Working out the energy efficiency and sustainability equation for the wood fuel chip sector?

The rapid development of renewable energies in Europe requires accurate knowledge of the resources and of the consequences of their utilisation. The various sources must be evaluated in terms of energy performance but also for their sustainability .T his study considers the production of forest biomass particularly in the form of wood fuel chips. The aim is to develop am ethod for evaluating the energy balance and the mineral export according to various management scenarios along the production chain. Fo rt hat purpose, as imulator was developed, covering the entir ep rocess, from felling of the trees in the forest to the delivery of the chips to the end user .T he simulation tool, named ForEnerChips, is implemented on the softwar ep latform CAPSIS, and is first connected to the growth and yield simulator FAGACEES. In the final stage, the simulation tool is used to evaluate and compar ev arious production and supply scenarios that ar er epresentativ eo fc urrent trends or serve to explor ep otential alternativ ep ractices.