1743 

20. van Soest, et al., Increasing the ash melting 

temperature of wood pellets, World Sustainable 

Energy Days 2009, Pellet Conference Book, 

Wels/Upper Austria, 2009.

f ENERGY CROps, aGRICuLTuRaL REsIDuEs 

aND BY-pRODuCTs 


93

USE OF ASHES AS A FERTILIZER IN REED CANARY GRASS (PHALARIS ARUNDINACEA L.) GROWN AS AN ENERGY CROP FOR 


COMBUSTION 

Eva Lindvall 

Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of agricultural research for northern Sweden, 

901 83 UMEÅ, Sweden 

eva.lindvall@njv.slu.se 

ABSTRACT: Use of reed canary grass (RCG) as biofuel for combustion produces relative high amounts of ash. Deposition 

cost of ash negatively influences the economy of RCG production and is not very environmentally friendly. Therefore it 

is of importance that RCG ashes, pure or in mixtures, can be recycled to the RCG field as a part of the nutrient supply. 

Results from this field trail do not show any negative effects on crop or soil caused by the ash. 

Keywords: reed canary grass, ash, heavy metals 

INTRODUCTION 

Reed canary grass (RCG) has been considered as the 

most interesting perennial grass for energy purposes in 

Sweden. RCG is high yielding and the root system is very 

large which enables the plant to very efficiently absorb 

nutrients from the soil. Stands of perennial grasses can 

have a lifetime of more than 10 years and therefore 

require less cultivation and have lower requirement of 

pesticides (Wrobel et al, 2009, Kätterer & Andren, 1999). 

Some of the machinery required for grass cultivation is 

already available on many farms. Perennial grasses have 

lower nutrient requirements than annual bioenergy crops 

as some of the nutrients used of the shoots can be 

remobilized to the roots during autumn. 

One disadvantage when using RCG as biofuel for 

combustion is the relatively high ash content (Burvall & 

Hedman, 1994, Burvall, 1997). Deposition cost of ashes 

negatively influences the economy of RCG production 

and is not very environmentally friendly. Therefore it is 

of importance that RCG ashes, pure or in mixtures, can 

be recycled to the RCG field as a part of the nutrient 

supply. 

MATERIAL AND METHODS 

One concern when using ash and other waste products on 

agricultural land is the risk of enrichment of heavy metals 

in the circulation from soil to plant and ash. A field trial 

was established at SLUs field station in Umeå, Sweden in 

the spring 2002. Three different fertilizer treatments were 

applied. Treatment A was fertilized with an ash from 

combustion of RCG together with municipal wastes, 

treatment B an ash from RCG only and for treatment C 

was only commercial fertilizers used. The total amounts 

of nutrient each year applied in the trial were 100 kg ha -1 

N, 15 kg ha -1 P and 80 kg ha -1 K. The amount of ash in 

treatment A and B was calculated from the chemical 

analysis of the ashes to be equal to the required amount 

of P. The required amounts of N and K within these 

treatments were complemented by commercial fertilizers. 

The trial was harvested each spring from 2003 to 2009. 

RESULTS 

The dry matter yield showed large variation between 

years but no significant differences between treatments 

were detected. Samples of grass and soil have been 

analyzed for heavy metal content some of the years. No 

significant differences between the treatments were found 

in the grass. When comparing samples from 2004 and 

2009 the content was lower for most elements in 2009, 

only Zn showed a significant higher level. Soil samples 

were taken from 3 levels; 0-5 cm, 5-10 cm and 10-20 cm. 

In the uppermost level there are significant differences 

between treatments for Cd, Pb and Zn, with higher 

contents in treatment A. The differences between levels is 

mainly small, and compared to results from 2003 there 

seems to be no tendency to enrichment during this period 

of time. 

CONCLUSIONS 

We can conclude that the ash we used does not seem to 

cause any harm to the growth of RCG, content of 

undesired chemical elements in grass and soil and can be 

used as a complement to commercial fertilizers. 


This project was founded by The Swedish Energy 

Agency through Värmeforsk (Thermal Engineering 

Research Institute) and Bioenergigårdar i ett nytt 

landskap, a project administrated by Västerbotten County 

Administrative Board and financed by Kempestiftelserna 

among others. 

REFERENCES 

Burvall J, 1997. Influence of harvest time and soil type 

on fuel quality in reed canary grass (Phalaris arundinacea 

L). Biomass Bioenergy 12, 149-154. 

Burvall J. and Hedman B, 1994. Bränslekaraktärisering 

av rörflen - resultat från första och andra års vallar. 

Röbäcksdalen meddelar 5, 1-27. (in Swedish) 

Kätterer T. and Andren O, 1999. Growth dynamics of 

reed canarygrass (Phalaris arundinacea L.) and its 

allocation of biomass and nitrogen below ground in a 

field receiving daily irrigation and fertilisation. Nutrient 

Cycling in Agroecosystems 54, 21-29. 

Wrobel C., Coulman B.E. and Smith D.L. 2009. The 

potential use of reed canarygrass (Phalaris arundinacea 

L.) as a biofuel crop. Acta Agriculturae Scandinavica 

Section B-Soil and Plant Science 59, 1-18.

INTERCROPPING OF REED CANARY GRASS, PHALARIS ARUNDINACEA L., WITH LEGUMES CAN CUT 

COSTS FOR N-FERTILIZATION 

Cecilia Palmborg and Eva Lindvall 

Department of Agricultural Research for Northern Sweden, SLU 

90183 Umeå, Sweden 

ABSTRACT: In a field experiment close to Östersund in mid Sweden reed canary grass was intercropped with barley, 

Alsike clover, Trifolium hybridum L., red clover, T. pratense L., goats rue, Galega orientalis L. or a combination of red 

clover and goats rue. There were also three fertilization treatments: A: Recommended amounts of N, P and K. B: 

Recommended amounts of P and K and half amount of N. C: Sewage sludge application before sowing (establishment 

year) and recommended amounts of P and K and half amount of N. The biomass was lower where reed canary grass had 

been undersown in barley, and higher with full N-fertilization than with half N-fertilization. However there were no 

significant differences between legume intercrops with half N-fertilization and pure reed canary grass with full Nfertilization. 

Alsike clover was the most productive legume, followed by red clover. The amount of nitrogen fixed by the 

legumes was less with full N-fertilization (29 kg/ha as a mean) than with half N-fertilization (38 kg/ha). Intercropping 

with legumes could substitute half of the N in fertilization but similar experiments in other parts of Sweden has shown 

that there is a higher risk of weed problems. 

Keywords: autumn harvest, spring harvest, bioenergy crop, energy grass 


Cropping systems that will provide our future energy 

for society need to be sustainable in many ways. The 

system should use nutrients efficiently, the system should 

need a minimum of input of fossil fuels for machinery 

and transport and the system should bind at least as much 

carbon to the soil as is respired from the soil. Reed 

canary grass harvested in spring fulfills these criteria [1]. 

However, to make the cropping profitable without heavy 

subsidies, costs must be cut. This paper focus on the 

possibilities to cut fertilization costs by intercropping 

between reed canary grass and legumes and by 

fertilization with sewage sludge. 

The legumes take some of their need for nitrogen 

from nitrogen fixation by symbiotic bacteria in their root 

nodules. Some of this nitrogen then can be transferred to 

the accompanying grass via decomposing legume litter 

both above and below ground. Reed canary grass as an 

energy crop is always grown in monoculture. There have 

been few experiments with intercropping with legumes. 

The only experiment that has studied intercropping in a 

system with spring harvest a Lithuanian study by 

Jasinskas et. al [2]. In that study there was no Nfertilization 

in the intercrops and this favored the legumes 

that increased from year to year and the third year they 

comprised 28-56 % of the crop. In our experiment we do 

not take away all fertilizers in order to favor reed canary 

grass and keep legumes as a minor component or the 

sward. 

2 MATERIALS AND METHODS 

A field experiment was established in Ås close to 

Östersund in mid Sweden (latitude 63 o 14’ longitude 

14 o 34’) in july 2008. Reed canary grass was intercropped 

with Alsike clover, Trifolium hybridum L., red clover, T. 

pratense L., goats rue, Galega officinalis L. or a 

combination of red clover and goats rue. There are also 

monoculture reed canary plots established alone or 

undersown in barley that was harvested as a whole crop, 

a strategy to get an income from the crop the first year. 

There are also three fertilization treatments: A: 

Recommended amounts of N (40 kg/ha first year and 100 

kg/ha second year), P (20 kg/ha first year) and K (40 

kg/ha first year and 50 kg/ha second year). B: 

Recommended amounts of P and K and half amount of 

N. C: Sewage sludge application before sowing 

(establishment year) and recommended amounts of P and 

K and half amount of N. The experiment has a split-plot 

design with fertilization treatment on the main plots and 

species mixtures on the sub-plots (2.8 x 9 m), and it is 

randomized in four replicate blocks. 

In the end of August 2009, 50 x 50 cm plots, 50 cm 

from the edge of the big plots were harvested by hand 

cutting in autumn 2009. The biomass was sorted in each 

sown species and weeds and the dry weight of each 

fraction was determined. The sown species were milled 

and N% and the proportions of the stable isotope 15 N 

were analyzed on an ANCA-SL coupled to a Sercon 20- 

20 IRMS (Sercon, United Kingdom). The data were used 

to calculate the nitrogen fixation using both the 

difference method and the 15 N natural abundance method 

[3]. In October, larger plots (1.5 x 7.5 m) were harvested 

with a plot harvester. However, since this harvest was 

interrupted by snow, only 2/3 of the plots were harvested. 

The harvested material was put back on the plots and 

collected and weighed again in May 2010 to determine 

winter losses. 


95

Figure 1: Amount of biomass and botanical composition 

in August 2009 in small plots 50 x 50 cm. 

3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 

There were significant differences in legume biomass 

between the species mixtures (Figure 1). Alsike clover 

was the most productive sown legume, followed by red 

clover. Goats rue was a slow starter and it formed a low 

but healthy undergrowth. 

The nitrogen fixation as determined by the difference 

method varied very much between plots and differences 

between legumes were not significant. However there 

was significantly less N-fixation, 28 kg N/ha, with full Nfertilization 

compared to half N-fertilization, 39 kg N/ha. 

The low nitrogen fixation rate was probably due to strong 

competition from the very dense reed canary grass crop. 

It was not possible to use the 15 N natural abundance 

method to determine the N-fixation since the difference 

in 15 N natural abundance in reed canary grass and 

legumes was too small. 

The amount of reed canary grass was higher with the 

higher N-fertilization level (Figure 1). However the 

difference was not significant. There were no significant 

differences between the treatment with sewage sludge 

and the corresponding treatment without sludge. 

Establishment of reed canary grass undersown in 

barley did not work well. The harvest was less than half 

of the other species mixtures. Also there were more 

weeds in the barley treatment. The reason is probably that 

the barley was harvested with a stubble height of only 7 

cm in early September 2008 and the reed canary grass 

probably was not able to grow enough rhizomes before 

winter to get a good spring growth 2009. 

Both in October 2009 and in May 2010, the harvest 

of the larger plots showed the same pattern as the smaller 

plots, but due to the smaller variation there was 

significantly more biomass with full N-fertilization. The 

biomass harvest in spring was 64 % of the biomass 

harvest in autumn, and there were no significant 

differences in winter losses between treatments. 

Three similar experiments have also been established 


in other parts of Sweden. In two of these, there have been 

large problems with weeds: white clover in one site and 

couch grass in the other site. More information is given in 

a recent report [4]. 

4 ECONOMICS AND CONCLUSIONS 

An economic calculation showed that the 

establishment costs (the first two growing seasons) can 

be lowered by intercropping with red clover (Table 1). 

However it is also involves more risks, related to weeds, 

and cannot be recommended on fallow soil with a large 

seed bank of weeds. Weed management with glyphosate 

(Roundup) the year before sowing and Basagran SG 

when the legumes have three full leaves, is recommended 

in order to decrease the total competition of weeds. 

Table 1: Establishment costs for reed canary grass. To 

calculate the cost per MWh the establishment cost were 

spread over 10 harvesting years with 5000 kg biomass 

harvest/ ha and year and 4,2 MWh/ton field dry material. 

RCG + red clover RCG 

Half fertilization Full fertilization 

SEK/ha SEK/ha 

Seeds 1105 825 

Fertilizer 2000 4000 

Herbicides 500 250 

Other 300 300 

Plowing 1000 1000 

Harrowing 675 675 

Seeding 

Spreading 

200 200 

of fertilizer 

Application 

825 825 

of herbicide 300 300 

Sum 6905 8375 

Cost/MWh 32.9 39.9

5. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 

This project was founded by The Swedish Energy 

Agency through Värmeforsk (Thermal Engineering 

Research Institute). We thank Per-Erik Nemby and coworkers 

for skillful field work. 

6 References 

1. Wrobel, C., B.E. Coulman, and D.L. Smith, The 

potential use of reed canarygrass (Phalaris 

arundinacea L.) as a biofuel crop. Acta 

Agriculturae Scandinavica Section B-Soil and Plant 

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The investigation of growing and using of tall 

perennial grasses as energy crops. Biomass & 

Bioenergy, 2008. 32(11): p. 981-987. 

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agricultural systems. 2008, Australian Centre for 

International Agricultural Research: Canberra, 

Australien. p. 132-162. 

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odlingsåtgärder i rörflen för ökad lönsamhet. 

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Värmeforsk: Stockholm. p. 44. 


97


ORGANISATIONAL FRAMEWORKS FOR STRAW-BASED ENERGY SYSTEMS IN UKRAINE AND 

WESTERN EUROPE 

Y. Voytenko*, P. Peck 

*Department of Environmental Sciences and Policy, Central European University, Nádor u. 9, 1051 Budapest, Hungary, 

tel. + 36 1 327 3021; yuliya.voytenko@mespom.eu 

International Institute for Industrial Environmental Economics at Lund University, Tegnérsplatsen 4, 22100 Lund, Sweden, 

tel. +46 46 222 0200; fax: +46 46 222 0230; philip.peck@iiiee.lu.se 

Ukraine (UA) has large biomass potentials, and faces broad needs for energy security enhancement, agricultural sector 

revitalisation and environmental improvement. Cross case study analysis is applied to nine straw-fired installations in UA 

within a conceptual framework developed by the authors. The analysis yields three distinct straw-based frameworks for 

organisation and action including ‘small scale local heat production’, ‘small scale local straw production for fuel sale to 

municipality’, and ‘medium scale conversion and district heating’. Ukrainian case is then compared to countries with 

more advanced bioenergy sectors, i.e. Sweden (SE) and Denmark (DK). Individual business entrepreneurship qualities 

and knowledge are found crucial on small and medium scale. Straw use on large scale requires substantial and consistent 

support from the National government. Barriers to the expansion of bioenergy in UA include low access to technology 

and funding, lack of knowledge on bioenergy funding schemes, and bioenergy in general. The outcomes of the paper are 

transferable to various contexts on the condition that local specificities are taken into account. 

Keywords: bioenergy management, developing countries, logistics, non-technical barriers to bioenergy, straw 


This paper has its point of departure from the 

recognition of a number of parameters that have been 

found important for the transformation of local 

energy systems towards bioenergy. These include 

resources available (i.e. physical, human and 

organisational capital) [1], financial and technological 

resources [2], social capital [3], and strategies for the 

transformation of local energy systems [4-‐10]. The 

latter component (deliberate strategies) however, 

infers a need for “frameworks for organisation and 

action” that can support such transformation. Yet 

limited work is available in the area. 

Earlier research by the authors [11,12] 

highlighted four promising framework types for 

organisation of straw-‐based energy systems in 

selected Western European (WE) countries, i.e. 

Sweden (SE), Denmark (DK) and Spain (ES), and key 

factors that define and foster energy system 

transition. Each country has gone down its own 

transition path but when viewed collectively, they 

constitute a good ‘learning environment’ for other 

regions where straw-‐based systems are anticipated to 

emerge. That work [12] yielded four distinct types of 

agro-‐biomass based frameworks (ABFs) for 

organisation and action including ‘small scale local 

heat production’, ‘medium scale local heat provision 

with excess for sale’, ‘medium scale conversion and 

district heating (DH)’, and ‘large scale power or 

combined heat and power generation (CHP)’. 

This work focuses on Ukraine (UA), which has 

significant potential for all bioenergy options and crop 

residues in particular [13-‐17]. Bioenergy 

development is driven by an urgent need for energy 

security enhancement, reduction of dependence on 

fuel imports, rural diversification, job creation, 

bioenergy business opportunities and potential for 

environmental improvement [14,18]. A tangible 

policy support environment for bioenergy and real 

straw-‐based heating systems are both emerging in UA 

[18,19]. 

This work aims to compile and analyse ABFs that 

seek to transform energy systems to bioenergy. The 

objectives of the paper are the following: 

• to collect and describe existing practices of 

straw use for energy in UA; 

• to generate empirical conceptual ABFs that 

ensure commercial use of straw for energy; 

• to compare and contrast ABF types in UA 

and WE. 

The paper has the following structure. Section 2 

provides a background on bioenergy production, 

potentials, technology, and markets for crop residues for 

energy in UA as well as on support mechanisms for 

bioenergy development in the country. Section 3 outlines 

a methodological approach to the work. Results on ABFs 

for organisation and action in UA are presented and 

analysed in Section 4. Section 5 discusses straw-toenergy 

experiences in UA and compares them to those in 

WE. Section 5 concludes the paper and presents areas 

and implications for future research. 

2 BIOENERGY IN UKRAINE 

2.1 Bioenergy production 

Current energy production from biomass in UA is 

about 38 PJ (0.9 Mtoe) per year, which comes only in the

form of heat and constitutes 0.65% in UA’s total primary 

energy supply (TPES) [20]. UA utilises biomass mainly 

as firewood [21]. Wood pellet production is primarily 

export oriented [22,23]. Crop residues are burnt in 

converted and specifically designed boilers [20,24,25]. 

There exist up to 25 straw-fired boilers in rural areas in 

UA [26]. A few farms operate small-scale individual 

biogas units [20]. Among larger biogas installations a few 

pilot projects were carried out in 2004-2009 [27,28]. 

Today only a few large-scale plantations of energy crops 

(i.e. coppice crops and perennial grasses) exist in UA 

[23]. All of them have been introduced quite recently, 

and have not been harvested yet. There exist six first 

generation bioethanol production plants with a total 

capacity of 135 000 million tonnes per year [29] and 

eight big oil-extracting plants that produce rapeseed oil 

[24] in the country. 

2.2 Potentials for energy from biomass and straw 

Total technical potential of biomass and peat is 

estimated at 1062 PJ per year or 18.11% in the country’s 

TPES [14]. Annual potentials for agricultural residues 

and energy crops constitute the main share equalling 

739 PJ (or 69.5% in the country’s overall biomass 

potential). 

Straw has the highest potential among all agricultural 

residues - 175 PJ per year (or 16.5% of total biomass 

potential). Every year from 6-8 [13] to 10.2 [17] million 

tonnes of straw can be used for energy production in UA 

without putting other needs in straw under pressure. In 

addition, straw is also considered to be one of the easiest 

and the cheapest biomass options that can be developed 

in Ukrainian conditions [13,15,30]. For the farms with 

their own straw resources a straw-fired boiler payback is 

1-2 years while for those that purchase straw at USD 26- 

33 per tonne it is about 3 years [15]. 

Current total annual fuel consumption in all boiler 

houses in rural areas of UA constitutes about 84 PJ, 

which can be fully supplied with straw resources 

available in the country [31]. At present the main share of 

straw use for energy is performed in UTEM boilers [32], 

the total installed capacity of which is about 8.9 MW. 

Annual use of straw in these boilers is about 14 100 

tonnes (or 0.2 PJ) [33,16]. 

2.3 Technology for crop residue use for energy 

Straw combustion technology in UA is represented 

with a few companies that produce straw-fired boilers 

and their parts, heat generators and grain-drying units that 

use straw and/or other crop residues as a fuel. 

The biggest straw-fired boiler manufacturer and the 

only one that produces water-based straw-fired boilers 

with the capacity of up to 1 MW that can be used for the 

heating of premises is OJSC UTEM [26,32]. UTEM 

produces boilers under the license of Danish company 

Passat Energi A/S; it also provides design works, 

arranges heat works and service maintenance [32]. 

Currently up to 25 UTEM boilers are installed in 

different regions in UA [26], which in most cases 

produce heat for municipal buildings in the villages (i.e. 

schools, kindergartens, premises of village councils, 

cultural centres, multi-storeyed living houses, etc.) or/and 

for local agricultural enterprises. 

Scientific Engineering Centre (SEC) Biomass carries 

out research and development of straw-fired heat 

generators [34]. OJSC Bryg is one of the few companies 

that produce biomass-fired heat generators and grain- 

drying units on biomass [35]. Currently about 20 Bryg 

products are installed in the country [36]. There are also a 

few manufacturers of heat generators and boilers that 

work on a mixture of solid fuels [37-40]. 

2.4 Market potential for crop residues 

SEC Biomass estimated technical and commercial 

potential for biomass boilers and suggests that by 2015 

total thermal capacity of wood-, straw- and peat-fired 

boilers in UA can reach 9000 MW [21]. This would 

allow to reduce GHG emissions by 11 million tonnes per 

year and substitute 5.44 billion m 3 of natural gas 

annually. The total estimated investment cost is about 

USD 0.64 billion [21]. 

In October 2009 97% of briquettes from sunflower 

husk and 100% straw briquettes produced in UA were 

sold outside the country [41]. The main markets can be 

found in Poland with smaller amount sold in Germany, 

Czech Republic, Hungary and Lithuania. 

2.5 Support schemes and mechanisms 

Ukrainian government accepted a number of 

documents supporting bioenergy development in the 

country. The State Development Programme of Biofuel 

Production and Consumption is the framework policy. It 

aims to increase the share of biofuels in the national 

energy balance to 5-7% [42]. Other important laws in this 

area include the Law of UA On Amendments to Some 

Laws of Ukraine on Support of Biofuel Production and 

Consumption, which sets a target to increase the share of 

biofuel use to 20% in total fuel consumption in the 

country by 2020 [43]; the so called Law On Green 

Electricity Tariff, and a set of Laws On Minimisation of 

Financial Crisis Impact. The latter laws set specific 

economic support mechanisms. Bioenergy projects in UA 

can also be developed as joint implementation (JI) 

projects under Kyoto Protocol [44]. 

3 METHODOLOGY 

3.1 General approach 

This work presents results on straw use for energy in 

UA and compares them to similar experiences in SE and 

DK. A detailed analysis of nine initiatives (Table I) on 

straw for energy is applied to underpin the proposal of 

three types of ABFs for organisation and action in 

Ukrainian setting. ABFs are developed for each case, and 

then contrasted and compared in a cross-case analysis 

and a broader cross-country context. 

Coverage topics that have driven case study selection 

are given in Table II. 

Table I: Cases on straw use for energy in Ukraine 

Village (region, 

province) 

Strutynka, 

(Lypovetsk, 

Vinnytsya) 

Lebedyn, 

(Shpola, 

Cherkasy) 

Olgopil 

(Chechelnyk, 

Vinnytsya) 

Stavy, (Kagarlyk, 

Kyiv) 

Boiler 

size, kW 

Purpose Informants 

250 Heat for agro- Director of the 

enterprise 

“Rapsodiya” and a 

mill 

agro-enterprise 

250 Heat for agro- Leading energy 

enterprise 

“Lebedyn Seed 

Plant” 

expert 

300 Heat for the local 1st deputy head 

secondary school of local 

administration 

350 Heat for local Project 

secondary school coordinator 


99

Vyshnyuvate, 

(Rozivka, 

Zaporizzhya) 

Polkovnyche, 

(Stavyshche, 

Kyiv) 

Zlatoustivka, 

(Volnovakha, 

Donetsk) 

Drozdy (Bila 

Tserkva, Kyiv) 

Dyagova (Mena, 

Chernihiv) 


150 or 

350 

(project) 

and kindergarten 

Heat for local 

secondary school 

and (possibly) to 

local municipality 

600 Heat for trading 

company and agroenterprise 

“ROPA 

Ukraine” 

600 DH to municipal 

buildings in the 

village 

980 and 

150 

DH to municipal 

buildings in the 

village; for pigbreeding 

facility on 

the farm 

250 Heat for a grain 

dryer on the farm 

Project 

coordinator 

Director of the 

agro-enterprise 

Director of agroenterprise 

Deputy director 

of the agro- 

enterprise 

A farmer and a 

boiler operator 

3.2 Data collection 

This work involved both “desktop” and field research. 

Field studies were carried out in June 2009 – February 

2010, and involved 14 in-depth interviews with key actors 

within an agro-biomass production chain (Table I). Six 

interviews were conducted face-to-face and eight - over the 

telephone. This study also involved site visits to two grain 

producing farms with straw-fired installations, straw 

storages, baling equipment, premises with heating needs, 

etc. 

Interviews sought to reveal the main components of a 

conceptual framework to this study and answer the key 

overarching area of query framed as follows: 

“How did actors collect and combine the necessary 

resources in a new straw based business?” 

Table II: Coverage topics for case studies 

Coverage topic Comment 

Installation capacity One or two examples are examined in-depth for 

each straw-fired boiler capacity that is available 

in UA at present 

Purpose of 

installation 

Cases examined represent different ways of 

energy end-use (e.g. grain drying, local heating 

of industrial premises, DH of municipal 

buildings and dwelling houses) 

Boiler ownership Straw-fired boilers examined are owned by 

various actors i.e. agricultural enterprises, 

companies and municipalities 

Boiler manufacturer Initiatives described involve installations 

developed 

producers 

and manufactured by various 

Degree of the 

installation success 

Not only successful examples are included but 

also those facing constraints in their 

establishment or operation 

3.3 Conceptual framework 

Conceptual framework was developed by the authors 

in previous work [11,12]. It is based on theoretical 

considerations from neoinstitutional theory and studies 

on the legitimisation of new ventures 45,4,46,47, 

diffusion models that describe the variables critical to the 

rate of adoption of new ventures 4,7-9, studies on 

Technological Innovation Systems (TISs) 4,5,7-9, and 

work explaining the behaviour of actors 48-50. 

Four main categories in the conceptual framework 

include: 1) actors and their networks, 2) natural 

resources, 3) “hard” (technical) components, and 

4) “soft” (non-technical) components. They build the 

core of an ‘agro-biomass framework for organisation and 

action’. The frameworks are grouped according to the 

empirical examples of straw use for energy identified in 

UA (Section 4-1). These in turn are classified according 

to a number of industrial development stages suggested 

by Aldrich and Fiol [45] (Table IV). 

4 RESULTS AND ANALYSIS 

4.1 Agro-biomass frameworks for organisation and 

action 

Three distinct ABF types (Table III) were found in this 

study including: 

ABF 1: Small scale local heat production 

ABF 2: Small scale local straw production for fuel sale 

to municipality 

ABF 3: Medium scale conversion and DH 

Four principal categories, which were found 

important to group the variables describing each ABF 

type, include ‘general parameters’, ‘boiler 

characteristics’, ‘straw supply chain’ variables, and 

‘economy and reasons for transformation’. 

Aldrich and Fiol [45] identify four stages in the 

industry development (levels of analysis) – organisational, 

intraindustrial, interindustrial, and institutional. Ukrainian 

ABF types are analysed along these stages (Table IV). 

Discussion on comparison of Ukrainian and Western 

European realities [11,12] is presented in the Sub-sections 

4.2-4.4, 5.2. 

In comparison to WE two framework types are absent 

in UA namely ‘medium scale local heat provision with 

excess for sale’ and ‘large scale power or CHP generation’ 

[11,12]. Instead an additional ABF type is identified in UA 

– ‘small scale local straw production with fuel sale to 

municipality’. 

Organisations in case studies within this research 

include agricultural enterprises, village councils, village 

schools, funding bodies, bioenergy and renewable energy 

consultancies, local authorities, boiler manufacturers, etc. 

4.2 ABF 1: Small scale local straw production for local 

use for heat 

ABF 1 is represented with a privately owned small 

scale straw-fired installation (a water-based boiler or an 

air-based heat generator) located on a grain producing 

agricultural enterprise that also yields significant amounts 

of crop residues and has substantial heating needs. 

In all cases [51,52,60,64] the land is rented from 

private users (long-term leasing) since in UA land sale is 

prohibited by law. Most of the enterprises are not only 

involved in agricultural activities on the farm but also deal 

with industrial production and trading/service provision. 

Table III. Types of empirical agro-biomass frameworks 

for organisation and action in Ukraine 

Case study Strutynka (Sn), 

Lebedyn (L), 

Polkovnyche (P), 

Dyagova (Dg) 

Farm size 800-2000 ha 

16 000 ha (L) 

ABF 1 ABF 2 ABF 3 

I GENERAL PARAMETERS 

Olgopil (O), 

Stavy (St), 

Vyshnyuvate (V) 

Zlatoustivka (Z), 

Drozdy (D) 

6000 ha (O) 10 000 ha (Z) 

3250 ha (D) 

Energy type Heat Heat Heat 

Energy end 

use 

Heat network 

ownership 

Enterprise 

(premises, 

facilities) or farm 

(e.g. a grain 

dryer) heating 

Heating of a 

village school/ 

kindergarten 

Heating of 

village municipal 

buildings on a 

DH grid 

Private Municipal Municipal

II BOILER CHARACTERISTICS 

Capacity, kW 250-600

authorities, village schools and kindergartens, and third 

parties (e.g. consultancies). Hence there are more actors 

involved in ABF 2 as compared to ABF 1. They are also 

more diverse as they include not only buyers and sellers 

of straw feedstock but also researchers, consultants and 

other motivated enthusiasts. 

Currently ABF 2 is represented with up to 10 

examples of working UTEM boilers in different regions 

of UA [30,26]. The need to expand energy production 

from straw to supply village schools and other municipal 

buildings with heat is often mentioned by respondents 

[55,16,30]. 

In two cases within ABF 2 the initiative to install a 

straw-fired boiler emerged from third parties (consultants 

or potential consultants) [55,30]. Neither the owners of 

the installations (municipalities) nor the producers of 

straw feedstock (local agricultural companies) have 

become the prime movers to introduce a straw-fired 

system although they had demonstrated an overall 

support and engagement in the activities. Only in the case 

of Olgopil it was the municipality that catalysed the 

transition towards bioenergy. However, Vinnytsya 

province, where the boiler is located, is recognised to be 

an exampleous one in the sense of straw use for energy in 

UA [16,66,55], and has the biggest number of 

functioning straw-fired boilers (seven) [58]. Vinnytsya 

province also has a working state programme on the 

promotion of renewable energy sources, which is being 

implemented via straw-fired boiler installations [53]. 

In all cases straw handling and delivery is managed 

and organized either by feedstock growers or a third party 

(e.g. consultancy). The intention to put this responsibility 

on a school director in the case of Stavy did not bring any 

successful results but constrained the project 

implementation instead [16], which demonstrated a need 

for the correct assignation of responsibilities between the 

actors in the system. 

The case of Vyshnyuvate, which has not been 

implemented yet, faced numerous institutional constraints 

primarily caused by the constraining behaviour of market 

incumbents represented with the lobby of coal industry 

[55]. Also the lack of transparent vertical governmental 

influence (from top to bottom) was noted as a barrier for 

the project implementation [55]. 

The reasons for a transition to straw use were of 

economic nature and also of a desire to increase the 

energy self-sufficiency in remote areas and provide 

continuous heat supply to village educational institutions. 

Since there are not so many working installations of 

ABF 2 in UA, the demonstration character of the projects 

has contributed to the justification of the reasons for their 

implementation. 

This ABF type is identified only for Ukrainian setting 

and has not been encountered in WE. 

4.4 ABF 3: Medium scale local straw production for heat 

sale 

ABF 3 cases involve private agricultural enterprises 

that produce heat from their own straw resources 

combusted in their own boilers, and sell it to a DH network 

in the village. Heat is supplied to local municipal buildings 

and dwelling houses that are connected to the grid, which 

is owned by local municipality [63,61]. 

Straw supply is completely organised by the boiler 

owners, and they burn only straw produced on their farms 

[63,61]. Mainly wheat straw is used. Ash from straw 


combustion is then spread on the fields of the farms as a 

natural fertiliser. 

In Drozdy the boiler was produced by Danish company 

Passat Energi A/S and installed with technical and 

financial assistance of Danish partners [63] (Fig. 1). The 

boiler in Zlatoustivka was manufactured by UTEM and 

purchased at the company’s own expense [61]. 

Figure 1: Straw-fired boiler (980 kW), Drozdy village, 

Kyiv province, Ukraine 

This ABF type represents intraindustrial level of 

analysis with a slightly bigger number and types of actors 

involved in the system as compared to ABF 2. 

Stakeholders include agricultural enterprises, 

municipalities, village councils, local secondary schools, 

kindergartens, community centres, hotels, dwelling 

houses, consultancies, project partners and executing 

bodies, etc. 

The system has medium degree of complexity and 

formalisation. Written contracts exist between heat 

producers (agricultural enterprises) and heat users (local 

municipalities). 

The installation of a straw-fired boiler for the 

provision of DH in villages was done in the substitution 

of existing installations fired with natural gas [63] or coal 

[61]. An important prerequisite for the success of the 

projects was the existence of quite broad heat distribution 

networks in place, where no significant technological 

changes and investments were required. The best proof of 

that a boiler has been a successful enterprise is the 

installation of an additional small (150 kW) straw-fired 

boiler by the managers of the agricultural company in 

Drozdy for their own needs on the farm a few years later 

[63]. 

The owners of both installations are satisfied with 

their operation, and the boilers can be considered a 

success as they brought a number of economic, social and 

environmental co-benefits to the villages. First of all, the 

dependence of the village DH system on natural gas or 

coal was eliminated due to the fuel substitution with 

locally sourced straw. This enhanced local energy 

security and also resulted in cost savings from fuel 

purchase for the municipality, which buys heat at lower 

tariffs from the agricultural enterprises [63,61]. Besides, 

the enterprises created an additional source of their 

incomes by valorising their agricultural waste and selling 

the heat from straw combustion. Second, in social area

some optimisation in local employment was achieved and 

a few seasonal work places were created [63,61]. Third, 

the installations brought climate co-benefits due to GHG 

emission reduction from fuel substitution [34,63]. 

The reasons for a transition towards straw use for 

energy were of economic and environmental origin. Boiler 

managers [63,61] were interested to substitute expensive 

imported fuel with locally sourced biomass, and also 

improve environmental conditions in the village. In the 

case of Drozdy the installation of a straw-fired boiler also 

had a demonstration purpose as it was the first straw-fired 

boiler installed in UA [34]. 

Comparing ABF 3 to Danish and Swedish 

experiences, it should be noted that “medium scale” is 

defined differently for Ukrainian and Western European 

context. In UA these are small installations up to 1 MW 

(Fig. 1) while in WE medium scale implies that the boiler 

has a capacity larger than 1 MW [11,12] and thus 

represents a more complicated technological system 

(Fig. 2) with automatic straw feed in and shredding. It is 

rather the nature and shape of organisational factors and 

forms that enables comparability and certain degree of 

analogy between the systems in UA and WE. 

The reasons for transformation in SE and DK were 

somewhat different from those in UA, and included 

political and legal support in addition to economic gains 

achieved with fuel substitution. In UA one of the key 

drivers for transformation towards bioenergy on different 

scales is the issue of energy security provision. 

Figure 2: Straw-fired boiler house (1 MW) and straw 

storage, Horreby, Denmark 

V DISCUSSION 

5.1 Straw-to-energy realities in Ukraine 

Examples of Ukrainian initiatives on energy 

production from straw clearly demonstrate that straw-toenergy 

markets and the whole sector are in their latent 

phase of development, and straw is not commercialised 

as an energy carrier in the country yet. Working strawfired 

installations do not exceed 1 MW. This is to certain 

extent linked to the fact that in UA there exist no 

technological production lines of straw-fired boilers or 

heat-generators larger than 1 MW. UTEM is the 

dominating straw-fired boiler manufacturer in the 

country. 

The majority of straw-fired installations in rural areas 

in UA do not supply hot water in addition to heat supply. 

This can be most likely explained by the scarcity of 

central water distribution networks and sewage systems 

in the villages. However, potentially all of the boilers 

could supply hot water. 

Neither of the functioning boilers in UA have air 

emission abatement equipment. According to the law, 

flue gas cleaning systems are not required to be installed 

in small combustion facilities. 

Almost in all cases straw bailers are owned by 

agricultural enterprises, who are feedstock growers and 

straw suppliers either to their own boilers or to the boilers 

owned and operated by local municipality. In two cases 

bailers are rented by the farmers from their neighbours, 

which demonstrates that there exist a practice of sharing 

machinery and equipment between the actors in a strawsupply 

chain. 

Farmers and agricultural enterprises that have 

installed straw-fired boilers in UA are quite well off. 

They can both allow to purchase a boiler and to own 

necessary machinery and equipment for straw handling. 

In the case of private boilers no permits were noted to 

be required for the boiler installation and operation. Also 

since these installations are privately owned, not much 

intrusion from the side of local authorities is observed. 

Written contracts are put in place when there are a few 

actors involved, and a need for straw-supply agreement 

exists. 

The role of actors and human factor is noted 

important in the transformation towards straw use for 

energy in UA. Many farm managers who own straw-fired 

installations have higher education and sometimes hold a 

PhD degree. Often a determining role for the success of 

the project can be attributed to its enthusiastic initiators 

and leaders (i.e. businessmen, researchers, consultants, 

school teachers, representatives of local municipalities, 

etc.). 

In most cases it is reported that no additional jobs 

directly linked to the boiler operation and maintenance 

were created. However, a positive co-benefit observed in 

all cases is that money is kept and is circulating within 

the local budget. In all cases in UA valorisation of wasted 

straw, crop residues and sometimes wood waste was 

achieved with the installation of straw-fired systems. 

All straw-fired owners and operators report to be 

satisfied with the work of installations and quite happy 

with their payback periods. 

A more smooth and easy transition pathway towards 

straw use for energy can be attributed to the existing DH 

networks and old tradition of biomass use for energy in 

rural areas in UA. On the other hand, the absence of 

transparent governmental influence and targeted support 

could be attributed to the factors hindering the success of 

straw-based energy systems in the country. 

5.2 Comparison of straw use for energy in Ukraine and 

Western Europe 

The analysis yields three different generic 

frameworks for organisation and action in UA, two of 

which (ABF 1 and ABF 3) have been encountered in 

Western European context while one (ABF 2) is rather 

specific for Ukrainian conditions. All ABFs share key 

components but differ in accordance with the nature of 

goals and energy end-use needs, ownership of the 

installations, number of actors involved, degrees of 

system complexity and formalisation. 

For all ABF types in UA sizes of farms are larger on 

average than in WE. In UA on small scale the main users 

are not only grain-dryers but also enterprises. Besides, 


103

there are no grain-drying installations that use waterbased 

boilers in UA. 

Straw bales in the majority of Ukrainian cases have 

an average weight of 300 kg (Fig. 3) while in Swedish 

and Danish systems these are standardised bales of 

500 kg each. However, this is also linked to the boiler 

scale in UA, which are smaller than those functioning on 

Swedish and Danish farms for all ABF types. Straw 

annual requirements are quite the same among countries, 

and depend on the boiler capacity. Straw storage is 

different for all cases, and there is no specific trend 

observed depending on the size or type of the installation. 

Both in UA and in WE, ash from straw combustion is 

mainly returned to the soil. 

In UA unlike WE no cooperative ownership of DH 

networks is encountered. For analogous installations in 

UA and WE investment costs are lower in UA while the 

payback periods are relatively the same (about 2-3 years 

for comparable systems below 1 MW). 

In UA energy security issue and a desire to achieve 

energy self-sufficiency in remote areas were observed to 

be some of the key driving forces for the transition 

towards straw. With increasing prices for natural gas 

imported from Russia [14] the trend towards the 

increased development of renewable energy alternatives 

is obvious in UA. Energy security can be forecasted to 

have a continuous influence and be a facilitating factor 

for the development of renewables and bioenergy in 

particular. However, it is not likely to bring groundbreaking 

changes in the existing energy system until 

market distortions in the form of cross-subsidised energy 

tariffs are removed in Ukrainian system [14], and when 

private users will be paying real price for conventional 

energy carriers. 

Figure 3: Field straw storage at agricultural enterprise 

LLC “DiM”, Drozdy village, Kyiv province, Ukraine 

Swedish and Danish examples of straw use for 

energy revealed that medium and large scale straw-fired 

installations often required political support in addition to 

purely economic reasons for transformation with targeted 

incentives in place [11,12]. This is the case for the large 

scale CHP plants in DK, and may be one of the reasons 

why in SE there are still no functioning large scale strawfired 

installations. As for the medium scale installations 

for neighbour and district heating, if privately owned 

(which is quite a spread practice in DK), they require 

significant private investments (in the range of EUR 0.5- 

2.3 million) both for the boiler installation and the DH 

network construction [67-70]. It can be assumed that 

these investments would be 2-3 times lower in Ukrainian 


reality, in case there were straw-fired boilers of domestic 

manufacture. However, financial constraints can still be 

quite significant taking into account the low purchasing 

capacity of Ukrainian agricultural producers. In this case 

feasible funding schemes will be required for the 

expansion of straw use for energy on medium scale. 

All straw-fired installations in UA are only 

generating heat, which can be explained by their small 

capacity. CHP plants on straw do not exist below 

10 MW, which can be demonstrated with Danish 

experiences [71]. With existing incentives on electricity 

generation from renewable sources (“feed in tariff” 

mechanism) electricity from straw could potentially 

become a pathway for residual straw utilisation in UA. 

However, this is not likely to occur until a more targeted 

governmental support of the activity is put in place like it 

happened in the case of DK [12]. 

From Ukrainian experiences it can be concluded that 

private ownership of a straw-fired installation is one of 

the important predetermining factors for the enterprise 

success. This is also noted by Ukrainian bioenergy 

experts 30. In UA in ABF 1 and 3, where the majority of 

successful cases on straw for energy can be found, 

private business interests of actors or agricultural 

companies played the key role for the transition. In the 

initiatives within ABF 2, where a straw-fired boiler is 

owned by local municipality, a wide range of problems 

were encountered. The problems were mainly linked to 

the commitment of actors, their interests and a desire to 

participate in a collective action. For example, the main 

difference between the project case in Vyshyuvate and 

the functioning case in Zlatoustivka was the fact that in 

Zlatoustivka a straw-fired boiler was owned by the 

agricultural enterprise and the DH provision was ensured 

by entrepreneurs among their business activities [61]. In 

the case of Vyshnyuvate the boiler was planned to be 

financed from the state budget and owned by local 

municipality, which did not show any commitment but 

rather opposed the idea. The opposition was mainly 

linked to the lobby interests of the decision-makers [55], 

who were interested to keep the functioning coal supply 

system in place. 

Described types of problems are likely to be 

encountered where local authorities and municipalities 

play a key role as decision-makers. However, in case the 

energy installations and distribution grids are privatised, 

the owners become the definitive stakeholders. 

Successful examples from WE [11,12] show that strawto-energy 

facilities are very rarely owned by 

municipalities. Hence the privatisation can become one 

of the pathways for a more smooth transition towards 

increased straw use for energy in UA. 

In Ukrainian conditions similar to Western European 

context all successful examples of transformation 

towards straw/bioenergy include a number of economic, 

environmental and social co-benefits leveraged between 

the actors in one way or another. 

5 CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE RESEARCH 

5.1 Conclusions 

Three types of ABFs are identified in Ukrainian 

context: 

• On organisational level – ABF 1: Small scale 

local straw production for local use for heat; 

• On intraindustrial level – ABF 2: Small scale

local straw production for fuel sale to 

municipality and ABF 3: Medium scale local 

straw production for heat sale. 

While ABF 1 and 3 were encountered in WE, ABF 2 

is specific for UA. 

Straw-to-energy is in the latent phase of system 

development in UA. All existing installations are below 

1 MW and there are no technology production lines for 

larger straw-fired boiler capacities. 

There is no significant political support of straw-toenergy 

activities in UA, which is a key prerequisite for 

large-scale straw use and is important on medium scale. 

Feasible funding schemes are desired to expand the 

scales of straw use for energy in the country. 

In UA currently only heat is produced from straw. 

Electricity generation could become one pathway since 

“feed-in tariff” is already in place. However, since 

electricity is only produced on large scale a targeted 

governmental support will be needed. 

Energy security is a driving force that is promising to 

have further influence on straw sector development in 

UA. However, cross-subsidised tariffs for energy need to 

be removed. 

Privatisation can be one of the pathways for a more 

smooth transition towards straw-to-energy in UA. 

5.2 Future research and implications 

Future research needs to be carried out to deliver a 

more detailed analysis on the constraints to bioenergy 

development in UA (i.e. technological and “know how”, 

financial, political barriers, etc.) with a consequent 

construction of recommended pathways for the sector 

development in the country. 

This work is a part of a full-time PhD research 

funded by Central European University, Budapest, 

Hungary, and conducted by the leading author under the 

supervision of the second author. 

The results of this paper are expected to be of direct 

use for policy makers, municipal leaders, business 

managers, researchers and other actors seeking for the 

transformation of local energy systems towards 

bioenergy. The outcomes of the paper are transferable to 

various contexts on the condition that local specificities 

are taken into account. 

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107


ORaL CONfERENCE pROGRaMME 25-27 MaY 

Presentations from the oral sessions can be downloaded at www.worldbioenergy.com. 

(Only open for conference delegates.)

CONfERENCE TuEsDaY 25 MaY 

09.00 OpENING pLENaRY sEssION 

Conference chairperson: Tomas Kåberger, Director General of the Swedish Energy Agency 

Opening speech, Eskil Erlandsson, Swedish minister of Agriculture and Forestry 

Bioenergy opportunities in developing countries, Miguel Trossero, FAO, Argentina 

price ceremony and presentation of the winner of World Bioenergy award, Kent Nyström, World Bioenergy Association 

speech by the winner of World Bioenergy award 

Bioenergy for the world - Global Energy assessment, Thomas B Johansson, University of Lund, Sweden 

Bioenergy outcompetes oil in sweden, showing that growth in a green economy is possible, Gustav Melin, Svebio, Sweden 

Tomas Kåberger Eskil Erlandsson Miguel Trossero Kent Nyström Thomas B Johansson 

Gustav Melin 

10.45 Coffee 

11.15 - 13.00 paRaLLEL CONfERENCEs 

Rawmaterial availability and 

forest residues – slash, 

policy – how to make it all 

a1 B1 C1 

D1 

market development 

stumps, small tree harvest 

happen 

Chair. lena Söderberg, Svebio Chair. rolf björheden, Forest research institute of Sweden Chair. Kjell Andersson, Svebio Chair. david Frykerås, Ageratec 

Current status and challenges 

in the global availiability of 

biomass 

Hubert Röder, Pöyry Management 

Consulting 

Forest biomass availability 

in EU 

Robert Prinz, Finish forest 

research institute 

Clean power from discarded 

rubber trees – Benefits for 

Europe and Africa 

Annika Billstein Andersson, Vattenfall 

Competition between power 

stations for biomass in 

Poland 

Magdalena Walker, 

National Research Institute 

From shrinking to expanding 

biomass in forests of the 

world 

Pekka Kauppi, University of Helsinki 

Introduction – What is the 

overall potential, and what 

technologies can we use? 

Rolf Björheden, The Forest Research 

Institute of Sweden 

Can slash and stumps be 

harvested without negative 

effects on the environment? 

Hillevi Eriksson, 

Swedish Forest Agency 

Bioenergy from mountain 

forests: Analysis of the 

woody biomass supply chain 

Clara Valente, 

Hedmark University College 

Cost-efficient small-sized 

energy wood harvesting 

method for young stands 

Kalle Kärhä, Metsäteho 

Harvest for energy or 

pulpwood in early thinnings 

Dan Bergström, Swedish 

University of Agricultural Sciences 

13.00 - 15.00 Lunch in Black & White restaurant in Lobby south and Exhibition 

15.00 - 18.00 sTuDY VIsITs aND sIDE EVENTs 

EU climate and renewable 

energy policy opens up new 

markets across Europe 

Jean-Marc Jossart, Aebiom 

The Renewable Energy 

Directive: A first step towards a 

sustainable bioenergy policy, or 

rather, another piece of red tape? 

Stefan Busse, 

University of Goettingen 

Biomass sustainability criteria: 

Case study in sustainability 

auditing for power generation 

Adrian Mason, Inspectorate 

International 

Barriers of implementing 

renewable energy and energy 

efficiency in northern periphery 

Jarmo Renvall, North Karelia 

University of Applied Sciences 

The Global Bioenergy 

Development Fund – A path 

forward for social justice in the 

mitigation of anthropogenic 

emission of greenhouse gases 

Alfred Wong, Arbokem Inc. 

Biofuels are evolving – 

new innovations 

Green-LPG an ideal 2nd 

generation vehicle fuel 

Christian Hulteberg, 

Biofuel-Solution 

Ammonia treatment of cellulose 

is a key technology on dramatic 

improvement of cellulase activity 

Masahiro Samejima, 

The University of Tokyo 

Biogas upgrading by 

temperature swing adsorption 

Tamara Mayer, Vienna University 

of Technology 

Infrastructure system of 

textile waste recycling in 

Japan 

Chie Yoshimura, JEPLAN.Co. 

Why heterogeneous catalysis 

will be central to renewable 

fuels 

Curtis Conner, Chalmers Technical 

University 


109

CONfERENCE WEDNEsDaY 26 MaY 


a2 

Chair. Andrew lang, SMArTimbers Chair. Christian rakos, proPellets Chair. Peter rechberger, Aebiom Chair. Tomas Kåberger, Swedish energy Agency 

The cost and management 

of moisture in the biomass 

to energy supply chain 

Ross Harding, Energy Launch 

Partners, USA 

Innovative technologies for 

long-distance biomass 

transports by rail 

Gerald Petschner, Innofreight 

Biomass pre-treatment by 

torrefaction – How to scale 

up the process 

Jaap Kiel, Energy Research Centre 

of the Netherlands 

Application development of 

bio-coke technology for 

Coppoloa furnace 

Tamio Ida, Kinki University 

The development of 

pyrolysis oil applications 

Dagmar Zwebe, BTG Bioliquids 

10.45 Coffee 


a3 

fuel preparation, production 

and logistics 

Large scale combustion and 

cofiring 


U.S. wood pellet production 

and global market outlook 

Thomas Meth, Intrinergy Inc. 

Temperature controlled 

pelletizing – A new dimension 

of process control 

Sylvia Larsson, Swedish University 

of Agricultural Sciences 

Emerging pellets markets – 

Country profiles from 

around the globe 

Jan Wintzell, Pöyry Management 

Consulting 

Development of pellet 

production in Russia 

Olga Rakitova, The National 

Bioenergy Union 

Best engineering, operating 

and maintenance practices for 

safety and health in the pellet industry 

Staffan Melin, Wood Pellet 

Association of Canada 

Bioenergy – an opportunity 

for farmers? 

Christina Huhtasaari, Swedish Board 

of Agriculture 

Frameworks for organisation 

of straw-based energy 

systems in Ukraine 

Yuliya Voytenko, Central 

European University 

Modelling impact of climate 

change on willow potential 

productivity in Poland 

Jerzy Korzyra, Institute of Soil 

Sciences and Plant Cultivation 

Round bale harvest of willow 

plantations in Quebec 

Frédèric Lavoie, 

Agriculture and Agri-Food 

Intercropping of reed canary 

grass, with legumes can cut 

costs for N-fertilization 

Cecilia Palmborg, Swedish University of 

Agricultural Sciences 

Ethanol from wheat straw – 

A reality in Denmark from 

November 2009 

Rene Juul Strandgaard, Inbicon 

Commercial scale BTL 

production on the verge of 

becoming reality – The CHOREN 

Beta-Plant and future developments 

Jochen Vogels, Choren 

Small to medium scale 

biodiesel production 

Ulf Johansson, Ageratec 

GoBiGas – Efficient transfer 

of biomass to biofuels 

Åsa Burman, Göteborg Energi 

Wood-biorefineries in 

Northern Sweden, the 

Domsjö example 

Clas Engström, 

Processum Biorefinery Initiative 

Chair. Kent nyström, wbA Chair. Pekka Kauppi, University of Helsinki Chair. Jean-Marc Jossart, Aebiom Chair. gustav Melin, Svebio 

Large percentage cofiring of 

coal with biomass and 100 % 

fuel switch from coal to biomass 

Wlodzimierz Blasiak, Nalco Mobotec and 

Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden 

Large scale cofiring by GDF- 

Suez in Belgium, Poland and 

the Netherlands 

Yves Ryckmans, Laborelec 

Results from a 120 MW unit 

in northern Sweden for high 

steam technology 

Marcus Bolhar-Nordenkampf, 

AE&E Group 

District heating in the US – 

It can be done! 

Michael Burns, Ever-Green Energy 

Ontario’s huge biomass 

resource – Our steps forward 

to large-scale bioenergy 

Stephen Roberts, Ontario Ministry of 

Northern Development Mines and Forests 

pellets – the new large energy Energy crops, agricultural resi- 

E1 f1 

commodity 

dues and by-products 

D2 

B2 

forest residues – slash, stumps, 

small tree harvest 

Procurement costs of slash 

and stumps in Sweden 

Dimitris Athanassiadis, Swedish 

University of Agricultural Sciences 

10 years with slash bundles 

– More efficiency and flexibility 

to forest energy logistics 

Marica Kilponen, John Deere Forestry 

Mediterranean slash; 

olive oil tree, the green oil 

Marcos Martin, Spanish Biomass 

Association, AVEBIOM 

Effects of harvesting 

techniques and storage 

methods on fuel quality of stumps 

Erik Anerud, Swedish University of 

Agricultural Sciences 

The future of the 

Chilean native forest 

Hans Grosse, Chilean Forest Institute 

(INFOR) 



C2 

policy – how to make it all 

happen 

Global standards on 

solid biofuels 

Lars Sjöberg, 

Swedish Standards Institute 

Biomass Florida - Why and 

how Florida makes 

biomass work 

Mary Ellen Hogan, Bryant Miller Olive 

Mind efficiency in 

policy making 

Tomas Kåberger, 

Swedish Energy Agency 

Policy innovation system for 

clean energy security 

Benard Mouk, African Center for 

Technology Studies 

Expect more from France – 

Current and future bioenergy 

development 

Jean-Hugues Pierson, 

Invest in France Agency 

D3 

Leading global examples of 

biofuels 

how to build a market for 

biofuels 

Darkness at noon? Scenarios 

for bioenergy success 

Petri Vasara, Pöyry Management 

Consulting 

Bioethanol for sustainable 

transport, the BEST method 

for market development 

Jonas Ericsson, City of Stockholm 

How to build a biofuel 

market in China 

Zhang Nan, SF-Bio-Industrial Bio-tech 

Co. Ltd. & Yang Liu, Commercial Bureau 

of Administrative Committee 

Southeast Asia – 

The Saudi Arabia of biofuels? 

Per Dahlen, Portelet Asia Pte., 

Singapore 

Brazilian sugarcane ethanol’s 

contribution to a more 

sustainable European 

transport mix 

Emmanuel Desplechin, UNICA

CONfERENCE ThuRsDaY 27 MaY 

09.00 paRaLLEL CONfERENCEs 

Improved energy efficiency, electri- pellets – the new large energy Energy crops, agricultural 

a4 E2 

f2 

city production and district heating 

commodity 

residues and by-products D4 

Chair. ross Harding, energy launch Partners Chair. niklas engström, neova Ab Chair. lennart ljungblom, bioenergy international Chair. Harry Stokes, gaia Association 

GHG-emissions and cost 

savings with district 

heating in Europe 

Peter Rechberger, Aebiom 

Business model ontology 

for heat entrepreneurship 

Helena Puhakka-Tarvainen, North 

Karelia University of Applied Science 

TopCycle – 55% electric 

efficiency from biofuel 

Leif R K Nilsson, Euroturbine 

The future of biomass - drying 

from classical drying to 

torrefaction 

Ulf Bojner, AB Torkapparater 

Advanced Bio CFB 

technology for large-scale 

power generation of biomass 

Timo Jäntti, Foster Wheeler Global 

Power 

Profitable small scale power 

generation from waste heat 

and steam 

Ingemar Olson, Opcon Energy 

Systems 

11.00 Coffee 

Australian plantation 

forestry and wood-biofuel 

pellets: Examining the role of 

management investment schemes 

Philip Peck, Lund University, Sweden 

The EN plus certificate – 

Striving for uniform pellet 

qualities in Europe 

Christian Rakos, ProPellets 

The residential market 

versus the export of industrial 

wood pellets in the mid and 

long term 

Leroy Reitsma, Pinnacle Pellets Inc. 

Influencing factors on 

the wood pellet price 

development on selective 

European markets 

Christiane Hennig, German 

Biomass Research Centre 

New insights in ash 

melting properties 

Jeroen van Soest, Meneba 

Torrefaction for biomass 

refinement 

Anders Nordin, Umeå University 

Showing how to create 

wealth from Jatropha 

Curcas 

Ohene Kwadwo Akoto, 

Jatropha Africa 

Effects of spacing in the 

proprieties of the wood 

and charcoal of eucalyptus 

clones from energetic forests 

Laércio Couto, Federal 

University of Viçosa (UFV) 

Ethanol from tropical 

sugar beet; an exciting 

new feedstock for Latin America, 

Asia and Africa 

Jan Örhvall, ANDITEC LTDA and 

Chematur Engineering 

Future vehicle fuel supply 

for agriculture – 

case study Sweden 

Andras Baky, JTI 

Biomethanation of solid 

biomass from agro-industries 

in India 

Dilip Ranade, Agharkar Research 

Institute, India 

Improve the productivity of 

agriculture and the 

sustainable development 

in Sub Saharan Africa 

Ralph Hanmbock Songo, ANCC 

Why biomass – 

and for what? 

Tone Knudsen, Bellona Europa 

Bioenergy and land use 

change – Impacts and 

mitigation options 

Andrea Egeskog, 

Chalmers Technical University 

How to verify the 

sustainability of biofuels? 

Sébastien Haye, Roundtable on 

Sustainable Biofuels 

Verified sustainable ethanol 

Emmi Jozsa, SEKAB 

Closing debate on the 

sustainability of biofuels. 

11.30 - 13.00 fINaL pLENaRY sEssION: sYMphONY Of ThE RENEWaBLEs – a REVOLuTION 

Chairperson: Tomas Kåberger, Director General of the Swedish Energy Agency 

World Bioenergy 2010 will close with a panel of representatives from The International Renewable Energy 

Alliance (REN Alliance) discussing the future of renewable energy in a global perspective. 

The panel will summarise key aspects of the renewable revolution relevant to the technologies they represent and discuss 

collectively how the various technologies are working together and can increase collaboration to provide safe, reliable, secure 

and clean energy services throughout the world, highlighting examples and case studies. 

Panel: 

Jan-Olov Dahlenbäck, International Solar Energy Society 

Gregory Tracz, International Hydropower Association 

Horst Rüter, International Geothermal Association 

Kent Nyström, World Bioenergy Association 

Stefan Gsänger, World Wind Energy Association 



sustainability of biofuels 


111

Welcome back to 

WORLD 

BIOENERGY 

2012 29-31 May 

29-31 May 2012 

JÖNKÖPING, SWEDEN 

WWW.WORLDBIOENERGY.COM 

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WOuLD YOu LIKE 

MORE INfORMaTION? 

Contact us and we’ll be happy to tell you more. 

Svebio office, conference organiser 

Tel: +46 8 441 70 80, Fax: +46 8 441 70 89 

E-mail: worldbioenergy@svebio.se 

Jakob Hirsmark, exhibition manager 

Tel: +46 36 15 22 14, Fax: +46 36 16 46 92 

Box 6066. SE-550 06 Jönköping, Sweden 

Tel +46 36-15 20 00. Fax +46 36-16 46 92 

Internet: www.elmia.se 

E-mail: jakob.hirsmark@elmia.se 

Torsgatan 12. SE-111 23 Stockholm, Sweden 

Tel +46 8-441 70 80. Fax +46 8-441 70 89 

Internet: www.svebio.se 

Cover photo: Ugur Evirgen [istockphoto].

Proceedings World Bioenergy 2010

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