Objective Short rotation coppice plantation are increasing in extent within the community and are set to increase substantially with the proposed revisions to the CAP and GATT agreements. Whilst the technology for growing the crop is reasonably well advanced a major stumbling block lies in the cost of harvesting and delivery systems where costs of harvesting, storage and drying and delivery can amount to up to 70 % of the total delivered costs. This project aims to reduce these costs by development of low-cost methods of harvesting, drying and storage of willow, poplar and robinia crops. A systems approach will be used to synthesise viable combinations of post-harvest operations evaluated in multidisciplinary research in 6 participating countries. The three main research tasks have been allocated to 10 research and industrial organisations in the 6 participating countries: Task 1 : to progress towards an optimum specification for coppice harvesters through coordinated trials of commercial and prototype European and Scandinavian machines. Task 2 : to develop economic systems of storage and drying of chips, chunks and bundles by using mathematical models of the physical and biological systems to interpret, coordinate and apply results from studies of artificially and naturally-ventilated storage systems. Task 3 : to recommend, from these research findings, economically viable systems for harvesting, storage and delivery systems across species and geographical ranges in Europe. Fields of science agricultural sciencesagriculture, forestry, and fisheriesforestrysilviculturecoppicingagricultural sciencesagriculture, forestry, and fisheriesagricultureengineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringenergy and fuelsnatural sciencesmathematicsapplied mathematicsmathematical model Programme(s) FP3-AIR - Specific research and technological development and demonstration programme (EEC) in the field of agriculture and agro-industry, including fisheries, 1990-1994 Topic(s) 122 - Novel silvicultural systems Call for proposal Data not available Funding Scheme CSC - Cost-sharing contracts Coordinator University of Aberdeen Address St machar drive AB9 2UD Aberdeen United Kingdom See on map EU contribution € 0,00 Participants (5) Sort alphabetically Sort by EU Contribution Expand all Collapse all BBSRC Silsoe Research Institute United Kingdom EU contribution € 0,00 Address Wrest park silsoe MK45 4HS Bedford See on map Centre National du Machinisme Agricole, du Génie Rural, des Eaux et des Forêts (CEMAGREF) France EU contribution € 0,00 Address Les vasiex 87340 Montpellier See on map Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR) Italy EU contribution € 0,00 Address Via augusto barazzuoli 19-21-23 50136 Firenze See on map DANISH FOREST AND LANDSCAPE RESEARCH INST. Denmark EU contribution € 0,00 Address Skovbrynet 16 2800 Lyngby See on map Technische Universität München Germany EU contribution € 0,00 Address Vöttinger straße 36 85354 Freising See on map
