Development and Deployment of Willow Biomass Crops

Abstract

IntroductionAccording to the U.S. Billion Ton Update (BT2) [1]), a federal investigation into the feasibility of replacing 30% of petroleum feedstocks with renewable biomass, perennial energy crops are projected to provide as much as 61% of the potential biomass in the United States by 2030 under the most favorable set of scenarios (highyield, $60 a ton price, 4% energy crop yield increases). The objective is to grow these crops on marginal agricultural and abandoned land to minimize the impact on production of other agricultural crops and to provide landowners with alternative crops and income from these areas. The northeast United States is well suited to production of perennial energy crops because there are large amounts of marginal agricultural land and reclaimed land. Studies indicate that there are over 2.8 million ha of idle or surplus low-cost agricultural land [2] and 0.5 million ha of disturbed mine land available for deploying perennial energy crops in the northeast [3]. Both woody [e.g., willow (Salix spp.) and hybrid poplar (Populus spp.)] and herbaceous perennial energy crops [e.g., switchgrass (Panicum virgatum), Miscanthus] have been identified as potential perennial energy crops on this land base.Interest in shrub willows as a perennial energy crop for production of biomass has developed in Europe and North America over the past few decades because of concerns with energy security, environmental impact associated with the current mix of fossil fuels, Cellulosic Energy Cropping Systems, First Edition. Edited by Douglas L. Karlen.

News Media Analysis of Carbon Capture and Storage and Biomass: Perceptions and Possibilities

“…Thus far, much of the biomass output for bioenergy has been corn production for ethanol in the U.S. Midwest [2]. However, significant research and national and sub-national policies have been directed at developing perennial energy crops (often termed second generation) such as shrub willow, hybrid poplar, and switch grass as a viable replacement for fossil fuels [3]. The U.S. Billion Ton Update estimates that by 2030 perennial energy crops could supply as much as 61% percent of biomass output in the United States and could possibly replace up to 30% of petroleum feedstocks.…”

“…These co-benefits include jobs creation and rural economic development, energy independence through decreased reliance on foreign fossil fuels, increased national security, enhanced biodiversity, and the protection of soil and water resources [3][4][5]. However, not all researchers are so sanguine about the impacts of bioenergy development.…”

Advances in shrub‐willow crops for bioenergy, renewable products, and environmental benefits

“…Shrub willow has many characteristics that make it an ideal feedstock including high yields, the ability to resprout after coppice and be harvested every 3–4 years, ease of propagation from dormant stem cuttings, ease of breeding, a broad genetic base, and a feedstock composition similar to other sources of woody biomass (Volk et al. ). Research on shrub willow for biomass energy and alternative applications (bioremediation, vegetative covers, treatment of organic wastes, riparian buffers, living snow fences) has also been ongoing in the United States since 1986 and has included trials in 15 states across the Northeast and Midwestern United States and several provinces in Canada.…”

“…Considerable collaborative efforts involving both private and public entities at the local, state and federal level and NGOs have been made to facilitate the commercialization of this system (Volk et al. ).…”

“…A breeding and selection program for shrub willows has been developed and is producing improved cultivars for both the biomass and agroforestry markets (Volk et al. ; Smart et al. ) with long‐term studies of potential yields across a range of sites (Fabio et al.…”