An assessment tool for analysing the complete forest-wood supply chain has been developed as a result of the Eforwood project, a four-year European initiative.

The Tool for Sustainability Impact Assessment (ToSIA) will provide a software-based decision-support tool that can gather analysis from forest to finished product, across six processes – forest resources and their management, harvesting and transport, processing, production and recycling.

Programme Coordinator, Kaj Rosen of Skogforsk, The Forest Research Institute of Sweden, explains, ‘Using 26 integrated indicators ToSia can calculate the full wood and fibre flow in a value chain. It will not predict the future but it can provide objective analysis to likely scenarios or concerns, such as what effect would it have on greenhouse gas emissions if the construction of timber building is increased by 25%? What would happen if the harvesting of energy wood were to be increased at the cost of pulpwood? More importantly, it is capable of mapping and analysing specific parts of a chain, for example sawmill to mill gate.’

Unlike existing software, the program is said to address environmental, economic and social dimensions of sustainability and tests have been carried out by defining network forest wood chains in Scandinavia, Germany and the Iberian Peninsula. According to Rosen, the most extensive results were achieved in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, where ToSia has been used to conduct analysis on forest ownership, tree species, harvested timber volumes, production capacity and consumption.

Marcus Lindner of European Forest Institute, Finland, and one of the 38 partners involved in the Eforwood project further claims the tool could be used for companies investigating biomass and also to monitor the release of toxic waste. He says, ‘Currently we are using the tool to characterise different supply chains for biomass analysis, specifically in North Korea where they have high ambitions for self-sufficiency in renewable energy. The system could also be used to produce in-depth corporate social responsibility analysis reports for companies seeking to improve sustainability. This project has also made way for projects such as Northern ToSia which provides a similar tool for northern peripheries such as Scotland, Sweden, Finland and Norway’.

Although the Eforwood tool focuses on the European forest-wood chain, Rosen argues much of the knowledge can be applied to forest-wood chains outside Europe.

The system will initially be limited to the scenarios inputted by Eforwood, however, scenario data can be added manually to gain analysis. As yet, ToSIA cannot be used to compare production value chains for competing materials in industrial sectors, researchers aim to develop this in a subsequent project. The software, which is available through limited partners, will be released for public use at the end of the year.