Integrated harvesting of energy wood and pulpwood in first thinnings using the two-pile cutting method

Published Date
Biomass and Bioenergy
August 2011, Vol.35(8):3397–3403, doi:10.1016/j.biombioe.2010.10.029

PROCEEDINGS OF A WORKSHOP OF IEA BIOENERGY TASK 31 ON ‘SUSTAINABLE FORESTRY SYSTEMS FOR BIOENERGY: INTEGRATION, INNOVATION AND INFORMATION’

• Author 

• Kalle Kärhä ^,

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

Received 30 September 2009. Revised 12 October 2010. Accepted 18 October 2010. Available online 20 November 2010. 

Abstract

In order to increase the harvesting volumes of energy wood and pulpwood from first thinnings, harvesting costs have to be reduced significantly. Metsäteho Oy studied the integrated harvesting of pulpwood and energy wood based on a two-pile method, where industrial roundwood (pulpwood) and energy wood fractions are stacked into two separate piles when cutting a first-thinning stand. The productivity and cost levels of the integrated, two-pile cutting method were determined, and the harvesting costs of the two-pile method were compared with those of conventional separate wood harvesting methods.

In the time studies, when the size of removal was 50 dm³, the productivity in conventional whole-tree cutting was 6% higher than in integrated cutting. With a stem size of 100 dm³, the productivity of whole-tree cutting was 7% higher than in integrated cutting. The results indicated, however, that integrated harvesting based on the two-pile cutting method enables harvesting costs to be decreased to below the current cost level of separate pulpwood harvesting in first-thinning stands. The greatest cost-saving potential lies in small-sized (d_1.3 = 7–11 cm) first thinnings. The costs of forest haulage after integrated pulpwood and energy wood cutting were higher than those of separate wood harvesting because of lower removals in integrated harvesting. The results showed that when integrated wood harvesting is based on the two-pile cutting method, the removals of both energy wood and pulpwood should be more than 20–25 m³ ha⁻¹ at the integrated harvesting sites in order to achieve economically viable integrated procurement.

Keywords

Integrated procurement

Energy wood

Pulpwood

Early thinnings

Harvesting

Costs

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