Browsing by Subject "puupelletti"

The Finnish forest industries are going through heavy adjustments as especially the western world is moving towards a more digitalized model where the amount of paper and pulp consumed is diminishing. It is obvious that the whole industry is in need for new solutions. These new solutions and innovations can be found from the field of bioenergy. Finland is rich with forest-based raw material which can provide a long-term and local source of energy. In the future this will be of primary importance as the prices of the non-renewable energy sources will climb higher as the deposits of the fossil fuels dry up. The usage of the renewable energy sources are also very important in order to prevent the global climate change and to achieve the goals regulated for Finland in the Kyoto Protocol and the European RES-E directive. This Master’s Thesis takes a look at the current state and the future trends of the Finnish wood pellet industries. The domestic wood-based pellet industries are studied with a concise literature review and a SWOT analysis based on the earlier literature. The analysis is linked to the future expectations and current retailer perspectives with a survey conducted between June and October 2013. The sample consists of 39 low, medium and high sales volume wood pellet manufacturers and retailers whom mostly do only domestic pellet trading business. Most of the strengths of the domestic wood-based pellet industries are related to different kinds of ecological aspects or different kinds of raw material related issues. In the future especially the prices of the raw materials, prices of other energy sources and prices of the end-product will be in a crucial role. Most of the survey participants underlined the significance of the governmental acts concerning the future of the whole business in Finland: a favorable taxing policy and different subsidies can make Finland truly a greener economy but this have not happened yet, much due to the unfavorable domestic politics. According to the survey respondents, in the future the demand of wood-based pellet services, especially tailored and ready-to-use services from maintenance to deliveries are going to increase.

The aim of this study is to provide economical arguments for agriculture company to replace current wood chip heating by wood pellet heating. The study provides clear economical calculations for both options of heating investments and compares usage features to support upcoming investment decision. This study will examine wood chips and wood pellets as biofuels and presents needed heating systems. Profitability calculations of both heating investments are done by net present value, internal rate of return and return of investment. Sensitivity analysis is done based on the most critical factors for investments like changes of investment rate and cost of raw material. Solar energy will be processed only by theoretically. Both investment options are using the same heating equipment, so significant expenses between heating options are consist of cost of heating materials. Results of investment calculations advise the company to continue heating with wood chips. This study was done from the actual need of the agriculture company regarding profitable heating investment.