Fertilization of SRC Willow, I: Biomass Production Response
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Fertilization of SRC Willow, I: Biomass Production Response Lisbeth Sevel & Thomas Nord-Larsen & Morten Ingerslev & Uffe Jørgensen & Karsten Raulund-Rasmussen
Published online: 12 September 2013 # Springer Science+Business Media New York 2013
Abstract Short rotation coppice (SRC) willow is often regarded as one of the most promising crops to increase biomass production and thereby meet the growing demand for renewable energy. This study is based on the hypotheses that biomass production of SRC willow responds positively to increasing doses of nitrogen, and that similar biomass production response can be achieved by use of mineral fertilizer, sewage sludge and animal manure. A 2-year experiment was established with the clone Tordis grown on a sandy soil in northern Jutland, Denmark. The experiment included mineral fertilizer, sludge and manure, and treatments of different doses up to 360 kg nitrogen ha−1. The fertilization led to a modest but significant increase in biomass production. The largest production of 11.9 oven dried tons/ha/year was obtained for the application of 60 kg nitrogen ha−1 annually. Higher doses did not lead to increased biomass production; in fact, production seemed to decline with increasing fertilization application (not significant). We found no difference in production between different types of fertilizers. The limited response of the fertilization may be caused by a high fertility of the soil due to former agricultural fertilization. The number of sagging shoots increased significantly with increasing nitrogen dose.
Keywords Bioenergy . Fertilization . Manure . Mineral fertilizer . Sagging shoots . Salix . Sludge . Yield
L. Sevel (*) Dalgasgroup, 12 Klostermarken, 8800 Viborg, Denmark e-mail: [email protected] T. Nord-Larsen : M. Ingerslev : K. Raulund-Rasmussen Institute of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, University of Copenhagen, 23 Rolighedsvej, 1958 Frederiksberg C, Denmark U. Jørgensen Department of Agroecology, Aarhus University, P.O.Box 50, 8830 Tjele, Denmark
Introduction The world is facing an increasing demand for renewable energy to replace the use of fossil fuels. Biomass from dedicated energy crops, such as short rotation coppice (SRC) willow, is among the most promising renewable energy sources to fulfill this demand [1–6]. Short rotation coppice willow is a perennial crop with a rapid juvenile growth and the ability to re-sprout from the stump after harvest, resulting in a fast biomass production. Furthermore, SRC willow has often shown low environmental impact compared to traditional agricultural crops, and thus has the potential to be a win–win solution for procurement of renewable energy [7–10]. High yields, up to 20 oven dried tons (odt)/ha−1 year−1, have been reported [11] and has given rise to expectations of a highly profitable production. However, many experiments have shown great variation in the biomass production from less than 3 odt ha−1 year−1 up to around 20 odt ha−1 year−1 [11–14]. Both site-specific factors such as nutrient and water avai
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