Abstract
The present study was conducted to determine the effect of spacing on the growth, biomass production and wood quality of leucaena in order to be used as a fuel crop. Leucaena was grown in a field experiment at the Suwanvajokkasikit Research Station, Pak Chong,Nakhon Ratchasima,Thailandin 2006-2010. The experiment was arranged in a randomized complete block design with 4 replications. The treatment consisted of six spacings (1 × 0.25, 1 × 0.5, 1 × 1, 1 × 1.5, 2 × 0.5 and 2 × 1 m). The results showed that spacing had a significant effect on plant height, diameter at breast height, the number of coppice stumps and biomass yield. Wider spacings resulted in greater plant height. The widest spacing (2 × 1 m) exhibited the higher stem diameter and sprout number than the narrow spacing. The narrowest spacing of 1 × 0.25 m spacing produced the highest total dry weight of leaf, woody stem and biomass yield. The spacing did not have an influence on the heating value and the content of H, N, S, Mg, Cl and ash. However, some of the chemical compositions show significant different with different spacings such as C, O, P, K and Ca content.
Highlights
The use of biomass can reduce reliance on fossil fuels, to mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and to increase energy resource diversification
The results showed that spacing had a significant effect on plant height, diameter at breast height, the number of coppice stumps and biomass yield
The influence of spacing on stem diameter at harvest is shown in Table 2; the results showed that the widest spacing of 2 × 1 m had significantly larger stem diameter than the narrow spacing in the 1st year (Table 2)
Summary
The use of biomass can reduce reliance on fossil fuels, to mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and to increase energy resource diversification. Among the different renewable energy sources, biomass is one of the promising choices, which has the potential to be used as the raw material to generate electricity [1]. There are limitations on biomass utilization in Thailand such as the problems of collection, transportation and storage, and availability. For these reasons, fast-growing tree farming for biomass production is likely to be a solution and the most sustainable method of fuel supply for biomass gasification electricity generation [4]. Leucaena is expected to become one of the biomass energy resources, because it is a fast growing tropical tree [5] and with a high yields of woody material [6]. Leucaena can be used for many purposes including forage, wood, shade, green manure, live fences and erosion control [7]
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