The development of sustainable heat and power fuelled by biomass from short rotation coppice in Wales

Commercial scale blocks of SRC willow have been planted on seven farms in Wales. They have been used for real 'touch- and -see' demonstration. Actual levels of inputs have been used in a new economic model (Valentine et al., 2008) in which attractive returns were demonstrated given yields of newer varieties and realistic prices. SRC and its associated interfaces and headlands were found to be valuable from a biodiversity perspective. This, together with other generally positive environmental impacts, not least carbon reduction through replacement of fossil fuels and soil sequestration, would justify including SRC in the next generation of agri-environmental schemes. The project has however raised a number of issues that act as barriers to take-up by farmers and the development of robust supply chains. These include a lack of awareness that SRC willow is eligible for Single Farm Payment, lack of the necessary commitment from Government or Industry to allow large scale planting to proceed and the difficulties of weed control.