A new wood-chip gathering machine and method almost trebles the current production figures for harvesting in young forests. The innovation of Sakari Kulju, the managing director of Biologistiikka Oy, and the product developed from it, Valmet 801 Combi BioEnergy, are topical right now.

Large amounts of unfinished management and cutting are caused by complicated methods for collecting thinning and energy wood: the wood has had to be transported and loaded many times before the trunks have been cut.

With a lack of rational methods, unfinished management and cutting operations in young forests are becoming a problem in Finland, Sweden and in many other countries in Europe. The trading of carbon dioxide emissions in the EU region is costing more than was expected, with the result that wood chips as a carbon-neutral source of energy will become a much sought-after source of fuel.

"The felling sites that the method requires in young forests are in unlimited supply, and the market for fresh chips in the production of energy will be limitless. Fresh wood chips are excellently suited for combined fuel in power plants that use peat," says Kulju.

Conversion to heating

The Valmet 801 Combi BioEnergy thins a forest with a reach of 11 metres, gathers several trees into one load and moves them in a vertical position from the forest to the chipper, which chips the trunks and pushes the chips with an airflow to a tank in the rear of the machine. From there the chips are moved to a forwarder, and the journey from the forest to the power plant can begin. On the same day the harvested energy wood produces clean heat and electricity.

"In addition to cutting energy wood, the machine, if necessary, also produces traditional wood grades like a normal harvester, so the wood grades collected from a stand marked for cutting can be directed to the sawmill, fibre or energy industries," Kulju says.

Biologistiikka will concentrate in the future on harvesting bioenergy, but it will continue to test new machine and harvesting concepts and improve the Valmet 801 Combi BioEnergy machine.

The productized harvesting method will open up new opportunities for directly expanding the chipping method to harvesting other than that of energy wood. "We will be concentrating on this during the next two years," Kulju promises.

>> www.biologistiikka.fi

The developer of the Valmet 801 Combi BioEnergy, Biologistiikka Oy, received an INNOFINLAND 2005 prize from the President of Finland last November.