How can optimized forest management plan regulate noise levels from wind turbines?

Wind energy has emerged as one of the most economically viable renewable energy options in the transition towards a fossil-free society. In Finland, wind farms, consisting of several wind turbines, are commonly located in forested areas, prompting concerns about their potential audio-visual impacts. Despite this, research into how forests might mitigate the adverse effects of wind farms are limited. Forests can effectively serve as noise barrier, with their noise attenuation capacity varying based on the forest’s characteristics. Specifically, the attenuation level depends on the sound’s travel distance through the forest, as well as the size and density of trees. Our study findings indicate that forests can provide up to 10 dB of additional noise attenuation. This was achieved by integrating a forest structure-based model into forest planning calculations, aimed at mitigating noise pollution from wind turbines. Incorporating this noise model as a management objective significantly reduced noise levels in the pilot study area, outperforming traditional business-as-usual management strategies. Furthermore, adapting a combination of uneven-aged and even-aged forest management approaches resulted in more forested landscape, which was more effective in mitigating higher noise levels. Our results contribute important insights that, along with further research, can guide future forest planning and management towards enhanced sustainability

Luonnontuottometsä : Yhdysvaltalaisen Forest Bank -toimintamallin soveltaminen Suomessa

Luonto- ja ympäristöarvojen suojelua painottavaa metsien käytön mallia (multi-use conservation landscape) on esitetty yhdeksi keinoksi, jolla voidaan edistää metsäluonnon biodiversiteettiä ja metsien hiilivarastoa. Esimerkki tällaista lähestymistapaa hyödyntävästä ratkaisusta on pääosin yksityisrahoitukseen perustuva yhdysvaltalainen Forest Bank -toimintamalli, joka pyrkii yhdistämään luonnonläheistä metsänkäsittelyä, luonnonhoitoa ja arvokkaiden luonto- ja ympäristökohteiden suojelua tilarajat ylittävällä tavalla. Toimintamalliin sitoutuvat metsänomistajat saavat samalla kohtuullisen ja vuosittain tasaisen tulovirran metsistään. Tässä raportissa arvioidaan tällaisen, Luonnontuottometsäksi nimetyn toimintamallin soveltuvuutta Suomessa. Lisäksi arvioidaan, mitä lisäarvoa Luonnontuottometsä voisi tuoda verrattuna nykyisin käytössä oleviin tai aiemmin esitettyihin keinoihin. Tulosten mukaan Luonnontuottometsä ei kilpaile muiden monimuotoisuuden turvaamiseen pyrkivien keinojen kanssa, vaan täydentää niitä ennen muuta tarjoamalla vaihtoehtoisen rahoitustavan ja pyrkimällä kokoamaan yksittäisillä tiloilla tehtävät toimenpiteet suuremmiksi, tilarajat ylittäviksi kokonaisuuksiksi. Tällainen tavanomaisen metsätalouden ja tiukan suojelun välimaastoon sijoittuva vapaaehtoinen ja pääosin yksityisrahoitteinen metsäluonnon monimuotoisuuden ja muiden ympäristöarvojen säilyttämiseen tähtäävä toiminta on tähän asti jäänyt Suomessa julkisten ja virallisten suojelutoimien varjoon. Monimuotoisuuden edistäminen maisematasolla ei ole ideana uusi, mutta Luonnontuottometsä yhdistää siihen aiemmin kehitettyjä toteutusmalleja uudella tavalla. Suomen institutionaaliset rakenteet mahdollistavat Luonnontuottometsän toteuttamisen parhaiten yhteismetsän muotoon, mutta varsinkin toiminnan rahoituksen näkökulmasta myös säätiöt ja rahastot voisivat olla mahdollisia toimijoita. Ne voisivat osallistua yhteismetsämuotoiseen toimintaan myös osakkaina ja vakautta tuovina ankkurimaanomistajina. Yhteismetsämallin sijaan, tai sen rinnalla, toiminta voidaan organisoida myös Luonnontuottometsän ja maanomistajan välisen hoitosopimuksen tai vuokrasopimuksen pohjalta, koska näillekin löytyy valmiit toteutusmallit. Erityisen suureksi Luonnontuottometsän aikaansaama lisäarvo voisi muodostua, kun se toimisi olemassa olevan suojelualueverkoston tai luonnoltaan arvokkaiksi tiedettyjen, mutta suojelun ulkopuolelle toistaiseksi jääneiden alueiden läheisyydessä. Yhteistoiminta varsinkin Metsähallituksen mutta myös kuntien ja seurakuntien kanssa voisi tällöin edistää monimuotoisuuden turvaamista koordinoidusti yhden maanomistajan metsätilaa laajemmalla alueella. Luonnontuottometsän toiminnan järjestämiseksi ja arvioimiseksi tarvitaan yhtenäisiä metsäsuunnittelu- ja luonnonhoito-ohjeistuksia ja vaikuttavuusarviointeja. Mallin toteutusta luontoarvopainotteisena metsäomaisuuden hoitopalveluna edistäisi myös, jos maanomistajia palkittaisiin nykyistä selvemmin luontoarvoista ja niiden vaalimista koskevasta yhteistyöstä.202

Forest landscape shield models for assessing audio-visual disturbances of wind turbines

Wind power is one of the fastest growing renewable energy sectors and plays a focal role in the transition to a fossil fuel free society in Europe. Technological developments have enabled the construction of turbines within forested areas, which has raised concerns regarding the audio-visual impact on these landscapes. However, there is a paucity of research with regard to the role that forests may play in mitigating the negative impacts of wind farms. In this study, we created a simplified model for noise attenuation based on the ISO 9613-2 and Nord2000 noise models and a visibility model which both relates the audio-visual effect to forest stand structure and applied them in the GIS environment. Our findings suggest that forests can act as effective noise barriers, with the sound attenuation level dependent on the distance that sound travels through the forest, as well as the size and density of the trees. However, in the case of a high elevation sound source (such as wind turbines), the forest begins to act as a noise shield from a distance of between 500 and 1500 m, depending on the height of the forest and the land topography. While current noise models do not consider the impact of tree species, our visibility model accounts for tree size, density and species, as well as understorey and thinning. Our results indicate that spruce trees provide a better visual constraint whereas visibility distances within mature Calluna-type pine forests tend to be more extensive. Both models include variables that can be adjusted by forest management, thereby allowing integration with forest planning software. Overall, this study presents indicative methods for the evaluation of potential forest landscape shields, a concept that could have broad applications, including Landscape Value Trading

Pellet market, raw materials, handling and logistics in Northern Periphery. PELLETime

Wood pellets have become an important fuel in heat and power production. The pellet market and supply structures are currently undergoing rapid development. Ensuring the quality of pellets through the whole production, delivery and handling chain is important in order to increase the use of pellets and sustain its ability to compete with other fuels. This study focuses on the development of the pellet market, raw materials and supply structures mainly in Sweden and Finland. Sweden has a highly developed pellet market, where fuel taxation has promoted the use of wood pellets especially in large scale boilers of 2MW, where more than half of the pellets are combusted. There are about 120 000 households using pellet heating systems in addition to the 20 000 households using pellet stoves. Sweden is the world s largest producer and consumer of pellets. In 2007 a total of 94 pellet plants/producers were producing 1.4 million tonnes of pellets, while at the same time the consumption was 1.7 million tonnes. In addition, about 400 000 tonnes of pellets were imported to meet domestic demand. In Finland, pellet production has been growing steadily despite the fact that domestic consumption has remained relatively small until recently. Today there are 24 pellet plants/producers. In 2007 production was around 330 000 tonnes while the domestic consumption was 117 000 tonnes. The pellet market in Finland has long been export oriented; with 75% and 58% of production being exported in 2006 and 2007, respectively. Domestic consumption has been growing mainly in the small scale consumer sector; it is estimated that 15 000 households had pellet heating systems in 2008. Concerning supply structures, Sweden has well established pellet distribution networks, for domestic household consumers pellets are mainly delivered in sacks (80%) directly from the plant or through extensive network of retailers while bulk deliveries are less common (20%). In Finland pellets are delivered to users mainly in bulk (71%) using pneumatic or normal trucks when the share of sack deliveries is much smaller, large sacks (25.5%) and small sacks (3.5%). In the future, the increasing number of pellet users requires an organized delivery network and good equipment for bulk pellet deliveries, currently the equipment used varies significantl

Markkinapohjainen metsien luontoarvojen suojelukeino Yhdysvalloissa: tausta, toimintaperiaate ja kokemukset

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Present and future trends in pellet markets, raw materials, and supply logistics in Sweden and Finland

Wood pellets have become an important fuel in heat and power production, and pellet markets are currently undergoing rapid development. In this paper, the pellet markets, raw materials and supply structures are analyzed for Sweden and Finland, based on a database of the current location and production capacity of the pellet producers, complemented with existing reports and literature. In Sweden, a total of 94 pellet plants/producers were identified, producing 1.4 million tonnes of pellets, while the domestic consumption was 1.7 million tonnes, and about 400,000 t of pellets were imported to fulfil the demand in 2007. In Finland, 24 pellet plants/producers were identified and the production was around 330,000 t while the domestic consumption was 117,000 t in 2007. In Finland, pellet market has been long time export oriented, whereas domestic consumption has been growing mainly in the small scale consumer sector, estimated 15,000 households had pellet heating systems in 2008. In the future, the increasing number of pellet users will require a reliable delivery network and good equipment for bulk pellet deliveries. Provision of new raw materials and ensuring the good quality of pellets through the whole production, delivery and handling chain will be fundamental in order to increase the use of pellets and sustain the ability to compete with other fuels.Pellet market Bioenergy Energy policy

Reviewing wood biomass potentials for energy in Europe: the role of forests and fast growing plantations

<p>Wood biomass for energy is largely produced in Europe from forest land resulting from silvicultural and management practices or from agricultural land in the form of fast growing plantations. The present paper reviews and compares the estimated current potentials for wood biomass production in 25 countries in Europe. The potentials are divided attending to these sources to identify the most suitable method of wood biomass production on a country level, based on its current forest and agriculture levels of production. Data has been collected and compiled from previous models and estimations. The total aggregated available potential in Europe is 76 Mm³ of wood biomass from the forests, with an additional 90 Mm³ from increasing the utilization of forest lands, and 98 Mm³ from fast growing plantations (dedicating 5% of current agricultural land). Germany and France showed high potentials both from agriculture and forest; Finland and Sweden had most of its potential from forest sources; and Spain, Poland, and UK from fast-growing plantations. When considered together, Europe presents a large potential for wood biomass production for energy, and each country should develop different policy strategies of promotion attending to the most available source to realize this potential efficiently.</p