Almost 173,000 tonnes of used wood could be re-used in Switzerland as to produce valuable heat and power energy today, in addition to the 644,000 tonnes of used wood already being used.
The Swiss Federal Research Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL) together with 567 companies in the construction, waste management and transport sectors reached the conclusion by conducting a nationwide survey.
Nearly 1 million tonnes of used wood (accumulated on construction or demolition sites, arising from building renovations or conversions or in the form of packaging or crushed wood waste), were produced in Switzerland in 2014. Sustainable energy could have been generated out of 817,000 tonnes of this wood, but only 644,000 tonnes of used wood were actually used producing heat or electricity. The additional used wood available would suffice to supply heat, at 80% efficiency, to some 80,000 average households during the cold season (from September to May) and provide enough power for 40,000 average homes, Science Daily reported.
All the information is based on a nationwide survey in Switzerland. A team of WSL researchers led by Oliver Thees ascertained how much dis-used wood accrued in 2014 in all regions of Switzerland and which quantities were used in order to produce energy, were disposed of or were sold abroad. In the published report, it's shown how much energy could be used from wood.
According to the findings in the report, the canton of Bern has the greatest potential for sustainable re-using wood to generate energy. In the area, so much used wood is already converted into heat and electricity there that the current total could only be increased by 7%.
The greatest quantities, in absolute terms, of additional used wood that could be exploited as an energy source are produced in these cantons: Basel Land (a potential increase of 95%), St. Gallen (43%), Solothurn (38%), Lucerne (27%) and Zurich (13%), as reported by Science Daily.
"Energy production from used wood in these cantons could have been markedly increased in 2014, the year covered by the survey," says project team member Matthias Erni.
Although there is sufficient interest in the energy use of wood which has already been used in Switzerland, in 2014 roughly one-third of the used wood was exported. The wood's end users process it into particle board or use it to generate energy.
The need for so many shipments of timber abroad would be eliminated if more used wood were re-used in Switzerland for the production of heat and power. This would also save energy, lead to lower costs and to cut emissions of greenhouse gases.
