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As the 350,000ha of new forests planted in the Republic of Ireland over the past three decades mature, wood production is forecast to double between now and 2035. This is true of timber used for construction and manufacturing, but also of wood fibre material (Figure 1).
This includes the roundwood and brash from harvested trees that is too thin for industrial use, as well as harvesting and processing residues. In 2016, around one-third of this material was used as fuel, mostly to dry sawn wood in timber processing plants, said Fergus Moore, head of forestry development at the Department of Agriculture.
Non-fuel use
The rest went to make panelboard and, to a lesser degree, chips for non-fuel use such as animal bedding.
As the volume of available wood fibre increases, the panelboard industry faces the threat of Brexit in its key UK market. This makes energy an attractive outlet to develop for the industry, said Moore, but he highlighted challenges: “We have to get timber out of the forest,” he said, with grants for road building attempting to make this easier.
“There is very little certification in the private sector,” he added, which could be an issue when buyers of biomass fuels insist on verification that the products come from sustainably managed forests.
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