Abstract
It is important to manage sustainable short-rotation coppices (SRCs), having an important role in carbon sink and bioenergy output, because most of SRCs in South Korea were established on reclaimed land. However, during the last three years, the growth pattern of the SRCs was remarkably changed with soil condition. This study aimed to identify the sustainability of SRCs used for carbon storage, biomass and fuel pellet production, monitoring the neighboring vegetation of SRCs by land-use exchange, examine physiological changes of poplar in a seasonal trend, and to evaluate whether poplar is suitable for making wood pellets over time. The calculated biomass yield per area of poplar grown was 103.07 Mg per total area (55.6 ha), and volumes of carbon dioxide absorption were estimated to be 329.72 Mg CO2. Wood pellet quality based on the criteria scored third grade, indicating that poplar is appropriate to be manufactured as fuel pellets. Moreover, monitoring of the flora distribution in SRCs revealed changes in species composition. As halophyte was increased during drought, soil organic matter, net growth and total chlorophyll of poplar were significantly decreased. These findings indicate that physiological changes and growth pattern of SRCs may be negatively affected by microclimate and provide better understanding for the effective management of SRCs amid environmental changes.
Highlights
Soaring energy consumption, increasing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and concerns over energy import dependence are prompting global changes in the sources from which energy is expected to be derived in the coming years [1,2]
Our study showed an unprecedented study result on short-rotation coppices (SRCs) bioenergy production via reclaimed land, having two significant findings for short rotation coppice in Saemangeum reclaimed land
Future studies are clearly needed to further understand the effects of long-term monitoring on carbon storage potential, such as climate change projection scenario analysis, growth patterns and carbon storage of belowground and aboveground of Populus in the Saemangeum area
Summary
Soaring energy consumption, increasing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and concerns over energy import dependence are prompting global changes in the sources from which energy is expected to be derived in the coming years [1,2]. In South Korea, adoption of the renewable energy portfolio standard (RPS) started in 2015 (3.5%) and has been increasingly adopted since 2017 (5%) and has been estimated to increase by 10% in 2022. Based on the Paris Agreement adopted at the Conference of the Parties 21 (COP 21) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 2016, new climate regime (Post-2020), the advanced and developing countries, including South Korea, agreed to work together on GHG reduction, and its technological development was launched. The roadmap for reducing GHGs was clarified based on the Paris Agreement. In the case of South Korea, the long-term plan for reducing GHGs was set up to achieve a 37% reduction compared to the emission target of 2030, which is the Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC)
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