%0 Articles
%T Fuel switching, energy saving and carbon trading – three ways to control carbon dioxide emissions in the Finnish forest industry
%A Villa, Aki
%D 2007
%J Dissertationes Forestales
%V 2007
%N 35
%R doi:10.14214/df.35
%U http://dissertationesforestales.fi/article/1821
%X This study consists of three parts, namely: 1) an integrated harvesting of residual forest biomass and industrial roundwood for the three mills of a multinational Finnish based corporation, 2) energy saving linked with the energy conversion of these mills, and 3) the knowledge and understanding of non-specialists (represented by undergraduate students) of the coupling of energy saving and carbon trading in forest industry using procedures of experimental economics. The aim was to analyze CO<sub>2</sub> mitigation alternatives on the basis of a case study and to provide opportunities to generalize the results in Finland and elsewhere under similar conditions.
The data base of final felling stands was used to calculate the production cost of residues at different mills using two optional harvesting methods, the roadside chipping (RC) and the residue log (RL). The production costs of the RL method were a little bit more competitive than the RC. Also a uniform recovery model for the integrated harvesting at the maximum radius of 100 kilometres from the mill was developed.

The energy saving reports of the mills were used to calculate the costs of different energy saving investments and saved CO<sub>2</sub> emissions as a result of decreased use of main mill fuels. When the production costs of residues were compared with the costs of energy saving at different mills, the economic possibilities of integrated harvesting were more promising. However, both two elements are required to mitigate global CO<sub>2</sub> emissions.

The alternative economic decisions of carbon trading experiments  - either to make an energy saving investment at their own mill and sell surplus emission allowances to other mills, or to buy lacking allowances up to the emission constraint - was not easy to enforce profitably for most non-specialists. However, as a training tool to educate people on the economic aspects of global warming, experiments are justified.