2008/03/05 by Matthew Aylott, Eric Casella, Ian Tubby +3 · 302 citations
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · Engineering · #Bioenergy crop production and management #Biofuel production and bioconversion #Forest Biomass Utilization and Management #Short rotation coppice #Coppicing #Willow #Short rotation forestry #Bioenergy #Arable land #Environmental science #Agroforestry #Agronomy #Biomass (ecology) #Productivity #Dominance (genetics) #Woody plant #Renewable energy #Biology #Ecology #Agriculture
paper · pdf · doi:10.1111/j.1469-8137.2008.02396.x
published in New Phytologist 178(2), 358-370 (Wiley)
openalex publication_date 2008/03/05 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/24
Limited information on likely supply and spatial yield of bioenergy crops exists for the UK. Here, productivities are reported of poplar (Populus spp.) and willow (Salix spp.) grown as short-rotation coppice (SRC), using data from a large 49-site yield trial network. A partial least-squares regression technique was used to upscale actual field trial observations across England and Wales. Spatial productivity was then assessed under different land-use scenarios. Mean modelled yields ranged between 4.9 and 10.7 oven-dry tonnes (odt) ha(-1) yr(-1). Yields were generally higher in willow than in poplar, reflecting the susceptibility of older poplar genotypes to rust and their tendency for single stem dominance. Replacing 10% of arable land, 20% of improved grassland and 100% of set-aside grassland in England and Wales with the three most productive genotypes would yield 13 Modt of biomass annually (supplying 7% of UK electricity production or 48% of UK combined heat and power (CHP) production). Results show existing SRC genotypes have the immediate potential to be an important component of a mixed portfolio of renewables and that, in future, as new and improved genotypes become available, higher yields could extend this potential further.