70 high on the sustainability ladder of environmental organizations compared to other forms of biomass. Finally, recent research shows that the establishment and management of willow energy plantations is beneficial for a great many plants and animals. Time is ripe for willow energy plantations In the Netherlands Stichting Probos (and its predecessors) have already been developing knowledge about willow energy plantations for more than twenty years. Tens of hectares of willow plantations were planted for research purposes. To date, land owners (nature managers, farmers, country estate owners, etc.) have shown little interest in establishing willow energy plantations. Thanks to the growing number of wood-fired heating and electricity installations in the Netherlands and the resulting rise in demand for woody biomass, the time seems ripe for expanding the area of willow energy plantations in the Netherlands. A recent Probos study revealed that many sites suitable for willow plantations still remain unused. However, to foster interest among potential planters of willow energy plantations, it is necessary to obtain better insight into the opportunities for optimizing the associated costs and revenues. Probos carried out a study into this subject on behalf of InnovationNetwork. The findings are set out in this report. Cost optimization This study looked at various factors that influence the costs of establishing and harvesting willow plantations. The most important factors are: 1. The availability and costs of specialized planting and harvesting machinery 2. The availability and costs of planting material 3. Scale (use of own labour and cooperation) The most important conclusions and recommendations for these factors are set out below. 1. Machinery With the exception of machinery for commercial osier cultivation and leek/cabbage planters, no specialized planting machinery for willow plantations is currently available in the Netherlands. The planting speed of the specialized planting machinery is higher than that of osier, leek and cabbage cultivation machinery. The available machinery in the Netherlands can be used for the smaller areas. Optionally, planters could form cooperatives for the cost-efficient contracting of specialized machinery from abroad. The availability of specialized planting machinery in the Netherlands would encourage the cultivation of willow energy plantations. The only harvesting equipment currently available in the Netherlands is osier harvesting machinery. Efficient specialized harvesting machinery must be fetched from distant locations (Denmark, Germany, Belgium). As willow plantations need to be harvested periodically (every two to four years), it makes little sense from a cost perspective to repeatedly obtain this machinery from abroad. This entails that sufficient efficient specialized harvesting machinery must in due course be made available in the Netherlands. Contractors will only be interested in purchasing planting and harvesting machinery if this can be expected to generate a viable profit Pagina 79
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