Harvest technology for short rotation coppices and costs of harvest, transport and storage
Year: 2015
Type: article
Abstract: T he lack of knowledge regarding cost-efficient design of whole production chains as well as the availability of powerful harvest machinery are some of the main obstacles for competitive production of bioenergy from short rotation coppices (SRC) at practice. In general, two different harvest lines are available: the cut-and-chip and the cut-and-store lines. Whereas the cut-and chip line provides wood chips which have to be stored until next heating season, the product for intermediate storage of the cut-and-store line are whole trees. Both process lines have major differences not only in harvesting, but also in transport, storage and process losses leading to different costs of the end product wood chips. On basis of data from several SRC harvest campaigns, production costs for wood chips have been calculated to identify best practice solutions taking the following factors into account: chip size determined by the harvest system, storage including related costs and losses, field size and shape as well as transport to storage. According to the results, mower-chippers and forage harvesters can provide wood chips at lowest production costs (43…45 € tdm -1 ) if field shape is favourable for harvest operations. Under less favourable field conditions costs are approx. 7 to 14% higher. Highest production costs have to be accepted if whole trees are harvested with a shoot harvester (64 to 72 € tdm -1 ). The reduction in storage losses and storage costs are not sufficient to compensate higher machine costs for harvest and additional comminution with mobile chippers from forestry.
Source: Agronomy Research
Authors: Ralf Pecenka, Thomas Hoffmann
Language: English
Field: Energy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $323
OpenAlex ID: W2329896928