Best - Bioenergy Enforcement (Bioenergie Regionen stärken)

Duration of the project: 2011 - 2014

Contact: Dejuan Euring, Email: dning(at)gwdg.de

One target of the EU's energy and climate goals is to shift from usage of fossil fuels towards renewable resources. An advantage of renewable resources is not only their availability but also that they are carbon-neutral compared to fossil fuels. Ideally, the combustion of biomass will not cause higher emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) than the consumption of CO2 for biomass production by plant photosynthesis. Biomass also plays an important role in meeting the EU's target of 20% renewable energy production from the total energy that will be consumed by 2020. Assessments in the EU have shown that the energy production of wood in short rotation plantations is the best option to increase land use efficiently in comparison with agriculture-based energy production. However, how the concept varies from one region to another must be addressed by appropriate investigations. It has to be kept in mind that the production of biomass depends on the availability of nutrients and water. Biomass production in agricultural and forestry systems relies on different nutritional needs.
The aim of the subproject "resource efficiency" (www.best-forschung.uni-goettingen.de) was to investigate in which cropping system biomass energy gains are highest in relation to nitrogen and water consumption. This knowledge is important to promote ecologically and economically efficient land use strategies. Energy gains in traditional agriculture systems have often been determined, but little is known for short rotation coppice systems. In this study, biomass production of two poplar hybrids in relation to their nitrogen usage under different soil conditions has been addressed; photosynthetic nitrogen use efficiency and water use efficiency of poplar were compared with other energy crops, such as willow, oilseed rape and maize.

Publications and Dissemination

Publications
Euring D, Polle A (2015) Photosynthetic nitrogen use efficiency of two poplar varieties commonly grown in short rotation coppice plantations and implications for fertiliser management. In: Butler-Manning D, Bemmann A, Bredemeier M, Lamersdorf N (eds.) Bioenergy from Dendromass for the Sustainable Development of Rural Areas. Wiley-VHC Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim, doi: 10.1002/9783527682973.ch15

Euring D, Bai H, Janz D, Polle A (2014) Nitrogen-driven stem elongation in poplar is linked with wood modification and gene clusters for stress, photosynthesis and cell wall formation. BMC Plant Biology 14: 391-403, doi: 10.1186/s12870-014-0391-3

Polle A, Janz D, Teichmann T, Lipka V (2013) Poplar genetic engineering: promoting desirable wood characteristics and pest resistance. Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology 97(13): 5669-5679, doi: 10.1007/s00253-013-4940-8

Euring DJ, Löfke C, Teichmann T, Polle A (2012) Nitrogen fertilization has differential effects on N allocation and lignin in two Populus species with contrasting ecology. Trees: Structure and Function, 26:1933-1942, doi 10.1007/s00468-012-0761-0

Thesis
Ayegbeni S (2014) Growth performance and nitrogen usage of two Populus species (P. nigra × P. maximowiczii and P. trichocarpa × P. maximowiczii) in a young plantation on deep and shallow soil. Georg-August-Universität Göttingen

Euring D (2014) Nitrogen responsive wood formation in poplar. Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, 121 pages

Posters
Euring D, Gomes C and Polle A (2013) Growth, carbon and nitrogen allocation of hybrid poplar plants in their establishment phase on a marginal site. PRO-BIOPA Conference 2013, Freising, Germany (27-29 Nov 2013)

Ning D, Polle A (2011) ÖL-4: Ressourceneffizienz. BEST Status Seminar 2011, Göttingen, Germany (8 Dec 2011)

Funding acknowledgement

The project is funded by the BMBF - Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung under grant agreement No: 2210061.