February 24, 2017 Kenora, Ontario

Transcription

1 Long-term biomass yield potentials of five energy crops grown in southern Ontario By Naresh Thevathasan, Brent Coleman, Waseem Ashiq, Amir Bazrgar, Andrew Gordon, Mahendra Thimminagari and Derek Sidders February 24, 2017 Kenora, Ontario

2 Introduction Canadian Biomass industry is growing (pellets Europe) Current biomass : damaged trees or forest floor biomass = Limited sources of biomass Research: Alternative biomass sources = Purposegrown biomass Canadian federal and provincial governments are also promoting purpose-grown biomass for: - liquid fuel production (BioFuelNet, Canada) - bio-products production 2

3 BioFuelNet: About the network BioFuelNet Canada is a Network of Centres of Excellence (NCE) that brings together the Canadian biofuels research community. Operates under a $25 million grant over 5 years (2012 to 2017) through the NCE program. 10 project containing 59 work packages Facilitates collaboration Supports commercialization Government interaction Represents Canada Trains students and postdocs 3

4 BioFuelNet: Our vision & mission Our vision is a Canada with a thriving advanced biofuels industry that is socially, economically and environmentally sustainable. Our mission is to support the growth of Canada s advanced biofuels industry through coordinated research, innovation, effective education, smart policy and strategic partnerships.

5 Advanced biofuels are produced from non-food biomass Forestry waste Energy crops Algae Municipal waste 5

6 Advanced biofuels Renewable biofuels can provide: Sustainable source of energy Reduced GHG emissions Reduced reliance on food crops for biofuel production

7 Long term purpose-grown energy crop research at the University of Guelph

8 Investigations were done under different climates and different soil conditions Species grown simultaneously in the same field under same climatic and soil conditions 8

9 Comparison of the 5 candidate biomass species established in 2009: - Yields (fertilization) - Nutrients sequestration (C, N) Final purpose: finding the best suitable woody and herbaceous biomass crops that can be grown widely in Ontario 9

10 Planting Willow SRWC Fields Salix Maskiner SRC Step Planter

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12 Guelph Agroforestry Research Station 25 July weeks after planting

13 Short Rotation Willow Coppice System Plantation lifespan is about 21 years (7 three-year harvest cycles)

14 Short Rotation Woody Crops (SRWCs) Hybrid Poplar Shrub Willow

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22 GTI, Research site established in 2009

23 Species Early growing seasons (2010 and 2011) Mature growing seasons (2013 and 2014) Date Yield Date Yield P-value Miscanthus 2nd growing season (2011) 5.96 (±1.06) ab 5th growing season (2014) (±8.10) a 0.01* Polyculture 2nd growing season (2010) 2.96 (±0.43) a 5th growing season (2013) 5.64 (± 0.40) b 0.28 Switchgrass 2nd growing season (2010) 3.43 (±0.23) ab 5th growing season (2013) 5.99 (±0.46) b 0.54 Poplar 3rd year of the 1st rotation (2011) 7.71 (±2.39) b 3rd year of the 2nd rotation (2014) (±0.26) ab 0.7 Willow 1st year of the 1st rotation (2011) 3.21 (±2.92) ab 1st year of the 2nd rotation (2014) (±4.94) ab 0.005*

24 Influence of fertilization on biomass yields (2014) derived from the respective species at research site, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada. Yields on unfertilized plot (odt ha -1 y -1 ) Yields on fertilized plot (odt ha -1 y -1 ) Significant difference Miscanthus 13.2 ± ± Polyculture 3.33 ± ± Switchgrass 5.94 ± ± Poplar ± ± Willow 9.74 ± ±

25 Management aspects - Snow : grasses were flat on the ground (yields and quality can decrease) Miscanthus, 10th April 2014 Switchgrass, 10th April

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28 Soil Carbon SOC % Miscanthus Polyculture Switchgrass Poplar Willow Baseline

29 Conclusions Need to grow a diversity of biomass crops; poplar biomass yield at the early stages compared to the rest of the crops but, willow woody biomass yields are sustained Miscanthus is the most promising biomass crops in terms of yield but, issues with lodging and challenges associated with rhizome propagations (winter kill) needs to be assessed Woody biomass crops have less response to fertilizer application compared to herbaceous crops therefore, more environmentally friendly production systems SOC changes or enhancement has just started in most tested biomass crops potential C trading for biomass growers?

30 Thank you