Press
After a setback due to sharp drops of the oil price in the 1990s, several new initiatives on producing biomass on agricultural land have come up under the name of 'Short Rotation Forestry' (SRF). The approach builds on selected trees (to a large extent pest resistant, adapted to local climates, soils and able to quickly rebuild new sprouts after being cut back ) in order to produce as much biomass as possible.
The Benwood project tries to enhance the quality of Afforestation/Reforestation projects in developing countries, in particular when implemented under the Clean Development Mechanism framework of the Kyoto protocol. The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) allows industrialised countries with a greenhouse gas reduction commitment to invest into ventures that reduce emissions in developing countries as an alternative to more expensive emission reductions in their own country.
The Benwood project tries to enhance the quality of Afforestation/Reforestation projects in developing countries, in particular when implemented under the Clean Development Mechanism framework of the Kyoto protocol. The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) allows industrialised countries with a greenhouse gas reduction commitment to invest into ventures that reduce emissions in developing countries as an alternative to more expensive emission reductions in their own country.
Currently, too little is known in "CDM countries" about SRF specific opportunities and risks relating to financial, technical, biological, agricultural and market aspects (how and where to sell the biomass?), limiting the development of such cultivation.
The goal of the BENWOOD project is to develop guidelines for CDM project developers ("SRF guidelines and standards for land use management"), combining requirements on land use management, food safety, hydroregime and climate conditions. A particular focus of the project is on the competition for land use between biomass production for energy and food production.
The guidelines - addressed to farmers and stakeholders from the energy and biomass sector - will present current best practices and business models, eligible planting material as well as - crop and field maintenance. At the end of the project, a research agenda towards a better use of Short Rotation Forestry in " CDM countries " will be proposed, the final goal being a wider use of this cultivation technique in " CDM countries " to produce more biomass more sustainably as an alternative to fossil energy. BENWOOD is composed of 14 partners including the four "CDM countries" - Brazil, China, India and Africa.
