Research Trends in European Forest Fuel Supply Chains: A Review of the Last Ten Years (2007–2016) – Part Two: Comminution, Transport & Logistics

Within the fuel wood supply chain, comminution and transport have been identified as processes
with the highest costs, energy consumption and emissions. The coordination of comminution
and transport aimed at avoiding operational delays is also complex. Nevertheless,
the use of forest biomass helps to reduce the effects of climate change and produces an additional
income, especially in rural areas. About 20 years ago, at the beginning of the industrial
forest fuel utilisation, the focus of the research was on developing and analysing adequate
supply chains and machines. Nowadays, as state-of-the-art systems have been established, the
focus is on improving the efficiency of the processes and the quality of the products. This paper
provides a review of research trends of the last ten years focusing on comminution and transport
of forest biomass in Europe.
Comminution should become more efficient by analysing the effects of wood characteristics on
chipper performance and product quality, by tailoring chipper configuration according to those
findings and by introducing mechanical devices for improving the quality of chips. Transport
processes have the potential to become more efficient if the configuration of trucks is adapted
according to operational and legal requirements, and when considering moisture content
management. Finally, economic and environmental assessment of supply chains was made by
several studies. Future research is expected to focus on customizing the product quality according
to user’s requirements and on optimising the coordination of chipper and truck by
simulation and automatization tools.