Energy forestry is a form of forestry in which a fast-growing species of tree or woody shrub is grown specifically to providebiomass orbiofuel for heating or power generation.

The two forms of energy forestry areshort rotation coppice andshort rotation forestry:

• Short rotationcoppice may include tree crops ofpoplar,willow or eucalyptus, grown for two to five years before harvest.^[1]
• Short rotation forestry are crops ofalder,ash,birch, eucalyptus, poplar, andsycamore, grown for eight to twenty years before harvest.

The main advantage of using "grown fuels", as opposed tofossil fuels such ascoal,natural gas andoil, is that while they are growing they absorb the near-equivalent ofcarbon dioxide (an importantgreenhouse gas) to that which is later released in their burning.^[2] In comparison, burning fossil fuels increases atmospheric carbon unsustainably, by using carbon that was added to the Earth'scarbon sink millions of years ago. This is a prime contributor toclimate change.

According to theFAO, compared to other energy crops, wood is among the most efficient sources ofbioenergy in terms of the quantity of energy released by unit of carbon emitted. Other advantages of generating energy from trees, as opposed to agricultural crops, are that trees do not have to be harvested each year, the harvest can be delayed when market prices are down, and the products can fulfil a variety of end-uses.^[3]

Yields of some varieties can be as high as 11 oven dry tonnes per hectare every year.^[4] However, commercial experience on plantations in Scandinavia have shown lower yield rates.^[5]

These crops can also be used in bank stabilisation andphytoremediation.^[6] In fact, experiments in Sweden with willow plantations have proved to have many beneficial effects on the soil^[7] and water quality^[8] when compared to conventional agricultural crops (such as cereal). This beneficial effects have been the basis for the designed of multifunctional production systems to meet emerging bioenergy demands and at the same time, increase the local biodiversity, reduce soil erosion and nutrient emissions to water, increasesoil carbon, enhance pollination, and avoid or mitigate flooding events.^[9]

Although in many areas of the world government funding is still required to support large scale development of energy forestry as an industry, it is seen as a valuable component of the renewable energy network and will be increasingly important in the future.^[10]

Growing trees is relatively water intensive.^{[citation needed]}

The system of energy forestry has faced criticism over food vs. fuel, whereby it has become financially profitable to replace food crops with energy crops. However, such energy forests do not necessarily compete with food crops for highly productive land as they can be grown on slopes, marginal, or degraded land as well – sometimes even with long-term restoration purposes in mind.^[11]

• Biofuels technology
• Energy crops
• Forest management

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