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Availability of solid by-products from wood harvesting and mechanical wood processing was estimated as sources for energy production based on recent actual harvesting, sawmill, and plywood production in Northwest Russia at 30 million m3. Nearly 70% of the energy wood, 20 million m3, was from harvesting, consisting of non-industrial round wood, unused branches and tops, defective wood resulting from logging, and spruce stumps removed after final felling. Over 30%, 10 million m3, of the available volume was from sawmills and plywood mills, i.e. wood chips, sawdust, and bark. Due to current low utilization of energy wood for bioenergy in Northwest Russia, delivery cost of energy wood to the potential border-crossing points in Finland was analyzed for three means of transport: railways, roadways, and waterways. Nearly 28 million m3of the energy wood could be transported by railways and 2 million m3by roadways and waterways. The costs were lowest by roadways from the nearby border areas (10–15 €/m3for wood processing by-products and 16–22 €/m3for forest chips). The costs by railways varied from 12 to 27 €/m3on shorter distances to 47–58 €/m3on longer distances. Waterway transportation was the most expensive, about 28–48 €/m3. It should be emphasized that we have estimated availability and delivery costs of energy wood, not prices which are defined by the market based on supply and demand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The energy wood procurement possibilities for the eight regions making up Northwest Russia were assessed. Wood byproducts from logging and mechanical wood processing were considered for energy production based on actual cut, sawmill and plywood production figures for 2006. Of the total calculated potential of 31 million solid m3 (62 TWh), nearly 70% (21.8 million m3) is from logging. The remainder (9 million m3) is from sawmill and plywood production. The approximate available energy wood by region would be: 2.3 million m3 from the Republic of Karelia, 2.7 million m3 from the Republic of Komi, 5.4 million m3 from Arkhangelsk, 4.6 million m3 from Vologda, 3.8 million m3 from Leningrad, 2.0 million m3 from Novgorod, 0.8 million m3 from Pskov, and 41,000 m3 from the Murmansk region. There are large differences in the potentials between and within the regions. This is due to the differences in their forest resources; differences in their utilisation of these resources; the available infrastructures; and some limitations on logging. Nearly 65% of all the potential energy wood from logging is non-industrial roundwood, 19% is spruce stumps removed after final felling, 8% is unused branches and tops, and 8% is defective wood resulting from logging. About 58% of the total potential energy wood from logging is coniferous. However, there are large differences between the regions and within the regions in the species proportions. Currently about 40% of the allowable cut is used. This means that it would be possible to intensify the utilisation of the forest resources and thereby also to increase the use of wood for energy production. Full implementation of the allowable cut could provide 73.5 million m3 of energy wood (147 TWh). In addition, if the technical potential for thinnings is utilised, the total potential energy wood provided by logging, and mechanical wood processing could be 104 million m3 (208 TWh). [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Methodology to assess the potential for energy wood procurement in Russia is described in this article and applied to the Leningrad region. Wood from thinnings, logging residues, non-industrial roundwood and residues from sawmilling are considered as sources for energy production. Energy wood available in the region, based on the 2004 actual cut, is approximately 4 million m3. Nearly 86% of this is non-industrial roundwood and felling residues, and 14% is by-products from sawmilling. Almost two-thirds of the non-industrial roundwood and felling residues are in cutting areas and one-third is in central processing yards. Deciduous tree species (birch and aspen) dominate in energy wood, representing about 65% of the total amount of felling residues and non-industrial wood. It is possible to intensify utilization of forest resources and thereby also to increase the use of wood in energy production. The total amount could be 54% higher if the allowable cut was fully utilized and 124% higher if thinnings were also utilized completely. There are, however, significant intraregional differences, as the current rate of utilization of forest resources varies in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]