Forest Residue

In addition to forest residues generated as part of timber extraction and land

conversion activities, vast areas of forestlands are overstocked with relatively large
amounts of excess biomass, which has accumulated as a result of forest growth and
alterations in natural cycles through successful suppression of fires.

From: Comprehensive Renewable Energy, 2012

Related terms:

Solar Energy, Biofuel, Biomass, Bioenergy, Biorefineries, Feedstocks, Greenhouse

Gas, Renewable Energy, Lignocellulosic Biomass, Solar Water Heater

View all Topics

Biomass and Biofuel Production

Souman Rudra, Madhawa Jayathilake, in Comprehensive Renewable Energy (Second
Edition), 2022

5.08.2.5 Forest residues

Forest residues are a mix of trees, consisting of leaves, barks, pieces of the trunk,
and branches. Mainly these are remains of cut down trees. In the case of a mega type
reactor availability of forest, the residue could be a problem since the production of
forest residues would not be from the same area or in a continuous manner. Despite
the inconvenience of availability, it should produce biocrude as consistent as from
the woody biomass. Meanwhile, the pretreatment required for forest residues could
slightly change from what woody biomass is required due to the residues’ various
parts. Therefore, chipping and powdering, as well as grinding of certain parts, are
required.

Nevertheless, biocrude from forest residues should show a significant correlation

to the woody biomass derived biocrude. Generally, forest residue s water content
could be slightly higher than the woody biomass, and bark would be a significant
amount from the total weight (Magdeldin et al., 2018). Forest residues have reported
a biocrude yield of 22% in the literature, which is comparably a lower value to
straw and woody biomass. Table 1 shows some typical analytical results for different
feedstock types.

Table 1. HTL feedstock characteristics.

Feedstock C (%) H (%) N (%) O (%) S (%) HHV(MJ  Refer-

kg− 1) ences
Microal- 43.3 6 6.4 25.1 0.5 NR Brown et
gae
(Nan- al. (2010)
nochlorop-
sis sp.)
Macro al- 31.6 4.85 0.9 34.2 2.44 17.6 Ross et
gae
al. (2008)
woody 50.4 6.19 0.19 43.2 NR NR Peder-
biomass
(Aspen sen et al.
wood)
(2016)
Straw 37.1 5.6 0.5 44.7 0.3 17.5
Manure 49.4 6.46 3.33 39.8 1.05 13.3 Vardon
et al.
(2011)
Sewage 23–40 3.8–5.9 2.5–7.9 18.8–23.5 0.8–1 NR Fonts et
Sludge
al. (2012)

NR: Not reported.

> Read full chapter

Bioenergy
Nikolay Belyakov, in Sustainable Power Generation, 2019

19.2.1.1 Forestry residue and wood waste

Forest residues are a byproduct from forest harvesting, which is a major source
of biomass for energy. This includes thinning, cutting stands for timber or pulp,
clearing lands for construction or other use that also yields tops and branches
usable for bioenergy. On top, stands damaged by insects, diseases or fire can be
an additional sources of biomass. However, these residues usually have low density
and heating values with high transportation costs.

Wood waste is mostly the result of wood processing industries like sawmills, ply-
wood, panels, and other wood products supplies, which may generate significant
amount of byproduct. The main types of waste include sawdust, off-cuts, trims,
shavings that can be further pressed into wood pellets. Wood pellet producers turn
low-value wood fiber into pellets. Common sources are forest residues, thinnings,
tree tops, and limbs, and low-quality fiber that is unwanted by other industries or
lacks a local market. The other sources are roundwood not suitable for lumber or
wood from short rotation woody crops [1].

Wood pellets and wood chips are the predominant solid biofuel commodity on the
international market, with Europe being the key region that consumes pellets from
major exporters like the Unites States, Canada, Russia, and Brazil. It is important
to mention that the major production of wood chips is for pulp to produce paper,
so there is a need to separate this production from wood chips for heat and power,
which are around 10% of the total production [1].

Global wood pellet consumption for both industrial and heating purposes increased
by 60% during 2010–2016. Wood pellet production in 2016 reached 28.5 million
tonnes. The principal markets for industrial and heating wood pellets are found
in the European Union, supplemented by industrial pellet demand in Japan and
Korea and heating demand in North America. Industrial wood pellet demand is still
dominated by a relatively small number of large-capacity consumers, e.g., coal power
stations converted to biomass, and therefore can undergo notable demand changes
as a result of technical, economic or policy factors. Conversely, fuel consumption in
heating markets is influenced by weather conditions and biomass fuel costs relative
to competing heating fuels and technologies [1].

> Read full chapter

Biomass and Biofuel Production

L.L. Wright, ... B.J. Stokes, in Comprehensive Renewable Energy, 2012

5.14.3.1.3 Economics of recovering primary forest residues

Forest residues are generated as part of whole-tree operations in which trees are
cut mechanically (e.g., feller-buncher) or manually and then skidded or forwarded
to a landing area where the trees are delimbed, topped, and bucked [130]. This
method results in the accumulation of slash at the forest landing or roadside where
it can be chipped and loaded directly into trucks. Because forest residue biomass is a
relatively low-value product, it is likely to be collected concurrently with conventional
roundwood harvesting operations as opposed to leaving the residue on-site to dry
and be removed in a subsequent operation. (In the case of a two-pass system, costs
are likely to be higher given the need to move and deploy equipment; however, the
biomass will be drier and more attractive for conversion into power.) The costs of this
biomass are low and include just stumpage and chipping. Stumpage costs would
likely be a nominal amount in initial uses of this material, but could increase as
bioenergy markets develop. However, stumpage costs for residue will likely be much
less than pulpwood stumpage. Figure 18 summarizes the total logging residue
resource, the sustainable removable quantity, and the available supplies at alternative
roadside costs. Thirty percent of logging residue is left on-site for sustainability
reasons. These residues include nonmerchantable trees and tree components, as
well as standing and dying trees. With stumpage and chipping, about 30% of the
logging residue generated in the United States can be had at roadside costs less than
$20 dry Mg−1 and nearly all of it at less than $30 dry Mg−1 [116].

Figure 18. Total primary forest resource supply, sustainably removable quantities,
and economic supplies at alternative roadside costs.

In the case of fuel treatment thinnings, a whole-tree system can be adapted to

include small or polewood-sized trees (1–5 inches) that are also cut and moved to
the landing for chipping. Since the small trees are a forest residue product, the cost
of felling and skidding would be borne by the bioenergy product and not by the
primary wood product. To minimize costs of collecting forest fuel treatment thinning
biomass, an uneven-aged forest thinning prescription is used in which harvesting
operations remove trees across all age classes [98]. This type of harvesting operation
provides bioenergy feedstocks at the lowest cost because biomass is removed in
combination with removals of larger trees for pulpwood and sawlogs [116].

In the United States, forest thinning biomass costs were estimated based on un-
even-aged thinning simulations on Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) plots where
the plot SDI was greater than 30% of a maximum SDI for that given forest type [116].
The amount of biomass retained for sustainability was determined as function of
slope. It was assumed 30% of the residue needed to remain for sustainability where
slopes were less than 40%. On intermediate slopes ranging from greater than 40%
to less than 80%, 40% of the residue was assumed left on-site. No residue was
assumed removed on slopes greater than 80%. In addition to these slope-defined
sustainability restrictions, roadless and administratively restricted areas were exclud-
ed.

Beginning with 1-inch diameter at breast height (dbh) trees, a treatment successively
removes fewer trees from each diameter class where the removals bring the SDI
down to 30% of the identified maximum SDI value for that stand type. For the
North and South, biomass removals include all wood from trees 1–5 inches dbh
and tops and branches of trees greater than 5 inches dbh, except for wood left
for sustainability purposes. For the West, biomass removals include all wood from
harvested trees 1–7 inches dbh and tops and branches of trees greater than 7 inches
dbh. Limbs, tops, and cull components of merchantable trees have a chipping cost
(harvest cost, i.e., felling and transport to roadside, are borne by the merchantable
bolewood) and stumpage cost. Small, unmerchantable trees and dead trees have
harvest, chipping, and stumpage costs. The study results shows a total resource of
slightly more than 60 million dry Mg (Figure 18). Application of the sustainability
criteria reduced the total resource by about 44%. The economically recoverable
amounts vary considerably by cost at roadside. Only 7% of the thinnings can be
extracted at costs to roadside at $20 per dry Mg or less. Slightly more than 20% and
30% of the resource can be extracted to roadside at $30 and $40 per dry Mg or less,
respectively. Less than 50% of the total resource can be extracted at costs less than
$80 per dry Mg−1. The higher costs of thinnings relative to logging residue are due
to a number of factors. Chief among these are the costs associated with harvesting
and skidding large quantities of small trees to roadside where they can be chipped.
Stand density and skid distance are also factors.

A potentially low-cost method of harvest and collection of forest residue for biomass
is in wood comminution (chipping or bundling of tops and stems) as part of a
conventional logging or thinning [130] operation. This type of integrated forest
harvesting has occurred for several years in northern European countries such as
Finland and Sweden [91] and is beginning to occur in the United States. Com-
munition operations are most effective where logs are extracted by skidding, the
site has good road access, and there are large volumes of biomass per hectare.
Many sites where biomass could be recovered do not meet these criteria. However,
recent technology developments with high potential for reducing collection and
handling costs include specialized containers, combined harvester/grinder, and
bundling/baling [130]. Specialized containers such as ‘roll on/off ’ containers provide
a means of collecting slash in the forest and taking it to a grinder at the landing,
where the material is size-reduced and deposited directly into trucks. This type of
operation would replace using the skidder or front-end loader for the collection of
slash. A Finnish company has developed a forwarder/harvester with a grinder and
chip container mounted on it. This machine (Valmet 801), which does size reduction
at the stump, is best suited for thinning operations. Several forest equipment
manufacturing companies, such as John Deere, World Wood Pac, and Pinox Oy, have
developed ‘bundlers’ as a means of hauling loose forests residues to the roadside.
Along similar lines, a ‘square’ baler is being developed by Forest Concepts, Limited
Liability Corporation (LLC) in Alabama, United States. The bundles or bales can be
compressed so that they are considerably denser than loose residues. The slash
bundles or ‘composite residue logs’ or bales can be stored until needed and suffer
little dry matter loss and self-heating, which are common problems with chip piles.
Presently, the costs of bundling appear to exceed the cost of collecting loose residues
or roadside comminution, but when considered and optimized in the context of the
entire supply chain, bundling could become more cost-competitive. Baling has not
been fully evaluated, but one advantage is that the square bales can be hauled on a
typical flatbed trailer. A small portable baler is especially promising for small logging
or forest thinning operations and for urban areas. For both bundling and baling,
costs will be lowest in areas with large amounts of logging residues [130].

> Read full chapter

SUPPLY AND DEMAND OF BIOMASS

IN ITALY
Dr.Luigi Pari, in Biomass for Energy and the Environment, 1996

INTRODUCTION
Among the industrialized countries, Italy is very vulnerable in the energy sector.
Therefore the main goals for the energy policy in Italy are: energy saving, develop-
ment of national energy sources, diversification of energy sources and maintenance
of competitiveness of the Italian exports.

This paper has been organized subdividing and analysing all the items that con-
tribute to the formation of the supply and the demand of biomass.

Supply

Biomass from residues

• Forest Residues
• Agricultural residues (straw, residue of pressed olives, pruning, hazelnut and
almond shells, grape-pips, tobacco and beets residues)
• urban solid wastes

Biomass produced ad hoc

• Study of the lands available to be cultivated with biomass crops with energetic
purposes
• set aside (varations occured in the latest years, future previsions)

• ex farm lands abandoned

• areas cultivated, at present and in the short run, with an exceeding production

• Study on the energetic crops which can be introduced in Italy

• undergoing research on annual and perennial crops

• biofuels

Demand
• possibility of using biomass for the bio energetic production by ENEL and by
private citizens (law n.9 and 10)
• perspective of using biodiesel and ethanol as fuel

> Read full chapter

Membranes and membrane reactors for

the production of second generation
biofuels
V. Piemonte, L. Di paola, in Membranes for Clean and Renewable Power Applica-
tions, 2014

4.2.2 Biomass resources

Trees, agro-forest residues, grasses, plants, aquatic plants and crops are all impor-
tant sources of versatile and renewable biomass that can be used to produce various
types of biofuel (Fig. 4.1).
4.1. Types of biomass as renewable feedstocks for biorefineries.

Although the crops grown for biomass take up only about 2% of the world's arable
land, it is widely accepted that first generation biofuels produced from crops have
driven up the costs of food and animal feeds. Total biofuel production is domi-
nated by these first generation fuels, meaning that the food versus fuel issue is
an increasing concern. Moreover, the production of first generation biofuels can
also contribute to water shortages and destruction of forests, with LUC emissions
reducing the savings in GHG emissions (Righelato and Spracklen, 2007; Plevin and
Mueller, 2008; Searchinger et al., 2009).

A great deal of research has therefore been carried out with the aim of developing
'second generation' biofuels from non-food biomass sources, including ligno-cellu-
losic feedstock comprising by-products such as cereal straw, sugar cane bagasse and
forest residues; organic components of municipal solid wastes; and some dedicated
feedstocks (purpose-grown vegetative grasses, short rotation forests and other en-
ergy crops). These second generation biofuels address some of the problems caused
by their first generation counterparts: as they are not derived from food sources, they
do not impose the same strain on food markets or directly affect the price of food
and animal feed; they also do not generally contribute to water shortage, or require
destruction of forest cover, since they are largely derived from residual products.
Although the cultivation of crops may compete with food production in some cases,
such as when purpose-grown grasses are used, energy yields are likely to be higher
than any first generation biofuel crops grown on the same land (Chakraborty et al.,
2013).

In an attempt to find a solution to even the minor problems of food competition

and land use caused by second generation biofuels, a new third generation is
being developed, based on microscopic organisms. These biofuels are derived from
microbes and microalgae cultures, which can be used as a substrate to produce
biodiesel, as they can synthesize and store a large amount of fatty acids in their
biomass (Xiong et al., 2008). Zhu et al. (2008) studied the production of microbial
biofuels from waste molasses and reported that the lipids produced in microbial
biomass are suitable for use in the production of biodiesel. The third generation
of biofuels is therefore considered to be a viable alternative energy resource that
is devoid of the drawbacks associated with first and, to a lesser extent, second
generation biofuels.

However, the use of this type of biofuel is still at the research stage and has yet to
be put into practice. Furthermore, the production of second and third generation
biofuels requires more sophisticated processing and production equipment, more
investment per unit of production, and larger-scale facilities to confine and curtail
capital costs. Membrane systems developed for the separation and purification of
crude biofuels, as described in Section 4.2.1, offer several advantages over traditional
biofuel production techniques where new second and third generation biofuels are
concerned: in particular, they can reduce the high capital cost and production costs
associated with the new fuel types and other related costs of production, as well as
providing a high specific area of mass transfer.

> Read full chapter

Blending Coal with Biomass

David A. Tillman, ... N. Stanley Harding, in Solid Fuel Blending, 2012

Woody Biomass
Woody biomass, particularly mill or forest residue material, is considered a premium
biomass fuel. It amounts to approximately one-quarter of the total wood production
in the United States [50]. Residues from the wood processing industry typically come
from sawmills, veneer and plywood mills, particle board plants, medium density
fiberboard (MDF) mills, and different types of pulp mills. These residues include
bark, sawdust, planer shavings, sander dust, chips, and any mixture of them, referred
to as “hog fuel.” In-forest residues have been recovered in the past and used for fuel
applications, but these events are rare due to the high cost of these fuels.

Another class of woody biofuels is urban wood wastes, which include manufacturing
residues, construction demolition, land-clearing materials, wood from pallet proces-
sors, pallets and other dunnage from the commercial transportation industry, and
“clean” or untreated woody materials. Treated wood wastes are a part of this category
and include railroad ties, used utility poles, and other related products. The treated
wood wastes are distinct and separate from the “clean,” untreated wood waste [1,
15].
> Read full chapter

Biomass fuels for small and micro com-

bined heat and power (CHP) systems:
resources, conversion and applications
H. Liu, in Small and Micro Combined Heat and Power (CHP) Systems, 2011

5.1.1 Biomass – a renewable energy resource

Both burning biomass and burning fossil fuels release carbon dioxide (CO2) to the
atmosphere. However, there is a vital difference between the two cases: burning
fossil fuels releases CO2 that has been locked up for millions of years in the ground,
affecting the natural CO2 cycle and resulting in an increase in the CO2 concentration
in the atmosphere. By contrast, burning biomass simply returns to the atmosphere
the CO2 that was absorbed as the plants grew over a relatively short period of time
(a few years to ca. a decade). The same amount of CO2 which was absorbed from the
air via the photosynthesis process while the biomass plant was growing is released
back into the air when biomass is burned and there is no net release of CO2 to the
atmosphere, i.e. it is CO2-neutral, if the cycle of growth and harvest is sustained.
Therefore, biomass can be considered as a renewable energy resource (Fig. 5.1).
Some net release of CO2 would take place if the production (planting, harvesting,
processing) or transportation of the biomass fuel involved the use of fossil fuels.
This part of CO2 can be significant for some biofuels which have low energy ratios
(Hoefnagels et al. 2010, Cherubini 2010).
5.1. Biomass is a renewable energy resource.

There are many types of biomass and they can be grouped by different meth-
ods in different countries. The IEA Bioenergy Education Website on Biomass and
Bioenergy (IEA Bioenergy 2010a) groups biomass into categories of woody biomass,
non-woody biomass and organic wastes.

Woody biomass mainly includes:

• forest residues, e.g. thinning, pruning or any other leftover plant material after
cutting;
• fuel wood, e.g. logs or any other form to be used in small stoves;

• wood waste from wood-processing industry, e.g. bark, sawdust, shavings and
offcuts;
• short rotation forestry, e.g. willow, poplar and eucalyptus;

• woodlands/woody urban biomass, e.g. tree trimmings, the green and woody
portion of municipal solid waste.

Non-woody biomass mainly includes:

• agricultural crops, e.g. various annual and perennial non-woody energy

crops such as Miscanthus, Switchgrass, traditional agricultural crops such as
maize/corn, rapeseed, and sunflowers which can be used as animal/human
food and liquid biofuels production feedstock;
• crop residues, e.g. rice or coconuts husks, maize cobs and cereal straw;

• processing residues, e.g. bagasse from sugar cane processing and olive marc
from olive oil extraction.
Organic waste biomass mainly includes:

• animal wastes, e.g. manure from pigs, chickens and cattle;

• sewage sludge, domestic and municipal sewage from mainly human waste;

• organic wastes produced by households and institutional buildings such as

paper, food, leather and vegetable wastes.

> Read full chapter

Sustainable Energy Technologies & Sus-

tainable Chemical Processes
Adetoyese Olajire Oyedun, Amit Kumar, in Encyclopedia of Sustainable Technolo-
gies, 2017

Sensitivity analysis
The sensitivity analyses results of the LCOE for cofiring of forest residues pellets at a
25% cofiring level and power cost for firing 100% forest residues pellets in a biomass
combustion plant are shown in Fig. 14A and B, respectively.
Fig. 14. Sensitivity analysis results of LCOE for forest residue regular pellet at 25%
cofiring (A) and power cost for 100% forest residue regular pellets (B).

The LCOE for cofiring the pelletized biomass is highly sensitive to plant size similar
to the base case scenario. A 20% increase in plant size can lower the LCOE for forest
residue-based pellets by 9% and a 20% decrease in plant size can raise the LCOE
by 14% for forest residue-based pellets. While the LCOE values for the base case
scenario (raw biomass cofiring plants) are sensitive to maintenance cost, biomass
requirement, and plant efficiency, the LCOE values for pelletized biomass, on the
other hand, are more sensitive to pellet requirement, plant efficiency, pellet cost,
and maintenance cost.

The power costs for the pelletized biomass are more sensitive to the plant efficiency,
pellet requirement, and pellet costs (see Fig. 14B). A 20% increase in plant efficiency
can decrease the power cost by 16%, and a 20% decrease in plant efficiency can
increase power cost by up to 25%. Similarly, a 20% increase in pellet requirement will
increase the power cost by up to 20%, and a 20% decrease in pellet requirement can
decrease the power cost by up to 19%. Therefore, plant efficiency, pellet require-
ment, and pellet costs are sensitive factors that need to be taken into consideration.

> Read full chapter

Biomass Energy-Based Hydrogen Pro-

duction
Ibrahim Dincer, Haris Ishaq, in Renewable Hydrogen Production, 2022

Forestry residues
Forest biomass feedstocks are classified into two main categories of forest residues
remaining after timber logging (including limbs, culled trees, tops and components
of trees that are unmerchantable) or whole-tree biomass collected specifically for
biomass. Dead, poorly formed, diseased, and unmerchantable trees are habitually
left in the woods after the timber harvest. This woody wreckage can be employed
for utilization in bioenergy, whereas leaving sufficient behind to deliver habitat
and uphold hydrologic features and proper nutrients. There are prospects to utilize
the excess biomass on masses of acres in the forests as well. Collecting extreme
woody biomass can condense the hazard of pests and fire and assists in forest
restoration, vitality, productivity, and resilience. Such biomass can be harvested to
extract bioenergy without destructively impacting the stability and health of the
functions and ecological structures of the forest.

> Read full chapter

Modernizing Cane Production to En-

hance the Biomass Base in Brazil
Oscar Braunbeck, ... Luís A.B. Cortez, in Bioenergy - Realizing the Potential, 2005

6.1 BIOMASS AVAILABILITY CAN BE ENHANCED IN BRAZIL

The most important biomass sources in Brazil are sugarcane and forest residues.
The Brazilian sugar industry is almost as old as the country itself. It was based on
traditional production systems for many centuries but had a turning point in 1930
when president Vargas created the Sugar and Alcohol Institute (IAA). The earliest
 experiments utilizing cane ethanol date from that period. However, radical changes
would not take place until the Brazilian Alcohol Program (PROALCOOL) was created
in the 1970s, leading to a significant expansion of sugarcane plantations in Brazil.

Today, Brazil is the largest sugarcane producer in the world, being responsible for
nearly 25 per cent of the total cane production, 13.5 per cent of the sugar production
and 55 per cent of the world's ethanol. The cultivated area covered by sugarcane
plantations reaches more than 5 million ha or 1.5 per cent of the total arable land in
the country. Sugarcane production reached 340 million tons of cane in the 2003/04
season resulting in 24 million tons of sugar and 14 billion liters of ethanol.

The ethanol industry provides fuel for approximately four million cars driven exclu-
sively with ethanol and approximately 24 per cent of the fuel being used in the rest of
the country's car fleet. The sugar and ethanol industry generates a turn over of US$
12 billion and creates 600000 direct jobs in activities from agriculture to industry. It is
a sector almost entirely owned by local entrepreneurs that has a significant potential
to increase its participation in the country's economy through a more intensive use
of by-products.

Traditionally, sugarcane has been harvested by hand requiring the elimination of

leaves by combustion in the fields. The cane-burning technique destroys nearly 25 to
30 per cent of the energy potential in the cane, which is a strong drawback seen from
the perspective of the surplus energy that can be generated. However, environmental
laws are being issued restricting cane burning, especially near urban areas, which
is paving the way for green cane harvesting practices. By green cane harvesting,
we mean that the burning process is eliminated allowing for the full utilization of
the cane biomass material. Green cane harvesting will require a significant move
towards mechanization, a process that has only started in the Brazilian sugarcane
sector.

In this chapter, we evaluate the technologies available for green cane harvesting,
how they need to be improved, and how they can help enhance the biomass
available for energy conversion in Brazil. We analyze some of the difficulties and
barriers that need to be addressed in favor of the adoption of such technologies.
We focus particularly on the technological barriers, showing how productivity of
sugarcane production systems can be improved, while also helping improve the
overall economy of this industry.

> Read full chapter

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