The OnTrack proposal is built around two concepts; (1) The development of a rubber tracked timber forwarder, based on proven technology, with low ground pressure, reduced environmental impacts, high travel speed and appropriate ergonomics, providing increased access to forest resources on soft soils– the OnTrack Forwarder, and (2) The development of an automatic sensor system that monitors and records geo-referenced ground disturbance from forest machines and enables measures to reduce negative environmental impacts – the OnTrack Monitor. At the end of the project, both of these OnTrack innovations will be ready for fully operational testing and limited serial production. It is expected that the innovations will be marketed within three years from the project start. OnTrack will have positive economic and environmental impacts on the European forest sector. The OnTrack Forwarder will increase machine utilization rates for contractors and contribute to a more consistent wood supply with economic benefits the forest-based value chains. OnTrack will also strengthen the current marked position and open new markets for the involved enterprises. The OnTrack Forwarder reduces the amount of wheel rutting and soil disturbance between 40 and 70%, compared to a conventional forwarder under given conditions. The OnTrack Monitor will be the first operational system that monitors wheel rutting and damage to the soil during forest operations, and will allow forest owners, certification bodies, and policy makers to set thresholds for damages, for adopting improved operation practices, and for efficient amelioration of ruts that have exceeded these thresholds. Overall, OnTrack will lead to significant improvement in the procurement of ecosystem services such as wood supply, carbon, water and nutrient regulation, biodiversity conservation, and recreation. Hence, the project provides intelligent tools for forest production while keeping the multifunctional role of forest in focus.

Our vision is to develop a flexible and cost-effective gasification-based process for the production of pipeline-quality biomethane, high-value biochar and renewable heat from a wide variety of low-quality biomass residues and biogenic waste feedstocks. The combination of gasification process development and feedstock supply chain optimization will lead to significant cost reductions that allow lowering biomethane production costs by more than 30% compared to state-of-the-art biomass-to-SNG technologies. The target is at medium-scale conversion plants, which allows the use of local biomass residues and biogenic wastes without heavy transport logistics. The key innovative technology of FlexSNG is the flexible gasification process that can switch between two operation modes according to price signals and market demand: 1) co-production of biomethane, biochar and heat, and 2) maximised production of biomethane and heat. The produced biomethane can be readily injected into the existing gas infrastructure for distribution in the transport sector, heat/power production, industries and households. The co-produced biochar can be used to displace fossil fuels in energy production and industry or in material applications. The FlexSNG concept is based on the European partners’ advanced technologies in the field of oxygen production, gasification and gas clean-up and methanation. The innovative key enabling technologies will be developed and validated to TRL5. The Canadian partners bring their expertise in feedstock supply chain management, modelling and optimization of integrated biorefinery concepts, and the Canadian perspective into the project. FlexSNG will demonstrate the targeted 30% cost reduction in concrete case studies representing both European and Canadian conditions. The proposed activities are well in line with the goals set in the work programme for international cooperation with Canada to develop new sustainable solutions for biofuels/bioenergy production.