Summary 69 Optimizing costs and revenues of willow plantations: an exploratory study Jansen, P. and M. Boosten, Probos InnovationNetwork Report No. 13.2.xxx, Utrecht, The Netherlands, March 2013. More demand for woody biomass The Dutch government wants to increase the national energy consumption from renewable resources, including woody biomass, to 16% by 2020. However, international studies show that the demand for woody biomass will exceed the supply between 2015 and 2020. Until now it was relatively easy for Dutch wood-fired installations (for the generation of electricity and/or heating) to contract sufficient woody biomass. This woody biomass becomes available in the form of cuttings from forest, countryside or urban greenery management activities and as a waste product from the wood-processing industry. The amount of easily contractable biomass is limited, however. The restricted availability is partly because not all biomass is easy to harvest (at a reasonable price) and partly because of growing foreign demand for Dutch biomass. Alternative sources for woody biomass in the Netherlands are therefore being explored with increasing urgency, particularly as the importation of biomass is not always desirable from a sustainability perspective (transport distance, deforestation, etc.). Energy plantations of fast-growing tree species such as willow are viewed internationally as a potentially important supplier of woody biomass. Willow energy plantations generate good biomass production (compared to other tree species), can be regularly harvested (every two to three years) and are suitable for mechanized planting and harvesting. Moreover, cultivated biomass from willow plantations scores Pagina 78
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