The potential contribution of Irish state forests to the supply of energy.

Abstract

This paper estimates what the energy-supply of a hypothetical conventional State forest of 360,000 ha would be if it were totally composed of Sitka spruce, Yield Class 14 on a rotation of 50 years. The data base is small and results are, therefore, tentative. Nevertheless, it appears that a large forest estate might be able to supply an equivalent amount of energy as used by its potentially dependent forest industries. Whilst the annual supply of energy to the total national budget appears to be modest, the long term contribution would be accumulative because of the renewable nature of the source. It is felt that two aspects should now be examined: (1) the role dry matter might have in the country's forests. as an alternative measure to volume alone and (2) the approach research should adopt in relation to biomass investigations.