Biomass production assessment from Populus spp. short‐rotation irrigated crops in Spain

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the biomass production potential for the Spanish Iberian Peninsula using the Populus spp. 'I-214' clone under several management regimes and land availability scenarios, and to determine its future contribution to Spanish energy demands.Empirical models were fitted to the data from a network of 144 plots located at 12 sites in the continental Mediterranean climatic regions of the Iberian Peninsula, in which yield was related to climate and soil, as well as to plantation management variables. Four models were developed considering average maximum temperature of the hottest month (T MAXH ,°C), length of drought (A, months), intensity of drought (K, unitless) and soil pH. Predictions were made for the irrigated agricultural land (IAL), where the value of the independent variables were within the validity range, and for two management scenarios. Energy production capacity was evaluated by considering the alternatives for transforming poplar SRC biomass: heat, bio-ethanol and electricity.The results indicated a mean productivity for the Spanish Iberian peninsula of between 15.3 and 10.9 Mg ha À1 yr À1 for the standard management scenario and the poorly irrigated and weeded management scenario respectively. Two IAL scenarios were considered for the calculation of biomass production potential: all IAL for which it was possible to make predictions is made available for poplar SRC (TP, maximum hypothetical production capacity), and another in which only unproductive IAL is available for poplar SRC (RP, production capacity without constricting agricultural production). The TP scenario contributes up to 6.8-9.6% of total energy demands, and the RP scenario 0.7-0.9%, depending on plantation management.

Dynamic growth and yield model including environmental factors for Eucalyptus nitens (Deane & Maiden) Maiden short rotation woody crops in Northwest Spain

“…Other results for E. nitens short rotation crops in New Zealand (Sims et al 2001) showed yield range to be from 3 to 7 Mg ha -1 year -1 , in line with the worst site qualities in the present work. Furthermore, the results obtained in this study are very similar to those found in a study using the dominant height GADA model developed by Pérez-Cruzado et al (2013) from stem analysis of the same species. While their model, which was fitted for a stand density of between 1,100 and 1,600 trees ha -1 , presents site index curves of 8, 12, 16 and 20 m at a base age of 6 years, if the results are interpolated to the reference age of 4 years used in the present study the results for the two studies in relation to the dominant height model would be practically identical.…”

“…In this study, the relationship between the basal area and dominant height projection functions and the site variables described in Table 1 were evaluated. For this purpose, linear, allometric and logarithmic structures (1-3) were tested, incorporating a single environmental variable in each parameter in order to reduce multicollinearity (Pérez-Cruzado et al 2014):…”

Growth potential of different species and genotypes for biomass production in short rotation in Mediterranean environments

“…are well adapted to a wide range of environmental conditions; they grow rapidly at high densities and are suitable for coppice cultivation (Tullus et al, 2009) conditions, yields have reached values between 20 and 25 Mg dry matter (DM) ha À1 year À1 in the Mediterranean (Italy) (Mareschi et al, 2005). In Spain, the potential production at national level is estimated at around 15.3 Mg DM ha À1 year À1 , for standard-management plantations covering a wide range of scenarios (Pérez-Cruzado et al, 2013). Willow is another species of the Salicaceae family which is widely used in SRC, especially in Northern Europe (Kuzovkina et al, 2008).…”

Análisis de sostenibilidad del ciclo de vida de una configuración innovadora de tecnología termosolar

“…A pesar de sus requerimientos de agua, la producción industrial del chopo está particularmente bien establecida en el sur y norte de España, principalmente para la producción de madera (Tolosana et al 2011). Las plantaciones de chopo convencionales se administran en períodos de rotación que abarcan generalmente los 10-15 años, con densidades de árboles típicamente entre 350 y 700 árboles por hectárea, y el retiro del tocón al final de cada rotación (Cañellas et al 2012, Pérez-Cruzado et al 2014. Se han planteado densidades más altas (> 15.000 árboles/ha) y ciclos de rotación más rápidos para aumentar el rendimiento de biomasa a valores superiores a 35 tMS/ha·yr (Testa et al 2014).…”

“…Se han planteado densidades más altas (> 15.000 árboles/ha) y ciclos de rotación más rápidos para aumentar el rendimiento de biomasa a valores superiores a 35 tMS/ha·yr (Testa et al 2014). Publicaciones recientes indican que el cultivo de chopo tendría el potencial para suministrar hasta un 1,0 % de la demanda de energía de España en el año 2020 (Pérez-Cruzado et al 2014).…”