Biomass For Energy Purposes Research Articles

The possibilities of biomass utilization in the field of spatial development

By joining the European Union, Hungary made a commitment to increasingly utilize renewable energy sources. Keeping in view the agricultural circumstances of Hungary, we can state that biomass utilization has, overall, the greatest range of possibilities to use its products as ‘energy sources’. Biomass raw materials are useful in meeting emission control regulations for environment protection and to reduce climate change. The role of biomass production in spatial and rural development and in rural employment, and also in the decrease of Hungary’s energy dependence, supports development in biomass energy use. My aim in studying biomass utilization is the creation of a micro-regional level, decentralised, agro-energetic system-model for the use of plant and animal biomass for energy purposes, whether naturally or by anthropogenic activity, on agro- and sylvicultural areas, and on animal breeding farms. This model simulation method serves as a planning base for policy-makers during the spatial planning processes. The examination is presently in the stage of data collection. The collection of the basic data of the examination area and the purchase of the necessary equipment, materials and maps has already started. Contact has been made with local stakeholders, municipalities, municipality associations and micro-region managers.

Energy from agricultural residues and consequences for land requirements for food production

Using biomass as an energy source is often mentioned as an option to mitigate the enhancing greenhouse effect. Biomass for energy purposes can be obtained from dedicated energy crops and/or from agricultural residues. The available amount of residues is large and suggests a significant energy potential. However, most of these residues are currently used as livestock feed, which forms the basis for important proteins in the human diet. Use of residues for energy generation is likely to affect the supply of proteins in human diet, and therefore adaptations in the food system are required to compensate for this loss. The purpose of this paper is to indicate the adaptations required in the food system, if agricultural residues are used for energy generation instead of livestock feed. For this, three production systems that generate both protein and energy are compared. The difference consists in their production routes followed: (i) energy crops for energy and agricultural residues for feed, (ii) use of agricultural residues for energy and growing protein crops (e.g. beans and pulses) for a vegetarian human diet and (iii) use of agricultural residues for energy and growing feed crops (e.g. wheat) for livestock. The land requirements of the three systems are calculated. The system in which energy crops were used for energy generation and agricultural residues as feed required the smallest amount of land. From a land use perspective, therefore, it is better to produce energy from dedicated energy crops and use agricultural residues for livestock feed.

Above-ground Woody Biomass Production of Short-rotation Populus Plantations on Agricultural Land in Sweden

Although poplars are widely grown in short-rotation forestry in many countries, little is known about poplar growth performance in Sweden. In this study, above-ground biomass production was estimated for several hybrid aspen and poplar clones planted at different initial density at five locations across Sweden. Biomass assessments were based on allometric relationships between total above-ground woody dry weight and the diameter at breast height. According to a common harvest practice, tree biomass was partitioned into pulpwood and biomass for energy purposes. The percentage of pulpwood was strongly determined by clone for DBH >10 cm. The mean annual increment ranged from 3.3 Mg ha−1 yr−1 for balsam poplar in the north to 9.2 Mg ha−1 yr−1 for 9-yr-old ‘Boelare’ in southern Sweden. At the same age, hybrid aspen reached 7.9 Mg ha−1 yr−1. The results suggest that poplars and hybrid aspen are superior as biomass producers compared with tree species commonly grown on agricultural land at these latitudes. The results are discussed in the light of future wood supply for pulpwood and energy purposes in Sweden.