Assessment of the development potential of forest-wood processing chain

master's thesis

Slavica Ilc (Author), Henrik Gjerkeš (Mentor)

Abstract

Slovenia is the third most forested country in Europe. Nevertheless, in the last twenty five years this natural wealth did not get the adequate role in national development strategies, which unnecessary reduced their sustainability potential and lead the Slovenian forest-wood industry in a very bad situation. The forest-based sector in Europe is in a period of profound structural changes, which requires reassessment of the wood-chain products outlook. In the master’s thesis, the importance of integration of forestry and wood industry has been evaluated with the meaningful connection of different analytical methods: material flow analysis (MFA), SWOT analysis and life cycle assessment (LCA). With comparison of the roundwood and sawnwood material flow in Slovenia, Italy and Austria, the critical points in the Slovenian forest-wood chain were identified. In contrast to Austria and Italy, where wood is intensively reworked, Slovenia exports large amounts of untreated roundwood. As a consequence, the gross value added (GVA) per employee of wood sector in Slovenia reaches only 40 % of GVA in Austria and 50 % of GVA in Italy. Not only MFA, but also the SWOT and LCA analyses show, that wood processing into finished products is important both in terms of the value added and the environmental impact, as well as for more decisive shift of the economy towards a low-carbon society. Slovenian economy could take advantage of its sustainable development potential to a great extent by increasing the level of raw material self-sufficiency and energy independency. It is essential to re-establish forest-wood processing chain, to rework wood at home into products with the highest added value, and to use wood residues as renewable feedstock in green chemistry industry and for transformation into energy with novel technologies. Slovenian vision of sustainable economy has great potential, but requires enhanced cross-sectoral integration of forestry, wood processing, construction, chemistry and energy.

Keywords

sustainability;forest-wood processing chain;development potential;material flow analysis (MFA);SWOT analysis;life cycle assessment (LCA);

Data

Language:	English
Year of publishing:	2016
Typology:	2.09 - Master's Thesis
Organization:	UNG FPŠ - Graduate School
Publisher:	[S. Ilc]
UDC:	502.131.1
COBISS:	4519931
Views:	6460
Downloads:	261
Average score:	0 (0 votes)
Metadata:

Other data

Secondary language:	Slovenian
Secondary title:	OCENA RAZVOJNEGA POTENCIALA GOZDNO-LESNE PREDELOVALNE VERIGE
Secondary abstract:	Slovenija je tretja najbolj gozdnata država v Evropi. Kljub temu to naravno bogastvo v zadnjih petindvajsetih letih ni dobilo ustreznega mesta v nacionalnih razvojnih strategijah, kar je po nepotrebnem zmanjševalo njihov trajnostni potencial ter pustilo gozdno-lesno industrijo v zelo slabem položaju. V Evropi je sektor, ki temelji na gozdu, v obdobju globokih strukturnih sprememb, kar zahteva ponovno oceno prihodnosti produktov lesne verige. V magistrski nalogi je bil pomen povezovanja gozdarstva in lesne industrije ocenjen s smiselno povezavo različnih analitičnih metod: analizo materialnega toka (MFA), SWOT analizo in oceno življenjskega cikla (LCA). S primerjavo materialnega toka okroglega in žaganega lesa v Sloveniji, Italiji in Avstriji so bile določene kritične točke v slovenski gozdno-lesni verigi. Slovenija izvozi velike količine lesa v obliki nepredelanega okroglega lesa, za razliko od Avstrije in Italije, kjer les intenzivno predelujejo. Kot posledica tega je nizka dodana vrednost na zaposlenega v lesnem sektorju v Sloveniji, ki dosega zgolj 40 % dodane vrednosti na zaposlenega v Avstriji in 50 % dodane vrednosti na zaposlenega v Italiji. Ne samo analiza materialnega toka, tudi SWOT in LCA analizi sta pokazali, da je predelava lesa v končne izdelke pomembna tako z vidika dodane vrednosti in vpliva na okolje, kot tudi za odločnejši premik gospodarstva v smeri nizkoogljične družbe. Slovensko gospodarstvo bi lahko v večji meri izkoristilo svoj potencial trajnostnega razvoja s povečanjem stopnje surovinske samooskrbe in energetske neodvisnosti. Bistvena je ponovna vzpostavitev gozdno-lesne verige, predelava lesa doma v izdelke z najvišjo dodano vrednostjo ter uporaba lesnih ostankov kot obnovljivo surovino v zeleni kemijski industriji in za transformacijo v energijo z inovativnimi tehnologijami. Slovenska vizija trajnostnega gospodarstva ima velik potencial, vendar zahteva okrepljeno medsektorsko povezovanje gozdarstva, lesarstva, gradbeništva, kemijske industrije in energetike.
Secondary keywords:	trajnost;gozdno-lesna veriga;razvojni potencial;analiza materialnega toka;SWOT analiza;ocena življenjskega cikla;magistrske naloge;
URN:	URN:SI:UNG
Type (COBISS):	Master's thesis
Thesis comment:	Univ. v Novi Gorici, Fak. za podiplomski študij
Pages:	VIII, 83 str.
ID:	9171725