%0 Articles %T Operational efficiency of forest energy supply chains in different operational environments %A Röser, Dominik %D 2012 %J Dissertationes Forestales %V 2012 %N 146 %R doi:10.14214/df.146 %U http://dissertationesforestales.fi/article/1928 %X Ambitious international efforts to combat climate change have lead to a large interest about the use of forest biomass for energy in many countries. In order to meet the expected growing demand in the future, it will be necessary to improve operational efficiency of existing forest energy supply chains and support the establishment of efficient supply chains in new operational environments. The thesis applied a three-dimensional approach which examines forest energy supply chains from a technical, social and economic viewpoint. Four case studies in different operational environments have been carried out to investigate the applicability of the three dimensional approach to improve operational efficiency. The technical dimension was investigated in Paper I and II. In Paper I, the effects of climatic conditions, covering of piles, and partial debarking on drying of roundwood were studied in four experimental trials located in Scotland, Finland and Italy. In Paper II, the chipping of forest biomass was studied in two different operational environments. The investigation of the social dimension in Paper III provides insights into the setup of two different supply chains through business process mapping and simulation. Finally, in paper IV, which investigated the economic dimension, an analysis of the effect of the operational environment on technology selection and design of supply chains, is presented. The thesis demonstrates that the chosen approach was practical to investigate the complex relationships between the chosen technologies and different supply chain actors and stakeholders thereby contributing to maintain or improve operational efficiency of forest energy supply chains. Due to its applicability in different operational environments, the approach is also suitable in a more global context. Furthermore, it captures the effect of different aspects and characteristics of the various operational environments on the setup and organization of supply chains. This will be valuable knowledge to ensure or improve operational efficiency when adapting existing forest energy supply chains or when building up supply chains in new operational environments. The benefit to consider the different dimensions is that it allows gaining a broader understanding of the challenges at different stages of forest energy supply and how they relate to each other. Furthermore, the analysis of the case studies in the context of the three-dimensional approach also revealed that timing and planning of the different operations and processes is essential to improve or maintain operational efficiency.