Comparison of two harvesting systems for the production of forest biomass from the thinning of Picea abies plantations

Raffaele Spinelli; Natascia Magagnotti

doi:10.1080/02827580903505194

Back

Comparison of two harvesting systems for the production of forest biomass from the thinning of Picea abies plantations

Journal article

Peer reviewed

Comparison of two harvesting systems for the production of forest biomass from the thinning of Picea abies plantations

Raffaele Spinelli and Natascia Magagnotti

Scandinavian Journal of Forest Research, Vol.25(1), pp.69-77

2010

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/02827580903505194

Files and links (1)

url

https://doi.org/10.1080/02827580903505194View

Published Version

Abstract

alps

biomass

harvester

thinning

time study

value recovery

This study compares two principally different harvesting systems used for the thinning of Norway spruce [Picea abies (L.) Karst.] plantations in the Alps. The first system was whole-tree harvesting (WTH), producing only whole-tree chips for energy purposes. This system minimizes the production costs by simplifying the harvesting process. The other system was cut-to-length (CTL) mechanical harvesting with an excavator-based harvester. This system maximizes value recovery by producing both short sawlogs and quality fuel chips. Trials were conducted on two similar sites in the Dolomites, in northern Italy, and demonstrated that the CTL system resulted in slightly higher harvesting costs, and also higher revenue. The price differences between the different products determine which system offers the best economic results. If the delivered price of sawlogs does not exceed â‚¬25 t-1, WTH and CTL harvesting offer very similar economic performances, and become profitable only if the delivered price of raw chip wood exceeds â‚¬40t-1. If the delivered price of sawlogs increases to â‚¬50t-1, the mechanized CTL system always becomes preferable, and it will turn some profits when the price of raw biomass exceeds â‚¬35t-1. The CTL system is less sensitive to long extraction and transport distances than the WTH system. © 2010 Taylor & Francis.

Details

Title: Comparison of two harvesting systems for the production of forest biomass from the thinning of Picea abies plantations
Authors: Raffaele Spinelli (Author) - CNR IVALSA, Italy
Natascia Magagnotti (Author) - CNR IVALSA, Italy
Publication details: Scandinavian Journal of Forest Research, Vol.25(1), pp.69-77
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Scandinavia
Date published: 2010
DOI: 10.1080/02827580903505194
ISSN: 0282-7581
Organisation Unit: University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; Forest Industries Research Centre; Forest Research Institute
Language: English
Record Identifier: 99449027702621
Output Type: Journal article

Metrics

472 Record Views

70 Times Cited - Web of Science

InCites Highlights

These are selected metrics from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool, related to this output

Web Of Science research areas: Forestry

UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

This output has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:

Source: InCites