RATING-SRC Reducing Environmental Impacts of Short- Rotation Coppice (SRC) Through Evidence-Based Integrated Decision Support Tools Dimitriou I. a* , Bolte A. b , Aronsson P. a , Baum C. c , Baum S. b , Berndes G. d , Busch G. b , Köhn J. e , Lamersdorf N. b , Leinweber P. c , Weih M. a , Wirsenius S. d * Corresponding author, e-mail: [email protected] • Rating-SRC is an ERA-NET Bioenergy project dealing with the impact of Short-Rotation Coppice (SRC) of willow and poplar on the environment • Partners from Sweden and Germany • Duration: Oct. 2008 – Sep. 2011 The project Project partners Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) (Project coordinator) ( a ) Contact: Dr. Ioannis Dimitriou Email: [email protected] Johann Heinrich von Thünen-Institut, Federal Research Institute for Rural Areas, Forestry and Fisheries (vTI) In co-op. with: Göttingen Soil Initiative (GBI e.V.); University of Göttingen, Faculty of Forest Sciences and Forest Ecology, Dep. of Soil Science of Temperate and Boreal Ecosystems (PGZ); Bureau for Applied Landscape Ecology and Scenario Analysis, Göttingen (BALSA) ( b ) Contact: Prof. Dr. Andreas Bolte Email: [email protected] University of Rostock ( c ) Contact: Prof. Dr. Peter Leinweber Email: [email protected] Chalmers University of Technology ( d ) Contact: Dr. Göran Berndes Email: [email protected] Beckmann Institute for Bio-production technology lines e.V. (BIOP Institut) ( e ) Contact: Dr. Jörg Köhn Email: [email protected] The German Ministry of Agriculture (BMELV) through its Agency for Renewable Resources (Fachagentur Nachwachsende Rohstoffe e.V. – FNR) is funding Rating- SRC partners from Germany, and the Swedish Energy Agency (Energimyndigheten) is financing the Swedish partners of the project. The idea behind • As a perennial wood crop SRC differs from most arable crops in physical traits and management practices • Positive environmental benefits due to SRC have been reported but the effects on the environment depend on existing or previous land-use, scale of planting and management practices applied • Nevertheless, SRC is in some cases faced with reservation concerning its environmental impact since it is a new crop and gaps in knowledge exist • SRC of willow and poplar is an agricultural crop for production of biomass for heat and/or electricity • A rapid increase of agricultural land cultivated with SRC has been projected • This shift from “conventional” arable crops to SRC will have implications on a range of environmental issues The objectives • a full-scale evaluation of SRC impact in the micro- and macro- scale on soil, water, biodiversity and landscape • to propose ways to mitigate negative and increase positive impacts • to accommodate decision-makers of different levels with support tools to assess the sustainability of SRC as For more information visit the Rating-SRC website: http:// ratingsrc.slu.se Rating-SRC will: • consider factors strengthening SRC as a sustainable energy generation system, as the recycling of byproducts in SRC fields • develop recommendations to increase the positive and mitigate the negative impacts of SRC on the environment • develop SRC “suitability” maps for certain areas based on the project findings SRC as agricultural crop