Harvesting Losses for a Cut-and-Chip Harvesting System Operating in Willow Short-Rotation Coppice
In any short-rotation coppice (SRC) operation, a certain percentage of harvestable material is unrecovered, which contributes to harvesting system losses. This material may be in the form of merchantable and non-merchantable components. These losses affect economics but also influence yield, nutrient cycling, and carbon sequestration. There are very few estimates for harvesting losses available in the literature, and they are limited by small sample sizes. The objective of this work was to provide a broad overview of harvesting losses in willow SRC over a wide range of standing biomass and harvesting conditions. The average total harvesting losses were between 3 and 4 Mg ha−1, which is between 6 and 7 percent of the standing biomass. Losses can spike to nearly 40% on less than 3% of the area. Harvesting losses are significantly, but weakly, correlated with increased standing biomass. These results highlight the complexity and variability in harvesting losses as well as which aspects of harvesting systems might be targeted to reduce or partition material losses. These results have implications for designing machinery and economic modeling of these systems.
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- Grant/Contract Number:
- EE0006638
- OSTI ID:
- 2328169
- Journal Information:
- Energies, Journal Name: Energies Journal Issue: 7 Vol. 17; ISSN 1996-1073; ISSN ENERGA
- Publisher:
- MDPI AGCopyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- Switzerland
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
An assessment of the harvesting and fuel performance of a single-pass cut-and-chip harvester in commercial-scale short-rotation poplar crops as influenced by crop and weather conditions
Biomass, spacing and planting design influence cut-and-chip harvesting in hybrid poplar