Anas Zyadin

Economic efficiency of the energy wood chip supply chain from Russian Karelia to Finland

ABSTRACT The development of modern cut-to-length forest harvesting techniques, the availability of non-industrial wood resources, and Russian customs policy have created favorable conditions for the export of wood chips to biomass-based power plants in Finland. Cost of transportation is paramount to the financial feasibility of the bioenergy business, especially long-distance transportation costs. Therefore, the efficiency and costs of cross-border transportation of wood chips were analyzed. The results were compared with the efficiency and costs of transportation of wood chips of Finnish origin. Truck drivers working in the cross-border transportation of wood chips were also interviewed to determine the factors that affect the efficiency of wood chip transportation. The results showed that the highest transportation costs for an 80-km reference distance were those within Finland, at €5.6/m3 loose wood chips, compared to a cross-border route cost of €3.5/m3 loose wood chips. Thus, the proportion of transportation costs to the total supply cost was slightly higher in cross-border transportation (24%) than in Finland (23%) and in Russia (19%). Furthermore, bad road conditions on the Russian side, idle time at the border and the current working schedule of the border crossing point were recognized by truck drivers as the main factors that decreased the efficiency of cross-border transportation.

Farmers’ willingness to supply biomass for energy generation: evidence from South and Central Poland

ABSTRACT The objective of this survey-based study was to investigate farmers’ willingness to supply biomass for power generation in the south and in the centre of Poland. In total, 210 farmers participated in this study by filling in a self-instructed questionnaire. The results indicate that the majority of farmers (two-thirds) in both regions appeared unwilling to collect, store and transport biomass to the market or to the energy production facility. It is likely that an unstable biomass market marked by low demand and low prices has led to unwillingness by farmers to engage in bioenergy production in Poland. Increasing the role of biomass as a renewable energy resource and recovering the farmers’ confidence in the market would require fixing the shortcomings in the biomass market and the provision of clear public policies that aim at long-term market stability.