The wood industry faces challenges due to rising prices and limited wood availability, putting pressure on material efficiency in wood processing. This justifies the analysis of the relationship between efficiency and economy in pine wood processing. The study aimed to measure the impact of variations in the thickness of logs, changes in the technology of their further processing, and changes in prices of raw materials and products on the material efficiency in the context of large-scale production of furniture elements made of pinewood. The raw material input consisted of three categories of log sizes, from which the specialized purpose lumber was produced. The lumber was then processed into semi-finished furniture elements with three technologies: without detecting natural wood defects, with human detection, and with automatic detection. The study was conducted in Poland from 2020 to 2022. The material efficiencies in every stage of the analyzed wood processing and the cost efficiencies were calculated and analyzed based on the results obtained under real industrial conditions. The main findings are as follows: (1) when comparing the logs in the three tested diameter ranges (14–23 cm, 23–30 cm, and more than 30 cm), it can be observed that the overall material efficiency of sawing is in the range of 70%–85% and increases with the thickness of the log; (2) the share of 38 mm specialized sawn timber in the total amount of sawn timber was 41%–58% and increased with increasing log diameter; (3) the economic efficiency of the technological process is 170%–290%, based on the log size and the technology of further processing employed. The determining factor affecting cost efficiencies is unexpected changes in raw material prices and product demand in 2022. The findings suggest that while improvements in processing technology can boost efficiency, they cannot fully offset the rise in raw wood material prices.

One of the bases of the European policy and energy strategy is the biomass and bioenergy obtained from it. It is estimated that by 2023, the annual demand for biomass will have increased from the current level of 7 EJ to 10 EJ. There are significant differences between estimates of the bioenergy potential due to the fact that the authors of publications do not use consistent methodology and assumptions. Forest biomass, agricultural residues, and energy crops are the three main sources of biomass for energy production. Energy crops are likely to become the most important source of biomass. Land use and its changes are a key issue in the sustainable production of bioenergy as the availability of biomass determines its potential for energy security. This article is a review of the latest publications on the bioenergy potential of the member-states of the European Union. The consumption of energy and its potential were presented, with a special focus on renewable sources, especially biomass. The potential of biomass resources was presented and the types of biomass and its sources of origin were indicated. The research was conducted on the member-states of the European Union, whose policy is based on long-term development from the dependence on fossil resources to the dominance of renewable resources. As results from the research, in recent years, there has been a significant increase in the potential of both forest biomass (from 4.8 EJ per annum to the forecasted 15 EJ per annum) and agricultural biomass from (from 2.3 EJ per annum to the forecasted 7 EJ per annum). The increase in the demand for energy biomass in the EU member-states is balanced by partial imports from non-EU countries.

(1) Wood is a widely available raw material on the market, which satisfies the industrial demand and which is used both as a source of biomass for the wood materials industry in a broad sense and for energy-supplying purposes. These areas prove the functional values and the possibilities of the directional use of low-quality wood products. One of the factors influencing the overall balance of the wood biomass is the form and quality of the wood material that cannot be further processed mechanically. This study was conducted to determine the influence of this material by presenting the dependence between the level of wood biomass resources and the conditions of wood acquisition and processing in Poland. (2) The basic directions of biomass acquisition were verified in correlation with the level of its acquisition from forest areas and with the form of by-products generated by sawmills. The research was based on the data from reference publications and analysis of the processing of raw wood in sawmills. The research was conducted on raw hardwood and softwood from coniferous and deciduous forests in Poland. (3) The research confirmed the influence of the processing method on the form and share of by-products. It also showed that the form of the wood biomass obtained was influenced by the region of Poland. (4) The research showed that the regionalisation and wood processing directions were correlated with the structure of the wood biomass acquired.

The article is the first in a series of works presenting the potential and possibilities of using for energy purposes wood waste and wood by-products generated at various stages of production in companies of the wood industry. The management of all wood waste and wood by-products is a pending issue due to the growing importance of the circular economy and broadly understood environmental protection. It is the environmental aspects and the climate targets defined by the EU that are the basis to determine the precise courses of action for the Member States and, as a result, also for companies. The article proves that regardless of the decisions taken by governments of individual countries in terms of broadly understood environmental protection, companies are free to implement pro-environmental solutions as part of their business activity. Due to the broad subject of the management of waste and by-products generated in different units of the wood industry, the possibilities of their use in terms of energy in primary wood processing companies–sawmills—are presented first. On the example of selected entities, the energy potential and possibilities of generating energy from renewable sources taking into account the principles of circular economy are presented. The possibilities of optimising production by improving redistribution of thermal energy, which may result in improving the economic efficiency of the assessed enterprises, were indicated.

This article starts a series of articles on dependences between the conditions of the growth of trees in forests and the technical aspects and directions of using the raw material obtained from these trees. This is a key feature for wood purchasers because it determines the efficiency of production and directly affects the final financial result of their activity. Wood represents an environmentally sustainable and renewable material, which is a widely available raw material on the market and must meet specific quality and strength requirements. These parameters indicate the utility values of wood and the possibilities of its use. One of the factors influencing the properties of wood is the type of the forest habitat it comes from. In order to determine this influence, tests were carried out to show how tree growth conditions affected changes in the density and strength of raw wood. The assumption (hypothesis) about the correlation between the static bending strength of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) wood and the forest habitat was verified on four forest types, i.e., fresh coniferous forest (FCF), fresh mixed coniferous forest (FMCF), fresh mixed forest (FMF) and fresh forest (FF). The properties depend largely on the wood structure, its origin on the cross section and the length of the stems. The raw material selected for the study came from Scots pine trees growing in forests in central Poland. The study confirmed the influence of the habitat on changes in the density and strength of pinewood. There was a correlation between the habitat FMCF and the quality parameters of the raw material, which reflected the wood structure r = 0.775; p < 0.05.

According to most energy demand forecasts, woody biomass has the potential to become an important source of renewable energy, especially during the transitional period of energy transition. The aim of this article was to estimate the energy potential of the biomass from the forest and the biomass generated by the mechanical processing of wood raw material and also to show the spectrum of possibilities for the potential use of the biomass for energy production in Poland. This research used available statistical and literature data on the species structure of harvested wood and the qualitative and assortment structures of woody biomass. The basic parameters of the raw material were evaluated in accordance with the EU classification of energy wood. This study confirmed the relationship between the energy potential of woody biomass and energy demand in Poland. The correlation coefficient for these variables was r = 0.984. This correlation was reflected in the significant shares of biomass in the production of electricity (more than 9%) or heat (almost 14%). Energy wood resources in Poland are smaller than in other European Union countries, which affects the scale of the potential use of woody biomass for energy purposes. Nevertheless, the use of such a biomass is fully justified from the point of view of possible development.