Biomass from Forests and Other Wooded Lands – Production and Use
The Scientific Seminar on “Biomass from Forests and Other Wooded Lands – Production and Use“ will take place 16 September in Dresden, Germany. The seminar will address the current state of wood production regarding bioenergy from forests, SRC and ASF in Europe. The first session, chaired by Prof. Bo Larsen from the University of Copenhagen will focus on sustainable wood resources from forestry. The second session will be chaired by Mme Elisabeth Le Net from FCBA and it will focus on production and utilization aspects of SRC.
The need to reduce green house gas emissions from fossil fuel combustion and enhancing energy security has led to a significant increase of bioenergy utilization in most European countries. Among all biomass feedstock, wood is the most important source for heat production and has become more important in electricity production, as well. The European Union wants to increase the share of renewable energies to 20 % by 2020 and biomass is supposed to play a major role. Consequently, the current trend of increased wood utilization for energy production is likely to continue.
The demand for energy wood from the forests is likely to grow in the future. But, at the same time, the demand for other forest services like providing habitat and biodiversity, recreation and purifying water and air also become more and more important. These multiple demands might cause a threat to sustainable forestry.
Short Rotation Coppice (SRC) and Agro-Forestry Systems (AFS) promise to become reliable additional wood sources and may soften the pressure of utilization on sustainably managed forests. Large potentials for establishing such non-forest wood lands can especially be found in Eastern European countries with a high share of underutilized agricultural land.
