Control of Invasive Forest Species through the Creation of a Value Chain: Acacia dealbata Biomass Recovery

Abstract

In Portugal, some species are now considered invasive by law and have proliferated in recent years. Among these, Acacia dealbata stands out. This work investigated the behavior of this species, in order to characterize and evaluate its potential as raw material for biomass pellets production, while controlling its proliferation. It was found that A. dealbata has a large capacity for raw material supply, as cutting 2 ha resulted in about 140 tons of biomass. Thus, the attribution of a market value for this material could result in a reduction in the area occupied by the invasive species, once the demand for it increases, causing a pressure over the resource. This pressure on the species must be duly followed by other control measures, such as reducing the population and mitigating its proliferation. Laboratory tests have shown that both the raw material and the finished product are similar to those obtained with other species normally used for biomass pellet production, such as Pinus pinaster and Eucalyptus globulus. Thus, it can be concluded that there is a high potential for this species in the production of biomass pellets for energy, and that this may be an important contribution to controlling the proliferation of this invasive species.

Waste Recovery through Thermochemical Conversion Technologies: A Case Study with Several Portuguese Agroforestry By-Products

“…However, this growing use of biomass for energy production may lead to its scarcity; therefore, it is necessary to assess the potential use of other types of biomass available in Portugal, namely residual biomass from agricultural activities and food processing (agroindustry) and other woody species and shrubs [16,30,31]. These alternative biomasses have different characteristics due to the quality of woody biomasses, which can significantly influence the supply and pre-treatment chain, combustion processes, ash behavior (slagging, fouling, and corrosion), and environmental constraints associated with energy conversion processes [32][33][34].…”

Carbon Sequestration Potential of Forest Invasive Species: A Case Study with Acacia dealbata Link

“…The physico-chemical properties of A. dealbata wood, as well as other invasive forest species, such as A. melanoxylon, Robinia pseudoacacia L., and E. globulus, with non-acceptable parameters for the pulp industry, are already well-known. There are several reporting the possibility of using this residual biomass for energy recovery, such as those presented by Sá [32][33][34], especially if this recovery is associated to energy densification processes, such as torrefaction or pyrolysis. This seems to be an interesting perspective since even when there is no possibility to use the charcoals for energy purposes, those can be stored in the soil, sequestrating CO 2 [35][36][37].…”

“…Nunes et al (2020) determined the productivity of 17.5 t•year −1 , corresponding to a growth after cutting for four years, with all the biomass cut and weighed in two hectares, totaling 140 tons. However, the quality of the biomass presented, all of low diameter, was characterized in terms of its physicochemical properties and used in the production of wood pellets, but did not meet the requirements of quality control standards such as ENPlus ® [33]. However, as also described by Rodrigues et al (2018), the properties of several short rotation coppices and some residual biomasses were characterized.…”

A Dynamic Modeling Framework to Evaluate the Efficacy of Control Actions for a Woody Invasive Plant, Hakea sericea

“…This fact is not surprising since complete eradication has been most successful only at early invasion stages or in small islands (Gherardi and Angiolini, 2007). For IAS that are widespread and abundant, as Hakea sericea is in Portugal, the management goal is generally to reduce their populations to a level that would substantially reduce their ecological impact (Prior et al, 2018;Nunes et al, 2020). The management strategies tested here yielded different outcomes depending upon the frequency of control efforts, and the age of the plants controlled.…”