|Tipo de material:
||Publicación de conferencia, Documento, Publicación gubernamental, Publicación gubernamental nacional, Recurso en Internet
|Tipo de documento:
||Recurso en Internet, Archivo de computadora
|Todos autores / colaboradores:
Tolbert, V.R.; Shepard, J.P.; Oak Ridge National Laboratory.; United States. Department of Energy. Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.; United States. Department of Energy. Office of Scientific and Technical Information.
||Published through the Information Bridge: DOE Scientific and Technical Information.
1. annual short-rotation woody crops working group meeting, Paducah, KY (United States), 23-25 Sep 1996.
Tolbert, V.R.; Shepard, J.P.
||8 pages : digital, PDF file.
One answer to increase wood production is by increasing management intensity on existing timberland, especially in plantation forests. Another is to convert land currently in agriculture to timberland. Short-rotation woody crops can be used in both cases. But, what are the environmental consequences? Short-rotation woody crops can provide a net improvement in environmental quality at both local and global scales. Conversion of agricultural land to short-rotation woody crops can provide the most environmental quality enhancement by reducing erosion, improving soil quality, decreasing runoff, improving groundwater quality, and providing better wildlife habitat. Forest products companies can use increased production from intensively managed short-rotation woody crop systems to offset decreased yield from the portion of their timberland that is managed less intensively, e.g. streamside management zones and other ecologically sensitive or unique areas. At the global scale, use of short-rotation woody crops for bioenergy is part of the solution to reduce greenhouse gases produced by burning fossil fuels. Incorporating short-rotation woody crops into the agricultural landscape also increases storage of carbon in the soil, thus reducing atmospheric concentrations. In addition, use of wood instead of alternatives such as steel, concrete, and plastics generally consumes less energy and produces less greenhouse gases. Cooperative research can be used to achieve energy, fiber, and environmental goals. This paper will highlight several examples of ongoing cooperative research projects that seek to enhance the environmental aspects of short-rotation woody crop systems. Government, industry, and academia are conducting research to study soil quality, use of mill residuals, nutrients in runoff and groundwater, and wildlife use of short-rotation woody crop systems in order to assure the role of short-rotation crops as a sustainable way of meeting society's needs.