Title:
Short Rotation Forestry in Bavaria - Sites, Biomass Yields, Operators and Effects on German Climate Targets
Author(s):
Hauk, S., Wittkopf, S.
Document(s):
Paper
Abstract:
Despite all the advantages of short rotation forestry (SRF) and the projected gap between wood supply and demand, the total area of SRF in Europe is still small. In 2011, Bavaria's SRF sites cover only 480 hectares. Moreover, the knowledge about these SRF sites concerning conditions of practice, their managers, reasons and obstacles for cultivation is little. Therefore, a standardized questionnaire was used to gather information from every SRF manager in Bavaria. The response rate was 44.6 %. We measured biomass yields on 30 different sites in Bavaria for realistic biomass yields. First results are already available. The management of SRF sites in Bavaria, with an average size of 1.1 hectare, differs from the large-scale management practice of Scandinavia and Poland. More than half of the respondents will harvest their SRF motor-manually. The majority, 92 % of the respondents, plan to air dry the total stems down to 30 % water content without active energy input during one summer. Most of the SRF managers operate a wood chip heating system and hence biomass from SRF is used to substitute fossil fuels. An expansion of SRF may thus help to meet the German climate targets in the heat sector.
Keywords:
perennial energy crops, poplar, short rotation forestry (SRF), willow, wood chips, yield
Topic:
Biomass Resources
Subtopic:
Short rotation forestry and short rotation coppice
Event:
20th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition
Session:
1DO.2.1
Pages:
267 - 272
ISBN:
978-88-89407-54-7
Paper DOI:
10.5071/20thEUBCE2012-1DO.2.1
Price:
FREE
