The IEA Bioenergy Task 17 Short Rotation Crops for Bioenergy meeting was held at Auburn, Alabama USA 6 - 9 September 1999 and attended by approx. 31 delegates: Australia (1), Brazil (2), Canada (1), Denmark (1), Netherlands (1), Sweden, (10) and USA (15).

This was the first Task 17 meeting attended by Australia. A paper, Prospects for Bioenergy from Short Rotation Crops in Australia written by T. Baker, J. Bartle, R. Dickson, P. Polglase and S. Schuck of the IEA Bioenergy Task 17 Australian Collaborators’ Group was presented. The Group includes the Western Australian Department of Conservation and Land Management, Victorian Department of Natural Resources and Environment, CSIRO Forestry and Forest Products, Forest Products Association of New South Wales, State Forests of New South Wales, Queensland Department of Primary Industries, and the Biomass Taskforce The paper placed bioenergy in the Australian context, and highlighted several bioenergy-related projects (bagasse, oil Mallee, wastewater-irrigated plantations) presently being undertaken. After minor revision, the paper will be made available through the Australian Biomass Taskforce internet site.

In addition to country/project-specific reports, invited technical presentations were made on: (i) water and nutrient recycling and environmental protection using short rotation crops, (ii) water and carbon utilisation by short rotation woody crops, characterisation of soil carbon under bioenergy crops, (iii) modelling bioenergy crops’ economic competitiveness, and (iv) a new technology based on pre-hydrolysis of biomass to generate catalytic celluligin fuel and chemicals (furfural, alcohol or xylitol). The proceedings of the meeting and papers are to be published by Oak Ridge National Laboratory, USA. Proceedings and papers from the previous meeting in the Philippines are near to publication.

The Auburn meeting incorporated field visits to Auburn University experimental bioenergy plantings (Switchgrass, Mimosa) and pilot-scale Switchgrass plantings, Russell Athletic, Alexander City (utilising approx. 2.3 million Mg/year FW ‘waste’ biomass of bark, woodchips, sawdust, wood off-cuts for process steam generation), and the Southern Research Institute, Birmingham combustion research facility (coal and Switchgrass co-firing studies).

Following the Auburn meeting, a visit was made to the US Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Tennessee for detailed discussions with members of the Biofuels Feedstock Development Program (BFDP).

The Auburn meeting reconfirmed the Task 17 aims (1998-2000):

• To stimulate the full-scale implementation of energy crops in participating countries
• To strengthen the contacts and co-operation between participating countries, scientists, biomass producers, machine developers, entrepreneurs, and end users
• To select the most urgent research and development areas, and to suggest projects of co-operation
• To deliver proceedings from meetings
• To inform IEA Bioenergy Executive Committee Members

The R&D priorities within the Task include sustainability (production, environment, economics), full-scale implementation (particularly identifying barriers), water and nutrient use efficiency, pests and diseases, and university and technical courses.

The meeting agreed that a new / continuing task Design and implementation of short rotation crop systems for sustainable urban and rural environments be developed for 2001-2003 and presented to the next Bioenergy Executive Committee meeting for consideration. Ideas for tasks relating to fuel quality, and for a specific pests and diseases task are also to be developed. It was proposed that the next Task 17 meeting be held in Australia (see below). The end of task meeting is likely to be held in Denmark or the Netherlands in late 2000.

Observations and comments

• Amongst industrialised nations there is strong and increasing interest in the development of renewable energy sources (including biomass) to help meet commitments to the Kyoto agreement (greenhouse gas emissions reductions), national energy policy (e.g. phasing out of nuclear power plants in Sweden), national energy strategy (e.g. perceived over-dependence on imported energy sources in the USA), and economic development (e.g. technology development for export).
• In the USA, the President’s recent Executive Order to develop and promote bio-based products and bioenergy (trebling by 2010) has provided a huge boost to those who have been working in the area for some 25 years. This order requires the formation of a joint Department of Agriculture - Department of Energy Council to bridge the perceived gap between the ‘growers’ (of biomass) and the potential ‘users’.
• In Europe, particularly in Scandinavia, the development of short rotation crops for bioenergy (initially short-rotation Willow, but now being expanded to include perennial herbaceous crops) has been aided generally by higher energy costs, the cool climate and the historical development of district heating systems utilising forestry residues, and ‘set-aside’ programs to reduce agricultural over-production. In the USA, bioenergy crops (Willow in the north-east, hybrid Poplar in the north-west, Switchgrass in the mid-west and south-east) is expected to be aided by the long-running Conservation Reserve Program (initially established for soil conservation, but now for wider environmental benefits) and the view that bioenergy crops are a new industry with potential to re-invigorate an ailing farming economy. There is a general recognition that in many situations the additional environmental benefits of short rotation bioenergy crops will need to be valued in order to improve the economies of energy production.
• In Australia with an abundance of energy sources, relatively low energy costs, and unsubsidised agriculture, the drivers for short rotation bioenergy crops are international greenhouse commitments, technology development for export (production, utilisation), and environmental benefits (e.g. oil Mallee plantings to address land salinization in the WA wheatbelt, wastewater irrigated plantations to protect waterways). Short rotation crops where bioenergy is the primary product are unlikely to be widely developed; rather bioenergy will remain a secondary product based on residues or by-products.

Actions

Australia was invited to host the next Task 17 meeting, in late February or early March 2000. Two options were outlined for the field visit: (i) southern Murray-Darling Basin, with emphasis on wastewater-irrigated plantations, but with little harvesting and utilisation work, and (ii) Queensland, with possible emphasis on sugar cane growing, harvesting and bagasse utilisation, although the timing of the visit is outside of the harvesting period (June to November). Bagasse is clearly the outstanding biomass energy possibility in Australia. However, the Queensland proposal would require the co-operation of the Sugar Research Institute and the Queensland Biomass Energy Group who are not presently Biomass Taskforce Members. Agreement from the IEA Task 17 Australian Collaborators’ Group is required before the proposal is developed further.

Monday Afternoon - September 6

1:00 - 1:20 Welcome to U.S. - Lynn Wright
Welcome to Auburn - David Bransby

1:20 - 1:30 Goals of the meeting - Lars Christersson

Country Reports - Lars Christersson, Chair

1:30 - 2:00 - The US Climate for Bioenergy - Lynn Wright

2:00 - 2:45 - Reed Canary Grass Development in Sweden - Rolf Olsson

2:45 - 3:30 - Short Rotation Crops in Denmark - Jens Kjeldson

3:45 - 4:30 - Short Rotation Crops in Australia - Tom Baker

4:30 - 5:15 - Bioenergy Production and Use in Brazil - D. Pinatti and L. Couto

5:15 - 5:45 - Double Loop Recycling of Nutrients for Food Production Thord Ohlsson

Tuesday Morning - September 7

Full Scale Implementation - Stig Ledin, Chair

8:00 - 8:15 - Introduction - Stig Ledin

8:15 - 8:45 - Hedamora Project - Matts Wilstrand

8:45 - 9:15 - Report on bioenergy in Sweden – Theo Verwijst

9:15 - 9:45 - Bioenergy in the Netherlands - Leen Kuiper

9:45 - 10:00- Combi-farming Introduction - Alastair Hunter

10:00- 10:30- Discussion of full scale implementation and combi-farming issues

Resource Utilization/Conservation Issues - Sandy McLaughlin, Chair

11:00 -11:15 Introduction - Sandy McLaughlin

11:15 -12:00 Measuring and Modeling Water and Carbon Utilization by

Short Rotation Woody Crops - Paul Hanson

Tuesday Afternoon - September 7

Resource Utilization/ Conservation Issues - Continued

1:00 - 1:30 - Carbon Dioxide Taxes and Implications for Bioenergy - Hakan Rosenquist

1:30 - 2:00 - Measuring and Characterizing Soil Carbon Sequestration Under Bioenergy Crops - Chuck Garten

2:00 - 2:30 - Measuring/modelling Bioenergy Crops Economic’ Competitiveness with Conventional Agronomic Crops and Conservation Lands - Marie Walsh

2:45 - 3:00 - Sustainable Management and Biodiversity Issues - Virginia Tolbert

3:00 - 3:30 - Sustainable Bioenergy Production in Canada - Roger Samson

3:30 - 4:15 - Group discussion on Sustainability & Biodiversity - led by V. Tolbert

4:15 - 4:30 - Short Rotation Crop Research at Auburn
Craig Ramsey - Woody Crops
David Bransby - Herbaceous Crops and introduction to Tuesday evening and Wednesday field tours

5:30 - 7:00 - Field Tour of Auburn Herbaceous Crops Research

Wednesday - September 8

Tours led by Dave Bransby

Morning - Tour of large scale switchgrass plantings for co-firing tests

Afternoon - Visit of Southern Research Institute co-firing test facilities in Birmingham, Alabama. Industry report and perspectives on co-firing.

Thursday Morning - September 9

8:00 - 8:30 - Co-firing projects in Iowa and New York – Ed Woolsey and Mark Downing

8:30 - 9:00 - Philippine Meeting Summary

9:00 - 10:00 - Continued Discussion or additional Country Reports

10:30 - 12:00 - Business Meeting

Tom Baker
Centre for Forest Tree Technology
Natural Resources & Environment
P.O. Box 137
Heidelberg, Victoria 3084, Australia
phone: 03-94508687 fax: 03-945-8644
email: tom.baker@nre.vic.gov.au

David Bransby
Dept of Agronomy & Soils
Auburn University – Ag Experiment Station
Auburn University, Alabama 36849-5110
phone: 334-844-4100 fax: 334-844-3945
email: dbransby@ag.auburn.edu

Lars Christersson
Swedish Univ of Agric Sciences
Dept of Short Rotation Forestry
Box 7016
75007 Uppsala, Sweden
phone:46-18672550 fax:46-18673440
email: Lars.Christersson@lto.slu.se

Laercio Couto
Department of Forestry
Federal University of Vicosa
Street P.H. Rolfs-s/n
36571-000 Vicosa MG, Brazil
phone: 55-31-899-1199
email: lcouto@mail.ufv.br

Mark Downing
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
P.O. Box 2008
Oak Ridge,1N 37831-6422 USA
phone: 423-576-8140 fax:423- 576-8143
email: downingme@ornl.gov

Chuck Garten
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
P.O. Box 2008
Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831 USA
phone:423-574-7355 fax: 423-574-7359
email: ctg@oml.gov

Gunnar Hadders
Jordbrukstekniska Institutet
Swedish Institute of Agricultural Engineering
Box 7033 S-750 07 Uppsala, Sweden
phone: +46 18303357 fax: +46 18300956
email: gunnar.hadders@jti.slu.se

Paul Hanson
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
P. O. Box 2008 Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831 USA
phone: 423-574-5361 fax: 423-576-9939
email:pjx@ornl.gov

Bob Harris
U.S. Department of Energy
1000 Independence Ave. SW,
EE1-6C016 Washington, DC 20001 USA
phone: 202-586-0484 fax: 202-586-9260
email: robert.harris@ee.doe.gov

Gunnar Johansson
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Dept of Short Rotation Forestry
Box 7016
750 07 Uppsala, Sweden
phone:46-18-672401 fax: 46-18-673440
email: Gunnar.Johansson@lto.slu.se

Jens Bonderup Kjeldsen
Danish Institute of Agric Sciences (DAIS)
Group for Forage-, Fibre- and Energy Crops
Research Centre Foulum
P.O. Box 50
DK-8830 Tjele Denmark
phone: 45 89 99 17 57 fax: 45 89 99 16 19
Email: Jens.B.Kjeldsen@agrsci.dk

Leen Kuiper
Institute for Forestry & Forest Products
P.O. Bos 253
6700 Ag Wageningen, Netherlands
phone: +31317 424 666 fax: +31317 410 247
email: mail@sbh.nl

Stig Ledin
Swedish Univ of Agricultural Sciences
Dept of Short Rotation Forestry
Box 7072
S-75007 Uppsala, Sweden
phone: +46 18672409 fax: +46 18673446
email: stig.ledin@mv.slu.se

Roldolfo Lindqvist
Salix Maskiner AB
Box 7825
S-10397 Stockholm, Sweden
phone: 46-8-4111068 fax: 46-8-219049
email: rodolfo@salix.se

Tim McDonald
USDA Forest Service
520 DeVall Drive
Auburn, AL 36849 USA
phone: 334-826-8700 fax: 334-821-8700
email: tpm@usfs.aubum.edu

Sandy McLaughlin
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
P.O. Box 2008
Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831 USA
phone:423-574-7358 fax: 423-576-9939
email:mclaughlinsb@ornl.gov

Wilma McNabb
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
P.O. Box 2008
Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831 USA
phone: 423-574-8029 fax: 423-576-9939
email: mcnabbwa@ornl.gov

Teresa Morrison
Auburn University
Agronomy and Soils Deparment
202 Funchess Hall
Auburn University, Alabama 36849

Thord Ohlisson
Swedish Univ of Agric Sciences
Department of Short Rotation Forestry
Uppsala, Sweden

Rolf Olsson
Swedish University of Agric Sciences
Dept of Agric Research for Northern Sweden
P.O. Box 4097
S90403 Umea, Sweden,
phone: 46-90-786-9460 fax" 46-90-7869460
e-mail: Rolf.Olsson@njv.slu.se

Daltro Garcia Pinatti
Faculty of Chemical Engineering of Lorena
Engineering Materials Department
Lorena, Sao Paulo, Brazil
phone: 55.12.553.1000 fax: 55.12.553.3006
email: pinatti@demar.faenquil.br

Hakan Rosenquist
Dept of Forest Management & Products
Swedish Univ of Agricultural Sciences
Box 7060
75007 Uppsala, Sweden
phone: +46 18671528 fax +46 18673522
email: hakan.rosenquist@sh.slu.se

Roger Samson
REAP - Canada
Box 125 H9X 3V9 Ste. Anne de Bellevue
Quebec, Canada
phone: 514-398-7743 fax: 398-7743
email: REAP@interlink.net

Susan Sladden
Auburn University
Agronomy & Soils Department
202 Funchess Hall
Auburn University, Alabama 36849

Virginia Tolbert
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
P.O. Box 2008 .
Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831 USA
phone: 423-574-7288 fax:423-576-9939
email: tolbertvr@ornl.gov

Theo Verwijst
Swedish Univ of Agric Science
Dept of Short Rotation Forestry
Box 7016
75007 Uppsala, Sweden
phone: +46 18672554 fax: +46 18673440
email: Theo.Verwijst@lto.slu.se

Marie Walsh
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
P.O. Box 2008
Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831 USA
phone: 423-576-5607 fax:423-574-8884
email: walshme@ornl.gov

Mats Wilstrand
Salix Maskiner AB Hamre 1
S-77690 Hedemora, Sweden
phone: 46-225-596600 fax: 46-225-711070
email: mats@salix.se

Ed Woolsey
E. L. Woolsey & Assoc. Inc.
387 Kirkwood Street
Prole, Iowa 50229 USA
phone: 515-764-2689 fax: 515-764-2354
email: woolsey@netins.net 

Lynn Wright
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
P.O. Box 2008
Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831 USA
phone: 423-574-7378 fax 423-576-9939
email: wrightll@ornl.gov

Stan Wullschleger
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
P.O. Box 2008
Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831 USA
phone: 423-574-7839 fax: 423-576-9939
email: w5d@ornl.gov 

The proceedings of the first Task17 meeting (Uppsala, Sweden 4-6 June 1998) have been published by the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Short Rotation Forestry, Report No. 64, 1999. 78 p.

Useful publications / web sites gleaned from the meeting include:

US Department of Energy: www.eren.doe.gov/bioenergy_initiative/

ORNL Bioenergy Feedstock Development Program: www.esd.ornl.gov/bfdp/

Wood for Energy Production, Danish Centre for Biomass Technology: www.ens.dk

Straw for Energy Production, Danish Centre for Biomass Technology: www.ens.dk

Southern Research Institute, AL USA: www.sri.org