Short rotation coppice for revaluation of contaminated land

Willows Beyond Wetlands: Uses of Salix L. Species for Environmental Projects

“…Research on the use of willows for biomass plantations as alternative crops in soils contaminated with radioactive cesium has been conducted in Sweden and Belarus (Sennerby-Forsse et al, 1993;Goor et al, 2001;Vandenhove et al, 2001) and found to be suitable for water-retentive soils. From the radiological and ecological perspectives energy production from willows was found to have potential, though with certain precautions for handling of wood and ashes.…”

“…Additional economic benefits include reduced dependence on fossil fuels and improvement of rural economies; cultivation is not labor intensive and harvest takes place in winter when farm labor is available (Vandenhove et al, 2001). National programs are developing in Canada and several countries within the European Community (Sweden, Denmark, Finland and the United Kingdom) that are designed to maximize productivity, to select new superior clones suitable for repeated harvesting and resistance to pests, and to develop management techniques for sustainable agriculture using willow.…”

Fibre crops as alternative land use for radioactively contaminated arable land

“…GOPA (1996a,b) assessed the suitability of biofuel production from rapeseed in Belarus and Ukraine including consideration of cultivation on contaminated lands. The feasibility of the use of willow short rotation coppice for energy production on contaminated arable land has been evaluated by Vandenhove et al (1999Vandenhove et al ( , 2001 (considering radioecological, radiation protection, technical and economic criteria) and Gommers (2001) (radioecological assessment).…”

Radiocaesium soil-to-wood transfer in commercial willow short rotation coppice on contaminated farm land

“…The wood production ascertains economic revenue from the land at regular time intervals (3-5 years; Jossart et al, 1999) and may therefore be preferred to traditional forestry. Radiation doses to workers were found smaller than for agricultural systems or even than for other biofuel crops as oil rape seed, due to the limited time spent on the field for establishment, maintenance and harvest of the crop (Vandenhove et al, 1999(Vandenhove et al, , 2001. The perennial crop provides a protection of the land against erosion (secondary contamination is reduced) and leaching of radionuclides to the groundwater is reduced due to the high water evaporation (700 mm y ÿ1 ; Ledin, 1996).…”

“…Transfer of radiocaesium to willow was studied by Vandenhove et al (1999Vandenhove et al ( , 2001Vandenhove et al ( , 2004 and Gommers et al (2000) at experimental scale and at field plots, for one rotation cycle. However, since willow short rotation coppice (SRC) is a perennial crop and wood is only harvested after a rotation of 3-5 years, knowledge about the radiocaesium incorporation in the wood on a longer time scale is necessary.…”