2013/11/01 by Astley Hastings, Matthew J. Tallis, Eric Casella +5 · 6 citations
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · Engineering · #Bioenergy crop production and management #Biofuel production and bioconversion #Forest Biomass Utilization and Management #Willow #Short rotation coppice #Bioenergy #Raw material #Biomass (ecology) #Short rotation forestry #Coppicing #Perennial plant #Cellulosic ethanol #Environmental science #Agronomy #Biofuel #Botany #Agroforestry #Woody plant #Biology #Biotechnology #Ecology #Cellulose
paper · pdf · doi:10.1111/gcbb.12103
openalex publication_date 2013/11/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/04
Abstract Process and empirical‐based models that describe lignocellulosic biomass yield of the perennial energy grass M iscanthus (MiscanFor © ), short rotation coppice ( SRC ) trees and shrubs, poplar and willow (ForestGrowth‐ SRC ) and a number of short rotation forest trees ( ESC ‐ CARBINE ), were used to estimate the yield potential for current and future climates across G reat B ritain ( GB ). In current climates, modelled yields for all feedstock crops varied between 8.1 and 10.6 Mg dry weight ( DW ) ha −1 yr −1 with willow SRC and poplar SRF producing the lowest and highest yields respectively. For the medium emissions scenario ( UKCP 09) in 2050, mean yield for all feedstock crops varied between 7.6 and 12.7 Mg DW ha −1 yr −1 with willow SRC and poplar SRF once again the lowest and the highest recorded yields. There were clear geographical trends within GB . M iscanthus yield was higher than all others in the south‐west (13.1 Mg DW ha −1 yr −1 ), SRC willow and SRC poplar in the north‐west (12.1–15.8 Mg DW ha −1 yr −1 ) and in the midlands and south‐east, SRF poplar was the highest yielding (10.5–11.6 Mg DW ha −1 yr −1 ). These geographical trends changed little with climate out to 2050, with mean yield of each ‘best feedstock’ increasing from 12.7 to 14.2 Mg DW ha −1 yr −1 . Out to 2050, SRC declined slightly and M iscanthus and SRF poplar increased as the ‘best feedstock’ option. Except for a few localized examples, only SRF poplar had a higher yield than SRC or M iscanthus . These data suggest that in current and future climates, lignocellulosic biomass plantation species can be selected and optimized for best yield performance in different regions of GB . This modelling framework provides a valuable starting‐point for which to test the performance of new genetic material, as this becomes available and parameterized for the models and socio‐economic scenarios that may impact on the bioenergy industry.