FIRSTCUT: A Preliminary Assessment Model for Short-Rotation Intensive Silviculture. Model Description and User's Guide

摘要

FIRSTCUT is an interactive simulation model which calculates the discounted average cost, net present value and rate of return for short-rotation intensive silvicultural biomass production. The model is intended for preliminary economic feasibility assessments in which the principal analytical objectives are: (1) to analyze the variation in discounted average cost and net present value with respect to specific resource characteristics and economic conditions, (2) to identify the most attractive conditions for sites and designs, and (3) to indicate the nature of potential trade-off relationships in system design and operation. In FIRSTCUT, the biomass system under investigation is defined by a large number of user-specified values. These parameters provide the capability for tracking the implications of changes in major system components separately, while keeping the description of the components general enough to apply to a wide range of plantation systems. Through appropriate specification of the costs of capital equipment, labor, and materials, FIRSTCUT is equally applicable to systems that range from a highly mechanical operation in the United States to a labor-intensive plantation system in a less-developed country. The configuration of user-specified values also determines the roles of the cost of capital, labor, and materials in the investment alternatives. The user-specified values are grouped into six categories: (1) site and scenario descriptors, (2) economic factors, (3) plantation establishment parameters, (4) operation and maintenance parameters, (5) yield response parameters, and (6) harvesting decisions. (ERA citation 09:007365)