@inproceedings{AuerRauch2020, author = {Auer, Veronika and Rauch, Peter}, title = {Assessing hardwood flows from resource to production through Material Flow Analysis}, series = {9th Hardwood Proceedings - Part I}, booktitle = {9th Hardwood Proceedings - Part I}, issn = {2631-004X}, pages = {13 -- 20}, year = {2020}, abstract = {Many doubts accompany both the resource potential of hardwoods and their softwood substituting potential within its material utilisation. However, as the feedstock demand will rise with more and more wood-based biorefineries entering the market, wood supply security is an increasingly pressing topic. Currently, hardwood flow models are lacking, but are an essential basis for estimating future hardwood supply security. This study investigates the actual hardwood flows in Germany by applying a Material Flow Analysis (MFA). Visualising the results of the MFA for the reference year 2016. The MFA displays 4.44 +/- 0.12 million m³ (fob) recorded fellings in privately-owned forests, 8.60 +/- 0.15 million m³ (fob) recorded fellings in state forests, 9.31 +/- 0.52 million m³ (fob) as unrecorded harvest from forests (i.e. 37\% of the total harvest) and 2.65 +/- 0.35 million m³ (fob) unrecorded fellings from non-forest area (11\% of total harvest). Of that, almost 30\% were used for materials and 70\% were used for energy. Consequently, the potential for material use of hardwood in Germany lies beyond its current usage, especially given that good qualities are being used for energy due to actual low material consumer demand. Thus, the MFA assessed the quality and quantity of the German hardwood potential and showed that it offers significant possibilities for value added usage options such as, for example, producing innovative products in biorefineries using degraded high-quality assortments. Due to the low data consistency, heterogeneous datasets for the forest and wood industry sector were calibrated through data reconciliation and error propagation. Additionally, the lack of statistical data for specific wood industry sectors raised a problem, for instance, actual data on private combustion of wood, established hardwood uses, or new innovative products. Severe data issues regarding the German hardwood flow were confirmed.}, language = {en} } @article{AuerRauch2021, author = {Auer, Veronika and Rauch, Peter}, title = {Wood supply chain risks and risk mitigation strategies: A systematic review focusing on the Northern hemisphere}, series = {Biomass and Bioenergy}, journal = {Biomass and Bioenergy}, number = {148}, pages = {106001}, year = {2021}, abstract = {This paper presents a systematic literature review on both the risks affecting wood supply security and risk mitigation strategies by quantitative and qualitative data analysis. It describes wood-specific supply chain risks, thereupon resulting impacts and counteracting strategies to ensure supply. Risks, impacts, and strategies are documented as basis for a comparative analysis, discussion of results, challenges and research gaps. Finally, the suitability and the limitations of the chosen methodology and the achieved results are discussed. Scanning wood supply chain risks and supply strategies, most of the reviewed papers focus on wood supply for bioenergy generation and only a few studies investigate wood supply chain risk issues for the sawing, wood panel, pulp and paper industries, or biorefineries. This review differs significantly from other reviews in this field as it considers the entire wood value chain including recent studies on new chemical wood-based products and thus provides a more complete picture of the wood-based bioeconomy. Consequently, it contributes to the literature by providing an overarching investigation of the risks affecting wood supply security and possible side effects of a growing wood-based bioeconomy. It was found that comprehensive value chain analyses considering established wood products, large-volume bioenergy products, as well as established and new chemical wood-based products in the context of wood supply security are missing. Studies that map the entire wood value chain with its multilevel interdependences and integrating cascading use of wood are lacking.}, language = {en} } @article{AuerRauch2021, author = {Auer, Veronika and Rauch, Peter}, title = {Developing and evaluating strategies to increase the material utilisation rate of hardwoods: a hybrid policy Delphi‑SWOT analysis}, series = {European Journal of Wood and Wood Products}, volume = {79}, journal = {European Journal of Wood and Wood Products}, number = {6}, pages = {1419 -- 1433}, year = {2021}, abstract = {The indigenous hardwoods in German forests have a substantial ability to store carbon, and forestry reconstruction measures are anticipated to result in an increase in availability of hardwood on the wood market. Despite this, its material usage is declining with over two thirds of the harvested quantity being used for energy production. This study aims to identify policy measures and promising strategies for increasing hardwood utilisation using a combined policy Delphi-SWOT approach with literature review undertaken to identify the barriers and driving factors for an increase in its material use. The results were then ranked by a panel of experts and used as basis for the SWOT analysis, which was then applied to an extended SWOT approach. The resulting strategies were then discussed by the panel and ranked further in the 2nd and 3rd Delphi round. After three Delphi rounds, three strategies and associated policy recommendations were ranked as most effective by the experts: innovative hardwood products including manufacturing processes, research transfer and lobbying. This study provides both strategic analyses and effective strategies to stimulate the production of hardwood-based products and ends with a concise description of these strategies and policy recommendations, which are benchmarked against current literature and best practise examples.}, language = {en} }