Abstract
With the increasing use of forest biomass, concerns about negative impacts have been raised in the debate. The aim of this study was to find out the attitude of university students towards the energy use of forest-based biomass and how different areas of sustainable forest operations were addressed. The survey was conducted over two years (2018–2019) with both full-time students at university and distance learning students who study alongside their work. Background information such as gender, nationality and field of study was collected from students. Most of the students currently considered the energy use of forest biomass to be sustainable. Many replies stressed that the situation could change if the use of forests is increased from the present circumstances. The main factors mentioned that led to forest-based bioenergy being sustainable were positive felling balance, compliance with forest certification, use of waste fractions and implementation of the Renewable Energy Directive (RED II) directive, while the loss of biodiversity, over-exploitation of forests, C debt and the cascading principle were factors that led to forest-based bioenergy being unsustainable. Student background variables had no effect on responses except for the field of study.
Highlights
With the increasing use of forest biomass, concerns about negative impacts have been raised in the debate
The survey was conducted over two years (2018–2019) for both full-time students at Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology (LUT) University and distance learning students who study alongside their work
Student background variables had no effect on the response to the first question, except for the field of studies, where environmental technology and chemical engineering students were more sceptical about the energy use of forest biomass
Summary
This study seeks to find out the opinions of university students on the sustainability of forest-based energy biomass. They will be future decision makers in the industry, so their views will have an impact on future choices. The silvicultural practices of forest operations may have a strong effect on environmental, economic and social performances, and sustainability. Its purpose is to balance the performance of forest operations across economic, environmental and social sustainability objectives [4]. It includes five performance areas: environment, ergonomics, economics, quality optimisation, people and society, all of which contain more specific key indicators
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
