Kevin Lindegaard’s talk at the IBERS Demo Event, March 2023.
He explains how making the right decisions when planting and harvesting willow and other biomass crops is essential and how the Envirocrops app can help.
Find out how Envirocrops is revolutionising the biomass industry.
Relax with a drone flyover from our recent Biomass Connect Demo event at IBERS, Aberystwyth. The perfect opportunity to see what a trial site growing the biomass crops willow and Miscanthus looks like from the air. Shot on a sunny but cold winter day in early March just as the willow leaves are beginning to come out on some of the varieties.
William MacAlpine from Rothamsted Research speaking at the IBERS, Aberystwyth Biomass Connect Demo Event about research into choosing the best willow varieties for biomass crop production.
At our recent IBERS Hub Site Demo Event William MacAlpine of Rothamsted Research explained why a mix of 6 different varieties is recommended when planting willow as a biomass crop.
A look at how Short Rotation Coppice (SRC) willow can have a positive effect on biodiversity both in the willow plantation itself, and the surrounding areas.
Biomass Crops – Some Interesting Alternatives.
Some biomass crops are bigger and leave a greater impression than others whilst others might be humbler but still get the job done. Eucalyptus trees can produce exceptional yields of hardwood timber when the right species is planted in the right place. There are plenty of options with numerous species that can thrive with everything the UK climate can throw at them. Reed Canary Grass is at the other end of the spectrum – this is a short-term, lower-yielding perennial that is cheap to establish and easy to remove making it a perfect energy crop for a tenant farmer. Our panel includes environmental farmer John Hawkins and expert silviculturalist Bryan Elliott.
This video explores the effect of planting biomass crops on Soil Organic Carbon (SOC). It is formed from the interaction of ecosystem processes such as photosynthesis, respiration and decomposition of SOM. Soil carbon provides the benefit of enhancing soil quality which is essential to sustain and improve food production, increase supply and quality of water, enhance biodiversity, and reduce atmospheric CO2. For these reasons, planting biomass crops help to improve soil quality, provide resilience to physical soil degradation and help mitigate climate change.
Interviews with Steve and Matt Hunt from the plantations at Bio Global Industries in Bucks.
The farm has a 98 kW BioKompakt boiler and uses 80 tonnes of wood fuel per year.
Steve and Matt planted 2.5 hectares of SRC willow in 2013. They also planted a number of trials of SRC willow, SRF poplar and SRF Eucalyptus in 2015.