Dan Bergström

My field of research spans over a broad spectra of the forest biomaterials value chain; from forest management and silvicultural technology and operations, sustainability in management, wood and biomass harvesting and supply systems and logistics, technologies and systems for measuring biomass quality and quantity properties, biomass storage management, biomass upgrading/processing systems, fuel production and energy conversion technologies. I see myself as a generalist, even though I’m known to be an R&D specialist of novel and effective thinning- and supply systems for young dense boreal thinnings and whole small tree (biomass) harvesting in general.

Currently I am coordinating three research project, two within the BIO+ research program funded by the Swedish Energy Agency and the third within the Bio4Energy platform. In the project “Management of young dense forests and harvesting of biomass for bioenergy while sustaining high biodiversity, social values and sustainability indexes” (2024-2027, 11MSEK) the overall aims are to solve some of current conflicts between forest owners and reindeer herders around young dense forest management goals on reindeer grazing lands, increase the potential of harvesting low value biomass in thinnings to supply society with bioenergy and increase knowledge of how precision management can contribute to reach sustainability goals. The project is interdisciplinary and is executed though research by and education of two doctoral students. I am the main supervisor for the PhD students. In the project “Efficient biofuel production and logistics at terminals and industry” (2023-2026, 16.6MSEK) the overall aim is to produce quality-assured knowledge that can be applied directly in practice and enables increased efficiency in the supply chain for, and resource utilization of, wood fuels, thereby increasing the potential to substitute imported fossil fuels with domestically, sustainably produced biofuels. The project spans over the entire supply chain from transport of biomass for biofuel production to produced wood fuel for cogeneration of bioenergy. In the project I am also supervising a PostDoctoral researcher that currently is working on an extensive systematic literature with the specific aim to synthetize and evaluate existing research on utilizing techniques for monitoring GHG emission rates occurring during the storage of biomass. In the project “Expansion of biorefinery feedstock supply by mobilization of woody residues from multifunctional silviculture treatments and marginal land operations” (2023-2025, 1.8MSEK) we aim to explore a broadening of the feedstock base to a selection of relevant processes (chemical and thermochemical), by investigating currently underutilized woody biomass residual assortments from the combined perspective of technical feasibility, feedstock economy, policy leeway, and synergies and conflicting values. I also work in other projects. For example, “Pre-feasibility study of new residual streams as feedstock for production of biochar for industrial applications” (2025-2025, 0.56MSEK) with the overall aim to investigate residual biomass assortments that could constitute potential feedstocks for production of biochar for industrial applications, but that are currently not in focus from a Swedish perspective. Another is “The biocarbon future – a holistic approach to new sustainable value chains” (2024-2029,  18.5MSEK) were we through three doctoral student projects explore opportunities for and barriers to the biocarbon system development from three partially overlapping sustainability perspectives for the entire biocarbon value chain: socio-ecology (raw material supply), techno-economics (production and use), and socio-economics (markets and policies). Im co-supervising one of the students with the project aim to develop knowledge about the design of systems for industrial raw material supply of biomass for the production of biochar, and about the socio-ecological and environmental effects of the systems. Additionally, I am co-supervising a student employed at Luleå University of Technology working within the Trees4Mee competence center. The overall aims of the student project are to assess the impact of both upstream choices and conversion technology aspects on the overall value chain performance for a selection of value chains, identify and analyse relevant system trade-offs and synergies, and assess overall implementation and production potential. And lastly, I am currently participating in several smaller international research projects funded within the IEA Bioenergy Task 43 platform, together aiming to support the development of practical estimates of diverse biomass supplies in nature-positive circular economies, document the effects of different technical approaches and nature-positive circular economy frameworks on effective biomass supply mobilisation and availability, and identify recommended good practices for maintaining and sharing information on nature-positive biomass supplies that increase trust in the technical, ecological, social, and economic analysis of nature-positive biomass production and use. 

I also work in the Interreg AURORA project NordicForestry, which aims to explore and provide options of young forest management methods and technologies that meet the forest owners perceptions and objectives. It also provides decision-making tools that support both forest owners and service providers, and in-directly other stakeholders such as reindeer husbandry. The projects cross- and within-border cooperation between research, practitioners and education constitutes knowledge transfer network, which will continue to operate after the project.