Bioenergy curbs climate change

According to various sources, the branches and needles contain about one half of the tree's nutrients. If the branches and needles are gathered in to produce bioenergy, the nutrient balance of the forest may change. To prevent a loss of nutrients, logging residue is generally only taken out of the forest after the needles have fallen. In this case, however, the logging residue cannot be collected in connection with the felling, which increases overall cost. Solutions have been looked for by developing machinery, for instance, which collects the logging residue when the soil is cultivated.

On the other hand, the logging residue left in the forest after clear-felling may increase leaching. The removal of residue also improves the quality and productivity of sowing and planting operations, and forest cultivation may be speeded up by as much as two years. The removal of residue also improves the forests' potential for leisure use, since it will be easier to move in the forest and the landscape will be visually improved. Again, logging residue may protect the seedlings against sun, wind and cold. The logging residue left in the forest after the first thinning contributes to the growth of the trees by as much as one tenth.

The value of the growth of the trees can be estimated not only on the basis of sales income, but also from the point of view of binding carbon dioxide. Reducing the content of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere by alternative means costs €0.84–34 per ton of carbon dioxide. Using this as the basis of calculating the value of carbon dioxide bound in the forests, the total value of forest growth during 1990–1998 would have been €0.08–1.3 billion per year. During the same period, the sales income of timber from privately-owned forest varied between €0.9–1.8 billion per year.

16. Energy sources of forest industry.

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