Carbon, energy and forest biomass: new opportunities and needs for forest management in Italy

• Format: Article
• Language: Italian
• Published: Italian Society of Silviculture and Forest Ecology (SISEF) 2005-01-01
• Series: Forest@
• Subjects: Carbon; energy; forest; fuelwood; coppice; management; Italy
• Online Access: http://www.sisef.it/forest@/showPaper.php?action=html(5,312)&lang=en

Forest biomass provides a relevant fraction of world energy needs, not only in developing Countries. In Italy, several factors are presently contributing to a new interest for this resource, ranging from regulatory quotas for renewables to the increasing price of fossil fuel to the emergence of a European carbon stock exchange. This focus on renewable resources constitutes an important opportunity for the forest sector and for society by and large, but because of the potential dimensions of the emerging market it also requires new planning instruments, in order to avoid a sudden and widespread resumption of coppice management and a reduction of standing carbon stock in forest ecosystems, which would run contrary to the objectives of the Kyoto Protocol. An example of the future demand for biomasses in Central Italy is presented, based on the possible use of fuelwood in new coal-fired power plants by the 'co-firing' technology.