Land Use Change and Biomass Resources

Willow crop harvesting, Northern Ireland

The EU White Paper on Renewable Energy is projecting massive increases in the share of biomass-derived energy within the European Union. This increase will bring changes to land use affecting forestry, agriculture, tourism and regional economies. The implications of these changes have to be carefully analysed to develop strategies for the most efficient use of biomass resources in Europe.

Objectives and Activities

This Research Area is investigating the interactions between bioenergy development, land use change and the availability of biomass resources.  The team is studying the influence of bioenergy development on land use change, the impact of large-scale biomass plants on land use, the relationships between bioenergy and the environment, particularly biodiversity and landscape management, technical infrastructure and societal implications. 

The Team

The team is led by Magdalena Rogulska at EC BREC who specialises in analysis of bioenergy chains.  Magdalena is supported by Grzegorz Kunikowski, Marcin Wlodarski and Katarzyna Michalowska-Knap also from EC BREC, Gareth Griffiths and Mark Coulson from Aston, Jean-Claude Sourie and Stephane de Cara from INRA, Eija Alakangas from VTT, Helen Nilsson and Kes McCormick from IIIEE, Hannes Schwaiger from Joanneum, Elke van Thuijl from ECN and Juergen Vehlow from KIT.