Objective
THE AIM OF THE PROJECT IS TO DEVELOP APPROPRIATE SILVICULTURAL SYSTEMS FOR GROWING FOREST BIOMASS FOR ENERGY ON SHORT ROTATION. SPECIES SELECTION, YIELDS, USE OF HERBICIDES AND FERTILIZERS, NUTRIENT REMOVALS, MANAGEMENT AND ECONOMICS, THE WAYS IN WHICH ENERGY FORESTRY CAN BE INCORPORATED INTO THE FARM MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE AND THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF ENERGY FORESTRY WILL ALL BE CONSIDERED.
Energy forestry trials have been established across the United Kingdom since 1981. Single stem plantations of coniferous and broadleaved trees, and coppice plantations of primarily willows and poplars, have been investigated in a variety of climatic and edaphic conditions. Site quality has varied from poor forestry land to good arable farmland. The single stem plantations have been measured annually for height, and diameter at ground level. Recently each species has been destructively sampled to assess biomass production. 2 coppice crops, of willow and the other of poplars, were harvested by the Loughry Coppice Harvester in 1991. Yields has been assessed for each of the crops, and the effect of different harvesting cycles and fertilizer regimes is discussed. The economics of the 2 systems are compared in terms of cost per unit of energy. The effect of grant schemes on production cost is investigated. A principle concern over short rotation energy plantations, particularly the coppice system, is about soil depletion. Preliminary figures from the first coppice harvest indicate that the removal of nutrients may not be as high as expected, largely due to harvesting being carried out during the winter months when the leaves have been dropped. Many of the nutrients are recycled through the decay of leaves and fine roots, which also provides soil conditioning. Preliminary results indicate that higher yields can be achieved from coppice rather than single stem energy plantations. It is also likely that the coppice will be able to take advantage of the better land which is becoming available as a result of agricultural surpluses, while the more resilient forest species are better suited to the poorer quality land.
PROGRESS IN THE SEVEN ELEMENTS OF THE PROJECT IS GOOD AND THE FOLLOWING PROGRESS HAS BEEN MADE:
1. MONITORING OF EXISTING TRIALS OF SINGLE STEM ENERGY PLANTATIONS - CONDITION OF TRIALS ASSESSED, HEIGHT AND DIAMETER GROWTH MEASURED.
2. MONITORING OF EXISTING TRIALS OF COPPICE ENERGY FORESTRY - FIRST HARVEST OF ALL SITES WITH DRY MATTER PRODUCTION DETERMINED.
3. STUDY OF THE INTERACTION OF GROUND PREPARATION, SPACING AND WEED CONTROL ON ECONOMICS OF ESTABLISHMENT AND YIELD - TRIAL ESTABLISHED WITH TWO WILLOWS AND ONE POPLAR SPECIES.
4. ESTABLISHMENT OF LARGE SCALE TRIALS OF SHORT ROTATION COPPICE - A 2 HA TRIAL OF WILLOWS SUCCESSFULLY ESTABLISHED; A 1 HA SCREENING TRIAL ESTABLISHED WITH EUCALYPTUS, NOTHOFAGUS AND ALDER SPECIES.
5. EXAMINATION OF THE FEASIBILITY OF INTEGRATING FORESTRY FOR ENERGY WITH AGRICULTURE ON FARMS IN THE UK - CHARACTERISTICS OF UK FARMING STRUCTURE ASCERTAINED, ENERGY FORESTRY SYSTEMS DESCRIBED AND SURVEY OF INITIAL SURVEY OF FARMERS ATTITUDES TO FORESTRY ON FARMS CONDUCTED.
6. EXAMINATION OF THE POTENTIAL OF AGROFORESTRY SYSTEMS FOR FOOD AND FUEL PRODUCTION IN THE UK - INFORMATION HAS BEEN COLLECTED ON AGROFORESTRY PRACTICES RELEVANT TO THE EUROPEAN SITUATION.
7. ASSESSMENT OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF ENERGY FORESTRY - INFORMATION COLLECTED ON POTENTIAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF ENERGY FORESTRY AND ATTITUDES TO LAND USE CHANGE ARE BEING ASSESSED.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- agricultural sciences agriculture, forestry, and fisheries agriculture agronomy plant protection
- engineering and technology environmental engineering energy and fuels biomass energy
- social sciences economics and business economics
- agricultural sciences agriculture, forestry, and fisheries forestry silviculture coppicing
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
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Coordinator
AB9 1FX Aberdeen
United Kingdom
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.