Vol. 61 No. 4 (2006):
Articles

Integrated harvesting of roundwood and biomass from the group-cuts in Alpine forests

PDF (Italiano)
  • Raffaele Spinelli,
  • Natascia Magagnotti,
  • Bruce Hartsough
Raffaele Spinelli
Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto per la Valorizzazione del Legno e delle Specie Arboree - San Michele all’Adige (TN).
Natascia Magagnotti
Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto per la Valorizzazione del Legno e delle Specie Arboree - San Michele all’Adige (TN).
Bruce Hartsough
University of California, Biological and Agricultural Engineering Dept. - Davis, California (USA).

Published 2006-08-08

Keywords

  • biomass,
  • mechanization,
  • Alps,
  • processor,
  • logging

Copyright (c) 2006 Italian Journal of Forest and Mountain Environments

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Abstract

In 2003 CNR has launched a four-year research programme aimed at testing the best technology options for harvesting forest biomass on the Eastern Alps. The experimental plan included two tests on the recovery of residue biomass from maturity cuts in tractor terrain. The tests allowed assembling an electronic model that can calculate the profit obtained with alternative technology options, suitable for the group-selection harvest of mature spruce stands in tractor terrain. For the hypotheses tested, the best strategy includes mechanical processing and biomass recovery. Skidding whole trees and processing them at the landing confirms as the most profitable alternative, even when biomass prices are low.
PDF (Italiano)