Woody Bioenergy Crops On Marginal Land

While international efforts in the development of short rotation woody crops (SRWCs) have historically focused on the production of biomass for bioenergy, biofuels, and bioproducts, research and deployment over the past decade has expanded to include broader objectives of achieving multiple ecosystem services. In particular, silvicultural prescriptions developed for SRWCs have been refined to include woody crop production systems for environmental benefits such as carbon sequestration, water quality and quantity, and soil health. In addition, current systems have been expanded beyond traditional fiber production to other environmental technologies that incorporate SRWCs as vital components for phytotechnologies, urban afforestation, ecological restoration, and mine reclamation. In this Special Issue of the journal Forests, we explore the broad range of current research dedicated to our topic: International Short Rotation Woody Crop Production Systems for Ecosystem Services and Phytotechnologies

Woody biomass (WB) can be used for the generation of heat, electricity, and biofuels. Bioenergy production from WB has not been widely adopted because the price of WB energy has not been competitive with traditional fossil fuels. However, current projections of future energy use, renewable energy and climate change legislation suggest increased use of both WB and agr. biomass energy. This report provides a summary of the knowledge related to the production of WB from bioenergy with a focus on the econ. perspective. The most common WB feedstocks are described along with results of econ. modeling studies related to the provision of biomass from short-rotation woody crops, harvest residues, and haz.-fuel reduction efforts.

Land is fundamental to the human life. The upper layer of land is a non-renewable resource, and source of food. Therefore, land health is essential to long-term food security and to promote sustainable livelihoods. On account of urbanization, industrialization and population growth, land pollution is one of the major issues worldwide. As a result, land pollution is continuing across the world, and has been linked with a wide range of potentially toxic contaminants at rates that deteriorate land quality. Land pollution can result either anthropogenic activities or natural activities. The major contaminants of land pollution are metalloids, petroleum hydrocarbon, radioactive elements, polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), Pesticide, other organic pollutants, etc. that comes from different types of sources. In urban and peri-urban areas, irrigation of agricultural land with polluted water is also a reason of land pollution. Therefore, land security is an important issue for future sustainability. Its remediation and management are important issue worldwide to protect land quality and functions. Land pollution means degradation of earth's surface. Polluted land comes under the category of degraded land. Hence, the remediation of polluted land is essential for regaining biodiversity and ecosystems services and thereby achieving United Nations-Sustainable Development Goals (UN-SDGs).This fact showed the need to develop research into land remediation. Bio-inspired land remediation has undergone a huge development. Therefore, Biomanagement has a lot of potential to secure upper earth’s surface through the land remediation programs targeted during the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030). This book explores the remediation of land pollution that includes Phytoremediation, Bioremediation (bacterial remediation and fungal remediation), Vermiremediation, Biochar-based remediation and other Bio-inspired remediation. This book will be a remarkable asset for research scholars, environmentalists, ecological scientist, agriculturist, practitioners, policy makers, entrepreneurs, and other stakeholders alike.

This book is written for scientists and practitioners interested in deepening their knowledge of the sustainable production of bioenergy from wood in tropical and sub-tropical countries. Utilising the value chain concept, this book outlines the necessary aspects for managing sustainable bioenergy production. A wide range of topics is covered including biomass localization, modelling and upscaling, production management in woodlands and plantations, and transport and logistics. Biomass quality and conversion pathways are examined in order to match the conversion technology with the available biomass. A section is dedicated to issues surrounding sustainability. The issues, covered in a life-cycle assessment of the bioenergy system, include socio-economic challenges, local effects on water, biodiversity, nutrient-sustainability and global impacts. Through this holistic approach and supporting examples from tropical and sub-tropical countries, the reader is guided in designing and implementing a value chain as the main management instrument for sustainable wood.