Sustainable Forest Energy in South Savo 2023-2025 (kESme)

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The project aims to strengthen sustainable forestry, raise the level of care for young forests, and promote the availability of sustainably produced forest energy from young forests in South Savo. With the project, the operating conditions for entrepreneurship and employment based on forest services will improve. The project operates to better target the growing demand for energy wood to the care needs of young forests. The working method is to develop target selection and harvesting methods with the aim of improving the technical-economic profitability of small wood harvesting and the quality of forest management. The project conducts research on thinning methods for young forests and deploys methods in practice for actors in the small wood procurement and supply chain. The aim is to promote the cost-competitive availability of forest energy and the expansion of the raw material base. The project aims to produce information and expertise for forest sector operators and forest owners, which will enable the target groups to carry out the care of a young forest cost-effectively, taking into account the quality of forest management, climate, and biodiversity. The project improves the operating conditions of existing forest service entrepreneurs and enables the emergence of new forest service entrepreneurship. In entrepreneurship-supporting measures, the opportunities of open forest and nature information are utilized to clarify the potential at the regional level and to support the marketing and implementation of forest services. Forest service entrepreneurship is also promoted by strengthening the cooperation networks of forest service companies in the region. The project is implemented in 2023 - 2025 and the project is participated by the Forest Centre and the Bioenergy Laboratory of LUT University.

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Project period:
1.10.2023–31.12.2025

Project funding:
Etelä-Savon maakuntaliitto, Suur-Savon Energiasäätiö ry, Etelä-Savon Energia Oy, Lempeä Lämpö Oy, Metsänhoitoyhdistys, Laania Oy, Metsäenergia Meter Oy, Kasiforest Oy

Goals

The project’s objectives can be divided into three themes:

Improving the level of forest management in young forests: The aim is to improve the profitability of forestry and the yield of timber through advanced forest management. With improved forest management, the growth and carbon sequestration of forests are directed more quickly to maturing timber, from which long-lasting carbon-binding wood products can be processed.
Increasing the sustainable use of small wood from young forests: The project aims to increase the amount of small wood used for heat energy production. The harvesting of small wood is seen as a sustainable solution in heat production, as it does not increase the logging volumes of forests.
Improving the operating conditions for forest service entrepreneurship: The project aims to support forest service entrepreneurship by better utilizing open forest resource information. The project brings together forest service entrepreneurs in South Savo and creates cooperation networks, which improves the possibilities for starting new business activities.

These objectives support the sustainable development of the forestry sector and promote forest service entrepreneurship in the South Savo region. The project is implemented in 2023 - 2025 and is carried out by the Forest Centre and the Bioenergy Laboratory of LUT University.