Sustainable use of energy wood resources shows potential in North-West Russia

Sustainable use of the available energy wood resources in North-West Russia promises significant social and economic opportunities

2014-02-20

(Press-News.org) Nowadays, humanity faces many challenges; the most serious are poverty, the growing demand for resources and the deterioration of the environment. In order to satisfy the growing demand for wood, forestry in many countries has to be intensified. The forests of the Russian Federation are the world's largest reserve of wood for different purposes. Intensification of forestry in Russia will result in increasing availability of wood for material and energy uses.

A doctoral dissertation completed at the University of Eastern Finland analysed the potential of energy wood resources in the Leningrad region of Russia at regional and district levels. The study discovered significant potential for the intensification of energy wood supply in the Leningrad region of Russia. Maximisation of sustainable energy wood supply will create new working places and business opportunities. However, several challenges like low productivity of felling operations and technical accessibility of forests have to be solved to intensify energy wood supply in the regions.

The availability of energy wood depends on the actual volumes of annual fellings and is affected by technical, socio-economic and climatic issues. These factors were considered when three scenarios of wood availability were analysed to compare the efficiency of wood supply chains, to estimate employment effects of forest chip production and to analyse cost competitiveness of forest chips. The impact of climate change on the technical accessibility of forests and harvestable volumes of industrial and energy wood was also analysed. The availability scenarios were elaborated taking into account different intensity of forest management.

The "Recent" scenario reflects the potential of energy wood, taking into account the intensity of fellings and sawmilling as it was in 2004. The "Allowable" scenario shows the potential of energy wood assuming full utilisation of the annual allowable cut, based on current logging technology and increasing sawn timber production. The ''Potential'' scenario shows availability of energy wood resources in the case of intensified forest management, which means a significant increase in thinnings, full utilization of annual allowable cut based on cut-to-length technology and the increase of sawn timber production according to available sawlog output in the region (no export). The analysis showed that intensification of forestry in the region could significantly increase availability of energy wood. In the scenario Allowable, the availability of energy wood increased from 4.1 to 6.3 Mm3 (+54%) compared with the scenario Recent. In the scenario Potential, the total volume of available energy wood would be 9.2 Mm3 (+124% compared with scenario Recent). Comparable results were obtained at the district level, +50% and +83%, respectively.

The average productivity of operations in the Russian logging companies investigated was 20% to 30% lower than that in Finland. The reasons were the lack of experienced operators of forest machines and the bad quality of forest roads. Therefore, in the conditions of the study area forest chips were a relatively expensive fuel due to the high costs of felling and transport operations. Forest chips were 2-3 times more expensive than natural gas and coal but cheaper than heavy oil.

The employment effect from the utilisation of energy wood depended on the availability scenarios and the type of chipper used. The number of employment positions could be increased by 84% in the scenario Potential compared with the scenario Recent. It is important to mention that these working places could be created in rural areas, where unemployment is higher than in cities.

The study showed that climate change affects technical accessibility of forests in the study area and consequently economic sustainability of the logging companies. Each decade, the duration of the winter felling season will become 3-4 days shorter. Already by 2015, if proper measures such as construction of all season forest roads will not be undertaken, the potential losses of a typical large logging company could be about 360,000.00 euros/year due to the technical inability of entering forests.

The study area has large available volumes of energy wood but their utilisation is limited by technical and economic factors. The methodology proposed in this study could help logging companies and local authorities predict economic and social effects from the utilisation of energy wood.

INFORMATION: The results were originally published in Scandinavian Journal of Forest Research, Biomass and Bioenergy, Forest Policy and Economics, and International Journal of Forest Engineering.

For further information, please contact:

Vadim Goltsev, phone +358 400 761 310, e-mail: goltsev@student.uef.fi

Bibliographic information:

Goltsev, V. 2013. Estimation of potential production of energy wood in the Leningrad region of Russia. Dissertationes forestales 171. 65 p. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.14214/df.171

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

From a distance: New technique for repair work

2014-02-20

This news release is available in German. Numerous German companies are operating globally these days: They develop products domestically, but production is done in other countries like China, Brazil or the Czech Republic. If maintenance or repair work is needed, the engineers who had designed the complex production plants frequently have to travel from Germany. A novel approach by computer scientists in the research group of professor Thorsten Herfet from the Chair of Telecommunications at Saarland University could provide a solution: a platform that brings together ...

Researching Facebook business

2014-02-20

Establishing and maintaining relationships online is becoming ever more important in the expanding global knowledge economy. But what happens to the relationship between business and consumer when a user "unfriends"? Writing in the International Journal of the Business Environment, Christopher Sibona and Steven Walczak of The Business School, at the University of Colorado Denver, USA, have found that there are many online and offline reasons why a person might "unfriend" another party. The team has examined these factors and offer insights into how virtual business relationships ...

Gathering the clues to rare gene variants contributing to schizophrenia

2014-02-20

Philadelphia, PA, February 20, 2014 – Schizophrenia has long been known to be highly heritable and is present in approximately 1% of the population. Researchers have been following two paths in their pursuit of identifying schizophrenia risk genes. Initially, they studied common gene variants that, individually, only increase the risk for schizophrenia by a few percent, perhaps increasing the likelihood of developing schizophrenia from a 10 out of a 1000 chance to an 11 or 12 out of a 1000 chance. More recently, research has identified gene variants that are rare in ...

Spotlighting black chemists and chemical engineers (video)

2014-02-20

WASHINGTON, Feb. 20, 2014 — Their research may lead to a new generation of renewable fuels, medical devices and safer home products. The American Chemical Society (ACS) is continuing its celebration of Black History Month with a new video featuring several African-American chemists and chemical engineers doing cutting edge research today. The video is available at http://youtu.be/v0PmKbJNAQI. The video, produced with the National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers (NOBCChE), highlights the efforts of Kristala Prather, ...

High cost of fruits, vegetables linked to higher body fat in young children

2014-02-20

Washington, D.C.--High prices for fresh fruits and vegetables are associated with higher Body Mass Index (BMI) in young children in low- and middle-income households, according to American University researchers in the journal Pediatrics. "There is a small, but significant, association between the prices of fruit and vegetables and higher child BMI," said Taryn Morrissey, the study's lead author and assistant professor of public administration and policy at AU's School of Public Affairs (SPA). Morrissey said that when the prices of fruits and vegetables go up, families ...

Cell behavior in low oxygen conditions mapped

2014-02-20

LIVERPOOL, UK – 17 February 2014: Research at the University of Liverpool has explained how cells behave when placed in a low oxygen environment, a development that could have implications for cancer patients and other serious illnesses. The research opens up the possibility of controlling the signals that keep cells alive, preventing the damages caused by ischemia – a restriction of blood supply to tissues. It could also work to help destroy cancer cells. When the body is deprived of adequate oxygen supply it is known as hypoxia and can cause the death of cells. This ...

Astronomers find solar storms behave like supernovae

2014-02-20

Researchers at UCL have studied the behaviour of the Sun's coronal mass ejections, explaining for the first time the details of how these huge eruptions behave as they fall back onto the Sun's surface. In the process, they have discovered that coronal mass ejections have a surprising twin in the depths of space: the tendrils of gas in the Crab Nebula, which lie 6500 light-years away and are millions of times larger. On 7 June 2011, the biggest ejection of material ever observed erupted from the surface of the Sun. Over the days that followed, the plasma belched out ...

High potency statins linked to better outcome following a heart attack

2014-02-20

A study looking at the data of thousands of patients who suffered heart attacks has suggested treatment with high-potency statins offers a significantly improved chance of survival compared to those taking normal statins. The study, led by the University of Dundee, also found a combination of statins and the drug ezetimibe showed no improved survival rate, although researchers caution this finding needs further testing. "There is presently a lot of interest in ezetimibe as a potential treatment for heart patients," said Professor Chim Lang, from the Division of Cardiovascular ...

Mistaken point, Sanctuary of Zeus, catastrophic outburst floods, shocked sand grains

2014-02-20

Boulder, Colo., USA – GSA Bulletin postings for February cover the sculpting of Earth's surface as seen in the Pyrenees; facies architecture in Washington State, USA; atmospheric circulation recorded in the Permian Maroon Formation; preglacial fluvial gorges and valleys; banded iron formations; paleosols in Wapadsberg Pass, South Africa; Ediacaran fossils from Mistaken Point, Newfoundland; geologic forensics and sedimentary fingerprints; catastrophic outburst floods recorded in the Tibetan Plateau; the Sudbury impact structure, Canada; and observations at the Sanctuary ...

Aging men: More uplifts, fewer hassles until the age of 65-70

2014-02-20

CORVALLIS, Ore. – A new study of how men approach their golden years found that how happy individuals are remains relatively stable for some 80 percent of the population, but perceptions of unhappiness – or dealing with "hassles" – tends to get worse once you are about 65-70 years old. The reasons vary, researchers say, but may be because of health issues, cognitive decline or the loss of a spouse or friends. "In general, life gets better as you age in the sense that older adults on average have fewer hassles – and respond to them better – than younger adults," said ...

Sustainable use of energy wood resources shows potential in North-West Russia

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES: