Data-Driven Optimization of Forestry and Wood Procurement toward Carbon-Neutral Logistics of Forest Industry

• Published in: Forests
• Main Authors: Teijo Palander, Lauri Vesa
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2022
• Subjects: CO 2; carbon neutrality; supply chain management; wood procurement; Plant ecology; QK900-989; Northern Finland
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.3390/f13050759; https://doaj.org/article/34933fa288e4466082a4f7bcb8029e77

Investments toward a carbon-neutral forest industry will change forestry and wood procurement in Northern Finland. The changing market situation requires data-driven DSSs for the strategic management of logistics. Using this software, logistics were described by a continuing wood flow model and optimized by a dynamic method. Three logistics scenarios described wood flows in the present and in the future. The optimization minimized the economic and environmental costs, which decreased by 4.9%. However, synchronized multimodal transportation costs increased by 23.3%. Therefore, maximum logistics efficiency necessitates increases in railway transport capacity. The change would also decrease CO 2 emission costs. Under scenario-specific circumstances, logistics operations could be focused on four profitable regions, increasing market shares at municipalities. To guarantee environmental sustainability of these municipalities, optimization of timber markets between forest owners and forest industry must be developed further by driving data from the EU’s emission allowance price compensation mechanism to the optimization process.