Alternative sources for products competing with forest-based biofuels

About the project

Today, there are a number of biofuels in different stages of development: from ethanol, RME and tall oil diesel, to methane, methanol and DME from different sources. Several studies have shown the advantages of biofuels compared to fossil fuels regarding greenhouse gas emissions, etc. However, to the best of our knowledge, previous reports have not sufficiently considered current and alternative uses of biomass in for example heat and power production, or production of chemicals or materials such as pulp and paper.

As a valuable resource, and in a sustainable society, biomass should be used as efficiently as possible and the competing interests need to be considered. This project is a pre-study aiming to describe the environmental effects of alternative sourcing for current products from forest biomass when the biomass is instead used for fuel. By highlighting critical issues for further analyses, the study constitutes a solid basis for more detailed analyses of climate related effects of biofuel production, thus leading to increased understanding of how to maximize the positive climate effects of production of forest based biofuels.