Willingness to Pay for Certified Wooden Furniture: A Market Segment Analysis

Market segmentation techniques were applied to identify and describe potential consumer clusters with highest hypothetical willingness to pay (WTP) for certified wooden furniture. Representative samples of the British and Norwegian population were surveyed by telephone and asked to choose between two profiles of wooden furniture, where one was eco-labeled and more expensive. The eco-labeled would certify that the wood originated from sustainable forestry. The survey data allowed for substantiating the attribute segmenting with the hypothetical choice behavior between eco-labeled and unlabeled wood and logit model estimates of WTP. The statistical method to identify the segments was k-means cluster analysis, principally using stated importance of product attributes and estimated WTP for eco-labeling as grouping variables.One segment profiled as an "eco-segment" was confirmed by placing a higher value on the dimensions (values) of environmentalism—trusting environmental and outdoor organizations regarding information about forestry and environment, and having a higher rate of membership in environmental organizations. This "eco-segment" amounted to more than 1/4 of the samples. The British eco-segment could be described as relatively "greener" than the Norwegian. The British also had higher estimated WTP for eco-labeling compared to the Norwegians. The eco-segments had their media interest directed more towards intellectual issues than the other segments. Demographically, the eco-segments did not differ significantly from the other segments, except that the British had a greater female majority

On the Reliability of International Forest Sector Statistics: Problems and Needs for Improvements

201

Modeling carbon leakage impacts of the EU climate policies with a global forest sector model

201

Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Energy Use, and Costs–Case Studies of Wood Fuel Supply Chains in Scandinavia

Use of bioenergy based on woody biomass has become increasingly important in recent years, especially in European countries. In three case studies from Scandinavia, we conducted life cycle assessment (LCA) of alternative wood fuel supply chains (WFSCs) with respect to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, energy use, and costs. Case study 1 is a local Norwegian supply chain, while case studies 2 and 3 are international WFSCs, where woody biomass is exported to Sweden from respectively lowland and mountain forests in Norway. The GHG emissions and energy use in the case of wood chip exportation from Norway to Sweden were lower than in the local alternative use of the biomass. The emissions were 31.7 kg CO2e/m3 solid over bark (67.4 kg CO2e/MWh) for case study 1; 22.2 kg CO2e/m3 solid over bark (47.2 kg CO2e/MWh) for case study 2; and 23.9 kg CO2e/m3 solid over bark (50.8 kg CO2e/MWh) for case study 3. From a GHG point of view, WFSCs with relatively long transport distances were best when transportation was by railway and the combustion plant had high efficiency. The highest GHG emissions occurred in the truck transportation and chipping operations. Energy input-output ratios show that for case studies 1, 2, and 3, respectively, the fossil fuel energy inputs were 4.5%, 3.4%, and 4% of the bioenergy produced. Forest fuels from mountain forests in Norway seem promising for filling the high demand for wood fuel in Sweden, where bioenergy use is relatively high. In all case studies, the GHG balance was positive, especially when wood fuel plants substituted energy production from coal and oil plants. The cost analysis showed that wood chip import from Norway to Sweden was economically feasible. Keywords: bioenergy, LCA, mountain forests, Norway, supply chains, Sweden. Received 6 January 2012, Revised 3 February 2012, Accepted 8 February 2012

Determinants of nonindustrial private forest owners' willingness to harvest timber in Norway

In Norway, 84% of the productive forest is privately owned, and these forests dominate the supply of timber to industries. However, during last 80 years, annual forest growth has seen a substantial upsurge while annual timber harvest has been rather stable, generating an increasing potential for timber supply. In this study, we provide new insights to better understand Norwegian non-industrial private forest owners’ timber harvesting decisions. This was achieved by comparing the outcomes of two different statistical approaches (i.e., a combination of probit-linear models with a tobit model). These approaches are commonly applied in timber supply studies, but to the best of our knowledge have never been compared on the same dataset. The survey utilized for this study constitutes a population of Active and Inactive forest owners, based on whether the owner had harvested timber for sale during the last fifteen years. Two gross samples of 1500 and 1650 were drawn, with response rates of 56% and 49% for the Active and Inactive owner samples, respectively. The study results reveal that the average holding size varied from 25.2 ha for Inactive to 49.5 ha for both samples and 73.8 ha for Active owners. The probit model analysis indicated that knowledge of forest fund and financial objectives had the most significant impact on the willingness to harvest, with marginal effects of 11% and 12%, respectively. In the linear regression, being a male owner increased the historical timber supply by 1.48 m3 ha−1 year−1 compared to female ownership. In the second regression pathway (tobit model), the two variables male forest owner and owning forests for financial objectives triggered the supply of timber by 1.85 m3 ha−1 year−1 and 1.25 m3 ha−1 year−1, respectively. Timber prices were significant in the linear model (elasticity 1.18) and tobit model (elasticity 0.66), whereas they were non-significant in the probit model. Our study concludes that Active owners had a better understanding of acknowledging forests for economic security. Policy-makers and extension services should recognize that the Inactive forest owner group may require different actions than Active owners.publishedVersio

Can we detect regional differences in econometric analyses of the Norwegian timber supply?

publishedVersio

Best scenarios for the forest and energy sectors - implications for the biomass market

201

Bioenergy from mountain forest: a life cycle assessment of the Norwegian woody biomass supply chain

This is the postprint version of the article. The published article can be located here: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02827581.2011.570783Norwegian mountain forests represent interesting sources of wood biomass for bioenergy. This case study gives a life cycle assessment of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and costs of forest management, harvest and transport operations in the mountainous areas of Hedmark and Oppland counties in Norway. Low-intensity forest management characterizes the study sites. The study shows that transportation to the terminal is the operation with the highest GHG impacts in the examined supply chain and that the bundling of forest residues has the highest financial cost. The mountain forest system analyzed emits 17,600 g CO2e per solid cubic meter over bark. Transportation to the terminal accounts for 31% of the emissions and 23% of the costs, while bundling accounts for 25% of the total emissions and 19% of the total costs. The study shows that there is a considerable quantity of woody biomass available for bioenergy purpose from mountain areas. In the short term, it is possible to integrate harvesting of logging residues in the conventional logging operations. However, it is necessary to improve forest management, logistic and technology for reducing emissions and operative costs, ensuring the achievement of a sustainable system at the same time

Effects of Income and Price on Household's Charcoal Consumption in Three Cities of Tanzania

publishedVersio

Forests, bioenergy and climate change mitigation: are the worries justified?

No abstract availabl