Short Rotation Coppice

[Marko]

Has anyone had any practical exerience of SRC? A couple of (possibly dumb) questions arise...

 

In order to minimise transport costs and extract the most energy from the harvest, is there a practical method to dry chip in these volumes on site

 

Rather than chip it every 3 years, if left for longer could it be logged (every 6 years?)

 

Is there a standard bed size / field layout?

[Moley]

the forestry commission have carried out a lot of research on this subject. A useful document they have published can be found here:

 

http://www.biomassenergycentre.org.uk/pls/portal/docs/PAGE/RESOURCES/REF_LIB_RES/PUBLICATIONS/GUIDANCE/ESTABLISHMENT%20AND%20MANAGEMENT%20OF%20SRC%20FCPN7.PDF

 

Also try: Coppice Resources Ltd short rotation coppice

[armchairarborist]

i looked into this a bit, surely stacking the stems undercover (outdoors in summer) would dry them out somewhat and you could chip them when dry? making dry woodchip. there was a grant for setting src up but ended jan 2010.

[Marko]

Thanks for the info and the links.

 

3 years might be the optimum harvest for chip that is going to Drax where I believe it only converts at 20% of its full potential.

 

I would still be interested to hear how any unharvested SRC looks at the 6 year point as I do think it would be easier to dry in lengths (not withstanding the extra handling and storage) for the maximum hit when burnt.