SuomeksiEnergy Value and Conversion Factors
On the left side the golden “oil source”: domestic, high-quality wood chips.
With the help of different conversion factors, wood chip can be compared with other types of energy sources and their units. Below are simplified the energy gains of wood chips, felled and lopped trees and copse.
The conversion factors are approximate. For example, one loose cubic metre of wood chips has 0.7–0.9 kWh energy depending on the quality and moisture content of the chips. As is the case with freshly felled trees, also with wood chips high moisture content decreases their energy value.
Loose cubic metre (m³ᶩͮ ) of wood chips equals averagely
- 180 kg of pellets
- 0.28 loose cubic meters of pellets
- 0.8 MWh of energy
- 80 litres of fuel oil
Solid cubic metre (m³ˢ) of felled and lopped trees equals averagely
- 2.5 cubic metres of wood chips
- 2 MWh of energy
One hectare of copse produces averagely
- 30 m³ of felled and lopped trees
- 75 m³ of wood chips
- 60 MWh of energy
- 6 000 litres of fuel oil
Below are presented the average values that are got when comparing fuels and energy. The energy gain from biofuels varies according to quality and circumstances.
