Sustainability Impact Assessment on the Production and Use of Different Wood and Fossil Fuels Employed for Energy Production in North Karelia, Finland
The utilization rate of woody biomass in eastern Finland is high and expected to increase further in the near future as set out in several regional, national and European policies and strategies. The aim of this study was to assess the sustainability impacts of changes in fuel consumption patterns....
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Molecular Diversity Preservation International
2012
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ftmdpi:oai:mdpi.com:/1996-1073/5/11/4870/ 2023-08-20T04:07:41+02:00 Sustainability Impact Assessment on the Production and Use of Different Wood and Fossil Fuels Employed for Energy Production in North Karelia, Finland Michael Den Herder Marja Kolström Marcus Lindner Tommi Suominen Diana Tuomasjukka Matias Pekkanen 2012-11-21 application/pdf https://doi.org/10.3390/en5114870 EN eng Molecular Diversity Preservation International https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/en5114870 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Energies; Volume 5; Issue 11; Pages: 4870-4891 heavy fuel oil light heating oil woody biomass energy production sustainability indicators decision support systems regional decision making social economic and environmental indicators Text 2012 ftmdpi https://doi.org/10.3390/en5114870 2023-07-31T20:30:43Z The utilization rate of woody biomass in eastern Finland is high and expected to increase further in the near future as set out in several regional, national and European policies and strategies. The aim of this study was to assess the sustainability impacts of changes in fuel consumption patterns. We investigated fossil and woody biomass-based energy production chains in the region of North Karelia, focusing on some economic, environmental and social indicators. Indicators were selected based on stakeholder preferences and evaluated using the Tool for Sustainability Impact Assessment (ToSIA). The analysis was based on representative values from National Forest Inventory data, scientific publications, national and regional statistics, databases, published policy targets and expert opinion. From the results it became evident that shifting from fossil to wood-based energy production implies some trade-offs. Replacing oil with woody biomass in energy production would increase the local value added remaining in the region, create employment opportunities and would reduce total GHG emissions. However, firewood, wood chips from small-diameter trees from early thinning and wood pellets have high production costs. Moreover, large greenhouse gas emission resulted from wood pellet production. The case study generated valuable reference data for future sustainability assessments and demonstrated the usefulness of ToSIA as a tool presenting existing knowledge on sustainability impacts of alternative energy supply chains to inform decision making. Text karelia* MDPI Open Access Publishing Energies 5 11 4870 4891 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
MDPI Open Access Publishing |
op_collection_id |
ftmdpi |
language |
English |
topic |
heavy fuel oil light heating oil woody biomass energy production sustainability indicators decision support systems regional decision making social economic and environmental indicators |
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heavy fuel oil light heating oil woody biomass energy production sustainability indicators decision support systems regional decision making social economic and environmental indicators Michael Den Herder Marja Kolström Marcus Lindner Tommi Suominen Diana Tuomasjukka Matias Pekkanen Sustainability Impact Assessment on the Production and Use of Different Wood and Fossil Fuels Employed for Energy Production in North Karelia, Finland |
topic_facet |
heavy fuel oil light heating oil woody biomass energy production sustainability indicators decision support systems regional decision making social economic and environmental indicators |
description |
The utilization rate of woody biomass in eastern Finland is high and expected to increase further in the near future as set out in several regional, national and European policies and strategies. The aim of this study was to assess the sustainability impacts of changes in fuel consumption patterns. We investigated fossil and woody biomass-based energy production chains in the region of North Karelia, focusing on some economic, environmental and social indicators. Indicators were selected based on stakeholder preferences and evaluated using the Tool for Sustainability Impact Assessment (ToSIA). The analysis was based on representative values from National Forest Inventory data, scientific publications, national and regional statistics, databases, published policy targets and expert opinion. From the results it became evident that shifting from fossil to wood-based energy production implies some trade-offs. Replacing oil with woody biomass in energy production would increase the local value added remaining in the region, create employment opportunities and would reduce total GHG emissions. However, firewood, wood chips from small-diameter trees from early thinning and wood pellets have high production costs. Moreover, large greenhouse gas emission resulted from wood pellet production. The case study generated valuable reference data for future sustainability assessments and demonstrated the usefulness of ToSIA as a tool presenting existing knowledge on sustainability impacts of alternative energy supply chains to inform decision making. |
format |
Text |
author |
Michael Den Herder Marja Kolström Marcus Lindner Tommi Suominen Diana Tuomasjukka Matias Pekkanen |
author_facet |
Michael Den Herder Marja Kolström Marcus Lindner Tommi Suominen Diana Tuomasjukka Matias Pekkanen |
author_sort |
Michael Den Herder |
title |
Sustainability Impact Assessment on the Production and Use of Different Wood and Fossil Fuels Employed for Energy Production in North Karelia, Finland |
title_short |
Sustainability Impact Assessment on the Production and Use of Different Wood and Fossil Fuels Employed for Energy Production in North Karelia, Finland |
title_full |
Sustainability Impact Assessment on the Production and Use of Different Wood and Fossil Fuels Employed for Energy Production in North Karelia, Finland |
title_fullStr |
Sustainability Impact Assessment on the Production and Use of Different Wood and Fossil Fuels Employed for Energy Production in North Karelia, Finland |
title_full_unstemmed |
Sustainability Impact Assessment on the Production and Use of Different Wood and Fossil Fuels Employed for Energy Production in North Karelia, Finland |
title_sort |
sustainability impact assessment on the production and use of different wood and fossil fuels employed for energy production in north karelia, finland |
publisher |
Molecular Diversity Preservation International |
publishDate |
2012 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3390/en5114870 |
genre |
karelia* |
genre_facet |
karelia* |
op_source |
Energies; Volume 5; Issue 11; Pages: 4870-4891 |
op_relation |
https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/en5114870 |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/en5114870 |
container_title |
Energies |
container_volume |
5 |
container_issue |
11 |
container_start_page |
4870 |
op_container_end_page |
4891 |
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1774719509508128768 |