Schedule for Reducing the Use of Peat and the Possibilities of Replacing It with Forest Chips in Energy Production in Finland

Between 2018 and 2020, an average of 15 TWh of energy peat was consumed in Finland. Energy peat is used in 260 boilers in Finland, which produce district heat and heat and steam for industry, as well as electricity as cogeneration (CHP) in connection with district heating and industrial heat production. Peat accounts for 3% - 5% of the energy sources used in Finland, but its importance has been greater in terms of security of supply. With current use in accordance with the 2018-2020 average, the emissions from peat are almost 6 Mt CO2 per year in Finland, which is 15% of emissions from the energy sector. In this study, the technical limitations related to peat burning, economic limitations related to the availability of biomass, and socio-economic limitations related to the regional economy are reviewed. By 2040, the technical minimum use of peat will fall to 2 TWh. The techno-economical potential may be even lower, but due to socio-economic objectives, peat production will not be completely ceased. The reduction in the minimum share assumes that old peat boilers are replaced with new biomass boilers or are alternatively replaced by other forms of heat production. Based on the biomass reserves, the current use of peat can be completely replaced by forest chips, but regional challenges may occur along the coast and in southern Finland. It is unlikely that the current demand for all peat will be fully replaced by biomass when part of CHP production is replaced by heat production alone and combustion with waste heat sources.

The Role of Bioenergy in Achieving the Carbon Neutrality Target in Finland by 2035—A Case Study of Student Surveyed at University in Finland

The largest share of renewable energy in Finland comes from bioenergy. In 2019, bioenergy accounted for 82% (416 PJ, 116 TWh) of renewable energy in Finland. This study assesses the potential for increasing bioenergy in energy production by 2035 and what role it will play in achieving the carbon neutrality target in Finland. The role of different energy sources in the energy system was examined using existing scenarios developed for The National Long-Term Strategy. Two alternative low-emission scenarios have been developed to last until 2050 to meet the 2035 carbon neutrality target. In 2035, the amount of bioenergy has risen to 520 - 550 PJ (144 - 153 TWh), which is about 70% of renewable energy consumption. This means, that the bioenergy resource has been fully deployed and the relative share of bioenergy in renewables has decreased slightly. The study also included a survey to university students to map out how likely a carbon neutrality target is to be considered by 2035. University students were unsure of achieving the carbon neutrality target by 2035. The schedule was considered challenging especially in the transport sector. Bioenergy was also seen as still playing an important role, especially in heat production. Achieving significant emission reductions will require significant electrification in all energy use sectors, as fossil fuels cannot be sustainably replaced by bioenergy on a sufficiently large scale.

Hydraulically Powered Wood Chip Blower in Test and Its Use Opportunity in Biofuel Supply Chain

Most forest chips are delivered to large-sized, combined heat and power plants in Finland. In this study, we introduce and demonstrate the small-scale delivery of forest wood chips to potential clients, with the wood chips being delivered in a container truck and pneumatically blown into a storage facility. This arrangement of wood chips being blown through a pipe into a storage eliminates the ground handling while requiring a relatively small space. In the demonstration tests, we tested the volumetric flow of biomass in the hose and its noise level while the blower was blowing the material and the flow speed of the material in the hose. This study discusses the test conditions in which the compatibility and suitability of the truck and its hydraulic system were used in conventional chip delivery in Finland and the selected blower type was investigated. According to the results, the biomass volume flow was higher (~0.46 m3/min) when the blower revolution was lower (2392 - 2566 RPM). However, when the RPM was increased to ~3000, the volumetric flow decreased to ~0.24 m3/min. Similarly, the speed of the chips was higher with a lower RPM;29.9 m/s at an RPM of 2400 and 25 m/s at an RPM of 2700. This is potentially due to both the blower and screw conveyer using the same power source. Additional optimization research would be needed to conclusively state the root cause of this phenomenon. On the other hand, chips from pruned stems had better flow than the chips from whole trees, since chips from whole tree have a wider range of chips sizes, including 1.3% of chips being in the range of 31.5 - 40 mm. The larger chips clogged the hose, which hindered the flow. Finally, the noise tests showed that it was louder at 0 degrees, which contrasted with the situation for the blower, with an aside at 90 degrees.

Development of the Bioenergy as a Part of Renewable Energy in the Nordic Countries: A Comparative Analysis

A comparative assessment of the bioenergy and renewable energy situation in the Nordic countries, Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Norway, was conducted in this study. What factors have contributed to the current high use of renewable energy and especially bioenergy in the Nordic countries? What are the sources of renewable energy and where renewable energy is being used? The development of renewable energy use is described by time series and compared to the overall development of the EU. All of the Nordic countries have high renewable energy consumption and have already met the target for gross final energy consumption according to the Europe 2020 strategy while the EU is behind the 20% target. In total, 53.1 Mtoe renewable energy was used in the Nordic countries in 2018, which was 51% of the final energy consumption, 103.3 Mtoe. Bioenergy accounts for approximately half of renewable energy, 25.8 Mtoe, and is anticipated to develop further. Especially in Norway and Sweden the share of renewable energy was high (73% and 55%) compared to Finland and Denmark (41% and 36%). Norway is famous for hydropower (81% share of Renewable Energy Sources (RES) in 2018) and Denmark for wind power production (20%), while Finland utilizes a lot of biomass for co-generation and heating (79%), followed by Denmark (64%) and Sweden (55%) in 2018. At EU level, bioenergy plays even a higher role than in Nordic countries in renewable energy production (56%) in 2017 and is anticipated to continue to grow in all end-use sectors such as heating and cooling, electricity generation and transport, in the 2020s.

Implementation of National Renewable Energy Obligations at the Regional Level

The aim of the paper described here was to clarify the potential of decreasing the use of fossil fuels regionally. According to Finnish national obligations, the use of oil and other fossil fuels should be minimised by 2030. The study combines the regional consumption of primary energy sources with national obligations introduced in the national climate and energy strategy. This set up a basis when evaluating the regional state of future energy supply for 2030. The paper utilises the region of South Savo as a case study. In the region, the consumption of renewable energy sources is already above the national average, but it can be increased further by 2030. Wood fuels and especially forest biomass have regionally a major role. Local and national targets, support schemes and willingness to invest play key roles when increasing the use of renewable energy sources in the future.

Regional Energy Balance and Its Implementation to South Karelia

All EU countries have targets for increasing the use of renewable energy at a national level. However this effort should become concrete at regional and local levels where investments on bioenergy are made. This study introduces a systematical and universally applicable method for constructing regional energy balance. This study focuses on the method how to combine specific regional primary energy sources with their end uses. The primary energy sources include different fuels and the net import of electricity. The energy end uses are heat, electricity and losses. The concept of the regional energy balance was illustrated through a case of South Karelia. The total use of primary energy in South Karelia was 25.2 TWh (or 91 PJ) in 2010 and the share of renewable energy sources was 65%. The regional energy balance analysis can be utilized as a guideline for strategically planning and allocating regional energy sources for example, increasing the use of renewable energy sources. It can provide local decision makers and shareholders about the current status of energy supply, convincing them to take proper actions and consider producing energy at a local and regional level.

Supply and Demand of a Forest Biomass in Application to the Region of South-East Finland

In Finland it is estimated that forest biomass will be the main source of bioenergy when meeting the national target: 38% renewable from total energy consumption by 2020. This target must become concrete for regional and local level participators of a forest industry and actions should take place in large combined heat and power generation (CHP) plants, district heating plants and independent heating systems. In energy production replacing fossil fuels with renewa-ble energy is reasonable in many cases. However, there are usually doubts about the availability and security of supply of forest biomass. The aim of this study is to introduce a systematical method for analyzing the availability and demand of forest biomass in regional and local level. This study introduces an objective method for analyzing local possibilities on where and how much the use of forest biomass could be increased. By replacing use of fossil fuels with renewable and domestic energy sources carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and dependency on imported fossil fuels can be reduced. Utilization of biomass creates also local employment on energy sector.

Impact of Alternative Raw Materials on the Profitability of a Large-Scale Bio-Coal Pellet Plant in Finland

The aim of this paper was to compare the annual economic impact of a large-scale bio-coal pellet plant by raw material specifically for the Finnish Lakeland region. In this study, the total production volume of the theoretical plant was 200,000 tons per year and the raw wood materials used were birch pulpwood, spruce pulpwood, pine pulpwood, and energy wood. These wood materials were young delimbed wood from early thinnings. The main goal of the paper was to illustrate that the energy content differences of raw wood materials affect the economic profitability of a bio-coal pellet plant at regional level. In this case, wood type also has a regional economic impact, which the pellet plant can influence through its raw wood material choices. The raw material comparison was based on measured data and not computational or literary data alone. The study found that lower solid wood energy densities caused higher relative costs for the total supply chain. A parallel phenomenon occurred with the required gross margin of the pellets, where lower energy content caused higher required gross margin for pellet sales. The gross margin was also sensitivity analyzed at different discount rates from 5% to 20%. At each required discount rate, the highest annual economic impact on the region was found for birch pellets, with values of 36.95 - 42.66 million €. Spruce pellets had the smallest annual economic impact, although it had the highest final pellet price in the same cases. The different economic effects were caused by the energy volumes sold.

Hydrothermal Carbonization of Deciduous Biomass(Alnus incana)and Pelletization Prospects

Thermal treatment of biomass has been attracting attention for a decade or so, especially torrefaction. However, for the past few years, wet pyrolysis, also known as hydrothermal carbonization (HTC), has been getting some attention. Hydrothermal carbonization is a thermal treatment of biomass in the presence of water in a temperature range of 180°C - 260°C. This method of treating biomass has some benefits which others do not, such as it can handle extremely wet biomass. However, treating biomass may not be enough for practical use. It may need to be transported and stored. Thus, this study explored the idea of pelletizing the HTC biomass. The mechanical strength of the HTC pellets was found to be 93%, whereas, higher heating value (HHV) (dry basis) was found to be 4% higher than the corresponding white pellets. The initial results with some limited parameters indicated that it would be possible to pelletize without binder. However, extensive research on energy balance and economic assessment would be necessary to achieve economic feasibility.

Metal and Composite Intermodal Containers in Comparative Cold Tests with Wood Chips

Intermodal containers have many advantages in the bulk supply chain, but idle times may cause freezing problems for containers in terminals and long-lasting deliveries, especially during the winter time in Nordic conditions. The aim of the cold tests was to study metal and composite containers’ ability to tolerate wood chips freezing into the inner surface of the container. Two of the containers were normal metal containers and one was a composite container. The loaded containers were put inside the laboratory hall, the temperature of which was -30°C, and kept there for variable times: less than 24 hours. The inner surface of one of metal containers was treated with a special coolant, EC1. After the test, the chips were unloaded, and the container walls were checked to determine whether there was any material left on them. The test results indicated the advantages of composite containers having a thermally insulated structure without freezing problems. At the same time, chips were freezing badly onto the floor of both metal containers. A frozen chip layer with a thickness of approximately 50 cm - 60 cm was stuck to the floors. As such, EC1 did not seem to prevent the freezing of the chips onto the inner surfaces. The results proved that intermodal logistics of truck and train transportation would be more suitable for composite containers than for metal containers in the winter time in Nordic conditions.

A Geographical-Origin-Destination Model for Calculating the Cost of Multimodal Forest-Fuel Transportation

As a consequence of increasing demand for wood fuels, the management of forest-fuel production chains has become an important logistics issue in FinlandandSweden. Truck-based transportation has been the dominant method in fuel supply from the areas around power plants. However, increasing demand has led to enlargement of supply areas and greater variety in supply methods, including also railway and waterway transportation. This study presents a GIS-based calculation model suitable for cost calculations for power plants’ forest-fuel supply chains. The model has multimodal properties—i.e., it provides transfer of forest-fuel loads between transportation modes—and enables case-specific adjustment of transportation and material-handling cost parameters. The functionality of the model is examined with a case study focusing on a region of intense forest-fuel use. The results indicate that truck transportation is competitive with railway transportation also for long transport distances. However, increasing the proportion of multimodal transportation for other than economic reasons (e.g., for supply security) could be reasonable, since the impact on total supply costs is marginal. In addition to honing of the parameters related to biomass availability and transport costs, the model should be developed through inclusion of other means of transportation, such as roundwood carriers.

Forest Biomass Availability Analysis and Large-Scale Supply Options

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.