I am planting and harvesting willow as a biofuel in my heated Tilapia fish farm. It is easily planted, coppiced and grows quickly, but is there a better species that could be used? I am in Scotland, quite a similar climate to BC.
BC, do you mean British Columbia? I think it depends where in BC as the coast is mild with more continental winters inland. Anyway, there are a few Eucalyptus that could be used with E. nitens being perhaps the hardiest of the large leaved types though this one doesn't respond so well to regular coppicing. E. gunnii, E. subcrenulata and E. johnstonii could be worth looking at or trialled? The reason Salix species are so useful of course is because they are hardy, easily propagated from hardwood cuttings and they are still fast (species dependent of course).
Thanks Steve, the eucalyptus does grow fast in Scotland, there are many trees here. It burns well, I will certainly put some varieties in to test their suitability, it makes a more varied forest than the willow wasteland I have been planting. I need a cheap supplier, or even better, an easy propagation method, thats the real beauty of willow. Thanks Patrick
Patrick, would Populus work for you? They're quick to grow, and with the right clone, some are easy to propagate in the same way as willow. I don't know how they would do coppiced, and not sure which species you would have available, but something to try. You don't really indicate what it is that you want better than Salix - as far as I'm concerned, Salix is by far the best of all woods for bio fuel, and I even use it as firewood to heat my house, as well as cooking outside. It's got such a lovely smell when burning. Another option might be Alnus, as you can even burn that before it's seasoned. Not so good for quick propagation or growth rate though. I'll be interested in seeing a picture of your set-up for growing your fuel, as well as your fish ponds.
Hi, I see Blue Fox has mentioned alder, Alnus glutinosa, native in Scotland. I would recommend trying this. I had quite a few coppiced when I lived in Ireland. They grew quite fast and as Blue Fox says can be burnt (in our case in an open fire) without seasoning - brilliant ! They were less prone to disease than willows with us. Another advantage is they fix nitrogen, therefore they improve the soil/ do not need N fertilizer to produce reasonable biomass. I have also seen commercial grey alder(Alnus incana) plantations somewhere in Scotland ( I really cant remember where - probably either Dumfries or Aberdeenshire!) - the trees looked happy. Good Luck Brian
Hi Brian, I had forgotten about the nitrogen fixing aspect of Alnus - that's a bonus. Patrick, are you growing these in a plantation, or just in rows or...?
