Short Rotation Forestry, Short Rotation Coppice and Perennial Grasses in the European Union: Agro-Environmental Aspects, Present Use and Perspectives"
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
"Short Rotation Forestry, Short Rotation Coppice and perennial grasses in the European Union: Agro-environmental aspects, present use and perspectives" 17 and 18 October 2007, Harpenden, United Kingdom Editors J. F. Dallemand , J.E. Petersen, A. Karp EUR 23569 EN - 2008 The Institute for Energy provides scientific and technical support for the conception, development, implementation and monitoring of community policies related to energy. Special emphasis is given to the security of energy supply and to sustainable and safe energy production. European Commission Joint Research Centre Institute for Energy Contact information Address: Joint Research Centre Institute for Energy Renewable Energy Unit TP 450 I-21020 Ispra (Va) Italy E-mail: [email protected] Tel.: 39 0332 789937 Fax: 39 0332 789992 http://ie.jrc.ec.europa.eu/ http://www.jrc.ec.europa.eu/ Legal Notice Neither the European Commission nor any person acting on behalf of the Commission is responsible for the use which might be made of this publication. Europe Direct is a service to help you find answers to your questions about the European Union Freephone number (*): 00 800 6 7 8 9 10 11 (*) Certain mobile telephone operators do not allow access to 00 800 numbers or these calls may be billed. A great deal of additional information on the European Union is available on the Internet. It can be accessed through the Europa server http://europa.eu/ JRC 47547 EUR 23569 EN ISSN 1018-5593 Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities © European Communities, 2008 Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged Printed in Italy Proceedings of the Expert Consultation: "Short Rotation Forestry, Short Rotation Coppice and perennial grasses in the European Union: Agro-environmental aspects, present use and perspectives" 17 and 18 October 2007, Harpenden, United Kingdom Editors J. F. Dallemand , J. E. Petersen, A. Karp Acknowledgements This Expert Consultation on "Short Rotation Forestry, Short Rotation Coppice and perennial grasses in the European Union: Agro-environmental aspects, present use and perspectives" was held in Harpenden, United Kingdom, on 17 - 18 October 2007. This meeting was jointly organised by J. F. Dallemand (Renewable Energies Unit, Institute for Energy, Joint Research Centre, European Commission), J.E. Petersen (European Environment Agency, Copenhagen, Denmark) and A. Karp (Rothamsted Research, Harpenden, United Kingdom). The Proceedings were prepared by the Meeting organisers with the support of N. Scarlat (Renewable Energies Unit, Institute for Energy, Joint Research Centre, European Commission). The organisers acknowledge the input from all the participants and from the chairs and rapporteurs: T. Verwijst (Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Sweden), J. Carrasco (CIEMAT, Spain), W. Elbersen (Wageningen University, Netherlands), G. Alker (Thames Valley Energy, United Kingdom), C. Panoutsou (Imperial College, London, United Kingdom), I. Tubby (Forestry Commission, United Kingdom) and N. Marron (INRA, France). This Expert consultation also benefited from the inputs of the following experts: A. Benedetti (Istituto Sperimentale per la Nutrizione delle Piante – ISNP, Italy), R. Ceulemans (University of Antwerpen, Belgium), C. Couturier (SOLAGRO, France), R. Edwards (Institute for Environment and Sustainability, European Commission, Joint Research Centre), B. Elbersen (Alterra, Netherlands), G. Facciotto (CRA - Istituto Sperimentale per la Pioppicoltura, Italy), F. Handler (BLT - Biomass-Logistics-Technology, Austria), K. Heinsoo (Estonian University of Life Sciences, Estonia), G. Mughini (CRA-Istituto Sperimentale per la Pioppicoltura, Italy), K. Müller-Sämann (Agentur für Nachhaltige Nutzung von Agrarlandschaften – ANNA, Germany), H.P. Piorr (University of Applied Sciences Eberswalde, Germany), P. Rutkowski (The August Cieszkowski Agricultural University, Poland), H. Sixto (INIA-CIFOR, Spain), R. Sage (The Game Conservancy Trust, United Kingdom) and J. Weger (Silva Tarouca Research Institute for Landscape and Ornamental Gardening, Czech Republic). Many thanks to U. Eppler (University of Eberswalde, Germany) and C. Couturier (Solagro, France) for their contribution to the preparation of the Background Paper. This meeting was possible thanks to the support of H. Ossenbrink (Renewable Energies Unit, Institute for Energy, Joint Research Centre, European Commission) within the framework of the activities of the Biofuels/Bioenergy Action. The digital version of the Proceedings can be found on the Biofuel /Bioenergy web site (http://re.jrc.ec.europa.eu/biof/). 5 6 Table of Content Acknowledgement …………………………………………………………...…..……..…...… 5 Thematic introduction to Short Rotation Forestry, Short Rotation Coppice and Energy Grasses …..………………………………………………………..………………………...………..… 9 T. Verwijst, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences Short Rotation Forestry, Short Rotation Coppice and Energy Grasses in the European Union – Discussion Summary …………………………………………………………………...… 19 G. Alker, Thames Valley Energy, United Kingdom Introduction to the thematic session on processing and logistics ………………..…..…...….. 21 J. Carrasco, CIEMAT, Madrid, Spain Report on the thematic session on processing and logistics ……………….…...……….….… 29 C. Panoutsou, Imperial College, London, United Kingdom Introduction to the background paper ……………………….…………………...…..……….… 33 J.E. Petersen, European Environment Agency, Copenhagen, Denmark Environmental impact of energy crop production …….……………………….…...……..…... 39 A. Karp, Rothamsted Research, Harpenden, United Kingdom Some issues regarding Short Rotation Coppice cultivation in Poland ………..…...……...… 47 P. Rutkowski, Agricultural University of Poznań, Poland Environmental impacts of Short Rotation Coppice and Short Rotation Forestry systems - a summary of discussions ……………………………….………...……….…..…..….…..……… 53 I. Tubby, Forestry Commission, Forest Research, United Kingdom Thematic session on current research gaps ……………………..…………….……....……...…. 59 W. Elbersen, Wageningen University, Netherlands Report on the thematic session on current research gaps ……………………..……………… 67 N. Marron, INRA, France Summary …………………………………………………………..…………………...….….. 71 Meeting motivation ………………………………………………………..……....…….....… 79 Meeting Agenda …………………………………………………………………………........ 85 List of Participants ……….…………………………….………………………...…………... 89 Meeting Background Paper ………...….………………………………………...………...... 95 U. Eppler, University of Eberswalde, Germany, J.E. Petersen, European Environment Agency and C.Coutourier, Solagro, France Suggested references and literature ….…..…...………….……………………….……...... 133 7 Annex I. Assessment of the technical and non technical barriers to implement Short Rotation Crops .………………………………………………………………………....…... 141 (From International Energy Agency Bioenergy Task 30: Short Rotation Crops for Bioenergy Systems) Annex II. Latin and common English names of energy crops ……………….……...…… 145 Annex III. Some elements regarding the status of Short Rotation Crops in Spain …...... 149 J.Carrasco, CIEMAT, Spain, and H.Sixto, INIA, Spain Annex IV. Some elements regarding phytoremediation and Short Rotation Coppice ..... 157 R. Ceulemans, University of Antwerpen, Belgium 8 Short Rotation Forestry, Short Rotation Coppice and energy grasses in the European Union: Agro-environmental aspects, present use and perspectives Thematic introduction to SRF, SRC and energy grasses, Rothamsted, 17 October 2007 Theo Verwijst, SLU, Uppsala Rothamsted Research Expert Consultation • Review of crops (SRC, SRF, perennial grasses) • Review of current area and geographical distribution of perennial energy crops • Context of implementation (farmer practice, economy, policy, environment); Willow example 9 Rothamsted Research Expert Consultation Definitions…… •SRF, SRC • Annual vs. perennial crops • Rotation period (time) – harvest cycle Rothamsted Research Expert Consultation The plant material: Perennial species for energy (wood crops for SRF, SRC and grasses) SRF-species: characteristics of five genera (excluding Salix, Robinia, Eucalyptus, Castanea) 10 Rothamsted Research Expert Consultation Yield: • Potential • Attainable • Actual Yield improvement??? Rothamsted Research Expert Consultation Yield: • SRC (yield and characteristics) • Grasses (characteristics) • Yield and area: • All species 11 Rothamsted Research Expert Consultation Other crop(ping systems) • Energy efficiency • Nutrient- and Water-use efficiency • Land use efficiency • GHG-balance of system 12 13 14 15 Waste-water treatment in Enköping 16 Figure 2: Salix in Sweden: Scenarios versus reality1 17 18 SRF, SRC and Energy Grasses in the European Union – Discussion Summary Gillian Alker, Thames Valley Energy Expected v. Actual take-up To meet Climate Change targets, resource shift needed from annuals to perennials But…Large gap between expected and actual areas planted in Sweden and increasingly UK 19 Why is area low? – and how to resolve? o Many knowledge gaps – further research o Economically unsustainable – continued targeted funding o Benefits not recognised – improved dissemination and lobbying for incentives schemes o Lack of government leadership - Stronger policy and targets that optimise conversion chain efficiencies and environmental benefits CO2 savings from different bioenergy options per unit of land area 20 Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas JRC/EEA/Rothamsted Research Expert Consultation Harpenden, 17-18 October 2007 Short