Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Recycling of ash from co-incineration of waste wood and forest fuels: An overlooked challenge in a circular bioenergy system

Pettersson, Malin LU orcid ; Björnsson, Lovisa LU and Börjesson, Pål LU (2020) In Biomass & Bioenergy 142C.
Abstract
Wood ash recycling to forests after logging residues harvest is important to ensure long-term sustainable forest management, however, it is not recycled in Sweden at the level required to compensate for current logging residue out-take. A problem in this context is wood ash contamination through co-incineration of waste wood with forest fuels, a practice driven by the political goal of a circular bioenergy system. We performed a case study of co-incineration at a typical Swedish district heating (DH) plant, which showed that the forest fuel ash alone could be recycled to forests due to high nutrient levels. Co-incineration with waste wood resulted however in such high levels of contaminants that the ash was landfilled as hazardous waste.... (More)
Wood ash recycling to forests after logging residues harvest is important to ensure long-term sustainable forest management, however, it is not recycled in Sweden at the level required to compensate for current logging residue out-take. A problem in this context is wood ash contamination through co-incineration of waste wood with forest fuels, a practice driven by the political goal of a circular bioenergy system. We performed a case study of co-incineration at a typical Swedish district heating (DH) plant, which showed that the forest fuel ash alone could be recycled to forests due to high nutrient levels. Co-incineration with waste wood resulted however in such high levels of contaminants that the ash was landfilled as hazardous waste. Our assessment of the Swedish DH sector showed that wood ash contamination through co-incineration is common, and that only a minor proportion of the ash from forest fuels is recycled to the forest. It also revealed a lack of reliable data regarding ash production and management, making implementation and evaluation of effective countermeasures difficult. Practical measures to enable wood ash recycling, such as removal of waste wood from the fuel mix, incineration of separate fuels, and ash after-treatment, are hampered by technical and economic barriers. Furthermore, no comprehensive policy tools currently exist on either a national or EU level that facilitate wood ash recycling. Thus, we conclude that comprehensive and efficient policy tools are urgently needed to overcome current barriers, and stimulate large-scale recycling of wood ash for long-term sustainable forest fuel utilisation. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Co-incineration, Forest fuels, Waste wood, Ash recycling, District heating, Sustainable forest management
in
Biomass & Bioenergy
volume
142C
article number
105713
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • scopus:85090729917
ISSN
0961-9534
DOI
10.1016/j.biombioe.2020.105713
project
Hållbar utveckling av biobränslebaserad kraft- och värmeproduktion
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
4974cd09-bdc7-473a-9c87-d856a35f766d
date added to LUP
2020-09-15 11:31:23
date last changed
2023-04-10 20:14:29
@article{4974cd09-bdc7-473a-9c87-d856a35f766d,
  abstract     = {{Wood ash recycling to forests after logging residues harvest is important to ensure long-term sustainable forest management, however, it is not recycled in Sweden at the level required to compensate for current logging residue out-take. A problem in this context is wood ash contamination through co-incineration of waste wood with forest fuels, a practice driven by the political goal of a circular bioenergy system. We performed a case study of co-incineration at a typical Swedish district heating (DH) plant, which showed that the forest fuel ash alone could be recycled to forests due to high nutrient levels. Co-incineration with waste wood resulted however in such high levels of contaminants that the ash was landfilled as hazardous waste. Our assessment of the Swedish DH sector showed that wood ash contamination through co-incineration is common, and that only a minor proportion of the ash from forest fuels is recycled to the forest. It also revealed a lack of reliable data regarding ash production and management, making implementation and evaluation of effective countermeasures difficult. Practical measures to enable wood ash recycling, such as removal of waste wood from the fuel mix, incineration of separate fuels, and ash after-treatment, are hampered by technical and economic barriers. Furthermore, no comprehensive policy tools currently exist on either a national or EU level that facilitate wood ash recycling. Thus, we conclude that comprehensive and efficient policy tools are urgently needed to overcome current barriers, and stimulate large-scale recycling of wood ash for long-term sustainable forest fuel utilisation.}},
  author       = {{Pettersson, Malin and Björnsson, Lovisa and Börjesson, Pål}},
  issn         = {{0961-9534}},
  keywords     = {{Co-incineration; Forest fuels; Waste wood; Ash recycling; District heating; Sustainable forest management}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Biomass & Bioenergy}},
  title        = {{Recycling of ash from co-incineration of waste wood and forest fuels: An overlooked challenge in a circular bioenergy system}},
  url          = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/90253618/M_Pettersson_et_al_2020_Recycling_of_ash_from_co_incineration_of_waste_wood_and_forest_f_1.pdf}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.biombioe.2020.105713}},
  volume       = {{142C}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}