Harvest technology for short rotation coppices and costs of harvest, transport and storage
Leibniz Institute for Agricultural Engineering Potsdam-Bornim (ATB), Max-Eyth-Allee
100, 14469 Potsdam, Germany;
*Correspondence: rpecenka@atb-potsdam.de
Abstract:
The lack of knowledge regarding cost-efficient design of whole production chains as
well as the availability of powerful harvest machinery are some of the main obstacles for
competitive production of bioenergy from short rotation coppices (SRC) at practice. In general,
two different harvest lines are available: the cut-and-chip and the cut-and-store lines. Whereas
the cut-and chip line provides wood chips which have to be stored until next heating season, the
product for intermediate storage of the cut-and-store line are whole trees. Both process lines have
major differences not only in harvesting, but also in transport, storage and process losses leading
to different costs of the end product wood chips. On basis of data from several SRC harvest
campaigns, production costs for wood chips have been calculated to identify best practice
solutions taking the following factors into account: chip size determined by the harvest system,
storage including related costs and losses, field size and shape as well as transport to storage.
According to the results, mower-chippers and forage harvesters can provide wood chips at lowest
production costs (43…45€ tdm-1) if field shape is favourable for harvest operations. Under less
favourable field conditions costs are approx. 7 to 14% higher. Highest production costs have to
be accepted if whole trees are harvested with a shoot harvester (64 to 72 € tdm-1). The reduction
in storage losses and storage costs are not sufficient to compensate higher machine costs for
harvest and additional comminution with mobile chippers from forestry
Key words:
costs, harvest, poplar, Short rotation coppice, willow