The Potential of Short-Rotation Coppice Willow in Lessening Climate Change

Switching to bioenergy is Sweden's strategy to lessen climate change as well as decrease the country's reliance on fossil fuel. The short-rotation coppice willow (SRCW) is a fast-growing and potentially high-yielding energy crop that can be burnt or gasified to produce heat and power. By using the SRCW, Sweden hopes to alleviate climate change.

Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences researchers assessed SRCW farming and the effect it has on climate. This would also identify key factors influencing the potential of SRCW in alleviating climate change. From these identified factors, different scenarios were simulated and analyzed to identify which of the factors had the most influence on the climate. A carbon balance model was also used to simulate carbon content changes between soil, biomass and atmosphere under Swedish growing conditions.

The results indicated that SRCW can act as a temporary carbon sink and therefore has a mitigating effect on climate change. The most important factor in alleviating climate change was the carbon yield of SRCW.