Modern, highly mechanized forestry practices are known for being fairly carbon-intensive. New technologies, however, are being introduced with the potential to help lessen the environmental impacts of forestry while helping the industry be even more productive.
Modern technology used in forestry
Today’s mobile forestry equipment is purpose-built to make “light work” out of timber harvesting — traditionally very heavy, difficult, and time-consuming manual labor.
Within a matter of seconds, a modern harvester — a tracked vehicle weighing up to 20 tons — can transform a standing, 60-foot pine tree into a pile of logs. Another vehicle, known as a forwarder, can then haul those logs — up to 8 tons’ worth at a time — out of the forest and to a road for further transport.
To handle this sort of heavy work, mobile technology used in forestry is typically powered by large diesel engines. The process of harvesting is very carbon-intensive. As stated in a 2018 article in the ScienceDirect Journal of Cleaner Production:
While efficiency has increased through mechanization (Berg and Karjalainen, 2003), forest operations still account for the majority of emissions along the wood value chain: in that regard, harvesting is the most critical phase, due to its large consumption of fossil fuel (Dias and Arroja, 2012, Morales et al., 2015).
Fuel consumption during harvesting operation plays an important role in the overall timber extraction process: Lijewski et al. (2017) report that the fuel consumption of CTL harvesters represents 38% of the total fuel used along the technological cycle, which is higher than that consumed during forwarding (35%) and transportation (27%).
With this challenge in mind, several approaches are being taken to help reduce the environmental impacts of forestry equipment, including the use of hybrid power and digital technology.
Download our white paper Off-Road Trends: Driving Cleaner, More Efficient and Connected Machinery, and learn what influences the advances in mobile heavy machinery.
Digital technology used in forestry
While forest industries are thought to have lagged others in the adoption of digital technology, the tide is starting to turn. Digital technology is being used to increase productivity and sustainability, as forestry companies are leveraging tools such as geographic information system (GIS) mapping, satellite imaging, 3D simulations, big data and data collection, telematics and remote diagnostics, and supply chain digitalization. All this can help mobile forestry equipment operate more efficiently and improve forest productivity, getting more done with less impact on the environment.
As a 2018 report by McKinsey states:
Advanced technology can enable lower delivered costs for wood. It also makes possible higher wood yields from a given area of forest, which is especially valuable in Western Europe and East Asia, regions where little additional forest land is available.
The report goes on to project that forestry operators stand to realize productivity increases in the range of 5% to 25%. This is similar to what operators in general agriculture have realized as that industry has made the switch to digital.
The introduction of hybrid power
One European manufacturer has developed a hybrid harvester with a diesel engine and an electric drivetrain system. Software controls each drivetrain component, enabling it to react instantly based on workload. According to the manufacturer, the hybrid system delivers up to 510 horsepower and 2,000 Nm of force at working revs. The lower fuel consumption and stable engine performance also limit the amount of exhaust and greenhouse gases released into forest ecosystems.
The promise of a lowered environmental impact
Modern technology used in forestry makes light work out of tree harvesting. Because of its reliance on diesel power, this makes forestry a carbon-intensive activity. However, newer technologies — including hybrid-electric power and digital technology — hold great promise to help lower the environmental impacts of forestry.
To learn more about the environmental impact of modern forestry equipment, read our Off-Road Trends white paper.
This article was contributed by the Hydraulics Team.
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