Wood energy 1999-2003: a new national technology programme in Finland.

A new national energy technology programme, Wood Energy, has been launched in Finland by the National Technology Agency (Tekes). The programme's total budget for 1999-2003 is FIM250 million (US$45 million), Tekes' share of which amounts to FIM50 million. The programme is co-ordinated by VTT Energy. In 1998, the energy use of forest chips amounted to 0.5 million m solid. The target of the Wood Energy Technology Programme is to increase the annual use of forest chips to 2.5 million m solid in 2003, i.e., five-fold in 5 years. It is obvious that the target can be achieved mainly by increasing the use of logging residues from final cuttings, since salvaging residues from cut-over areas is more cost competitive than harvesting smallwood from young sapling stands and early commercial thinnings. Nevertheless, chip production from thinning of young stands will be developed as well. Increasing the use of forest chips requires that the cost of production is reduced still further, and that is naturally one of the main objectives of the programme. The programme is also helping to develop quality control and storage of wood chips. The quality of chips can be seen as an important cost factor, since the amount of heat obtained from the wood chips, the emissions produced, and the reliability of delivery and use all depend upon it. Improvement of chip quality is not confined solely to forest chips, but it is just as important for wood residues from primary timber processing at mills. For this reason the scope of the programme also includes bark, sawdust, and other solid wood residues from the forest products industry that are suitable for fuel.