Short Rotation Forestry and
Short Rotation Coppice
research in Northern Ireland
Alistair McCracken, Rodrigo Olave, Jim McAdam and Lindsay
Easson
Northern Ireland
forests
Total area
86,600 ha.
About 400 ha are
harvested each
year
About 1000 ha of
SRC willows have
been planted for
biomass
Conifer
Broadleaf
Total
Forest Service
54,800
5,300
60,100
Private
10,200
16,300
26,500
N. Ireland Total
65,000
21,600
86,600
Opportunities for biomass
development in Northern Ireland
Short Rotation Coppice
Willows
Miscanthus
(Elephant Grass)
Forest Brash
Short Rotation
Forestry
AFBI Research
1. Sustainability of trees in woodland
and farm ecosystems
The programme aims to demonstrate
practices whereby natural resources are
managed dynamically and ecologically
through the integration of trees into
farming.
Silvopasture
• Where trees are grown in grazed pasture in a regular or
varied pattern
• Research started at Loughgall in 1989
• Planted wide spaced ( 5x5 m) Ash into ryegrass sward and
compared it with open pasture and woodland
• Compatible with farming systems
Silvoarable
• The programme also includes a silvoarable
trial with hybrids of poplar and spring barley
which aims to assess the potential of the
system as a precursor to other land use
options.
• Five varieties of poplar trees were planted in
1999 and cereals grown between them until
2009
• No need for tree protection
• Cereal yield was unaffected by the trees
• Now grassed down with top AFBI bred
varieties for sheep grazing trial – Tyrella,
Dunluce and others
The research also aims to show that Silvopasture/silvoarable as a form of
Agroforestry can help address some of the energy issues and offer a
sustainable land use option to livestock farmers or foresters
Once season’s growth in 2010
Trials will include taking the wood
through to combustion trials.
The low temperatures this winter
will have been a serve test for the
Paulownia
Range of
Paulownia clones
on arable sites
Paulownia vs
poplar and
eucalyptus on a
forestry site
3. Tree improvement of broadleaves
Under a collaborative association of landowners, foresters,
universities and research institutes (The British and Irish
Hardwood Improvement Programme), we are actively
attempting to improve the quality and performance of
broadleaved species.
Currently a clonal cherry trial throughout Ireland and a
sycamore seed orchard at Loughgall.
Clonal cherry trial
4. Carbon sequestration in woody crops
NI programme includes a target to reduce GHG emissions by
25% which requires us to able to measure emission
reductions/carbon sinks.
Increasing the amount of CO2 removed from the atmosphere
by tree growth and tree expansion.
Forest Brash
Preliminary conclusions
from brash recovery trials
conducted by AFBI and
the Northern Ireland
Forest Service
• 400 ha of forest are clear felled in
Northern Ireland each year
• Of the 40,000 t of branches and tops
normally left on the site up to 20,000 t
could be recovered for use as a source
of biomass
The brash baler at
Hillsborough 2007
produced a yield of
over 62 tDM/ha
brash from a 25 yr
old sitka plantation.
This has an energy
value of 340 mWh
per hectare
equivalent to
4500 litres of
heating oil
Short Rotation Coppice WIllow
Why Salix (willow) ?
•Native
•Pioneer species
•Ease of propagation:
Preformed root initials
(adventitious roots)
•Ease of coppicing
•Vigorous juvenile growth
Genotype evaluation
• Swedish Breeding Programme (Lantmännen Agroenergi AB)
• European Breeding Programme (formerly at Long Ashton: now at
Rothamsted Research)
• US Breeding Programme (Prof. Larry Smart)
US genotypes:
0
22 31 33 14 29 38 28 30 20 15 19 18 23 37 16 26 21 32 25 39 36 24 34 27
(US) 9980-005
(US) 99217-015
(US) 9871-31
1 10 17
7
6
12
Genotype
European / Swedish genotypes
(US) 9879
(US) 9882-034
(US) 9970-036
Stott
(US) 99113-012
(US) 94001
(US) SX64
(US) 99239-015
77183
2 11
(US) SV1
(US) SX61
(US) S25
Torhilde
LA970608
870148 ULV
Nimrod
Endurance
Gudrun
LA970395
77082
Endeavour
(US) 99207-018
LA970381
870082 ORM
SQ83
Terra Nova
(US) 99202-011
Beagle
Resolution
Sven
Tordis
Olof
(US) 99201-007
LA980451
LA970253
Tora
Kg
N. Ireland Trial
Total Plot Dry Weight
80
60
LSD = 11.24)
40
20
5
8
13 35
9
4
3
Rust (Melampsora epitea)
Plant genotype mixtures
• Use at least SIX genotypes
• 3 from Sweden and 3 from Europe
• Plant in random / short runs
Beneficial effects
• Delays onset of rust
• Slows build up of disease
• Significantly reduces impact of disease
• Reduces impact of beetle damage
• Helps sustainability following frost
• Increases yields
SRC Willow harvesting
• Direct chip
• Whole stem harvesting
• ‘Biobailer’
Using willow as a multi-functional crop
• Bioremediation of effluents and sludges
Food Processor Effluent to SRC Willow
Pictures from Rural Generation Ltd
Carbon savings
• Transport (66,000 km)
– 17 t CO2 yr-1 (400 g Km-1)
• Effluent treatment
– 3 t CO2 yr-1
• Production of wood chip (10 t ha-1 yr-1)
– 180 t CO2 yr-1 (wood chip = 500,000kWh)
• Total C savings approximately
200t
-1
yr
Renewable Energy Centre AFBI Hillsborough
Performance of fuels
Chipped Spruce
Forest Brash
Wood Pellets
Miscanthus
In terms of
Quality standards
Heat output
Flue gas analysis
Efficiency
Ash content and analysis
Farm scale research anaerobic digester
at AFBI Hillsborough
Northern Ireland – Biomass for heat
1000 hectares of SRC willows (red dots), 10 ha miscanthus
400 hectares of forest harvested annually
55,000 t of wood pellets manufactured annually
Brook Hall
Strabane Mills
Omagh College
Balcas
CAFRE Greenmount
Cookstown
Leisure Centre
CAFRE Loughry
Omagh Leisure
Centre
Waterways
Ireland
IKEA
Carvil Housing
AFBI Hillsborough
Fayne Valley
Co-op
Thanks due to Rural Generation Ltd, Green Energy Ltd and others who supplied
information on biomass installations in Northern Ireland
4 ha Miscanthus research
site
Recovery of
forest brash for
biomass
Research into biomass
drying and storage
District heating system
Dairy parlour with hot water
from biomass heating and
solar panels
Research into Bioremediation of farm
water
6 ha of willow plots
Renewable Energy
Centre
Research into
Anaerobic digestion
of manures