Source: WWW.ENERGIAS-RENOVABLES.COM
In order to make the use of biomass sustainable, it is necessary that wood felling be done selectively and in compliance with the recovery periods of the vegetation cover. It is an article of Frank Frames, of the Grup de Recerca Ambiental Mediterrània, of the Department of Geography of the Universitat de Barcelona, and María Pardo-Lucas, of the Department of Geography of the University of Salamanca.
By means of this selective felling and the creation of a discontinuous mosaic on this forest mass of the territory, various objectives would be achieved, such as the obtaining of wood, the possible occupation of these areas with some type of rural recreational use and sustainable with the environment, protection against to large forest fires, etc.
In some areas of Peru, reforestation programs are being carried out for energy purposes. The excessive use of the resource is a problem that affects especially the countries of the Third World where the use of this type of energy is the order of the day.
In Spain the forest mass has increased in the last 100 years due to the rural exodus. This economic-social "event" was based on the abandonment of the rural area towards the cities. All this led to a reduction in the use of forest resources. In some places it is beginning to take advantage of these areas by clearing and selective felling, with points where by means of machinery these wood remains are turned into wood chips. From this location it can be distributed to reach the factories for its pressing and to be used in pellet stoves.
The remains of the production of chips that can not be used can be returned to the forest and spread on the ground to protect it from external agents. Subsequently, the slurry would be transported to industries for use.
Peru launched the National Plan for the Conservation of Forests years ago. The one that later joined the National Mitigation Plan, in which one of its five sections is devoted to the forestry sector and the conservation of forests in Protected Natural Areas.
This Plan provides guidelines on integrated soil management, reforestation and forest control projects, among others. This reforestation is causing the losses of forest mass not to be so high globally since, in spite of the fact that in recent years 125 million hectares of natural and semi-natural forest have been lost, forest plantations have increased by 31 million hectares. In the case of Spain, the dynamics have been the opposite, motivated by aspects such as the rural exodus that we mentioned previously.
Another example of strong energy use from wood is in Brazil. The country of Rio de Janeiro produces close to 20% of its energy through the use of plant residues from agricultural and forestry areas. The problem lies in the fact that in some occasions an indiscriminate felling of forest mass is carried out. Luckily, the Kyoto Protocol has already developed mechanisms of economic compensation to encourage countries to carry out sustainable forest management and curb deforestation.
To fight against deforestation, research is needed around two fundamental aspects:
- Studies of economic feasibility and optimization of resources, which provide economic and technical alternatives to take advantage of forest waste to minimize the expense and, thus, get more people to use the biomass of responsible way.
- Learn to value the plant remains that are found after a forest fire in a wooded area. In many ecosystems, fires are intrinsic and therefore will occur. Since this is a fact, it would be good to be able to give a value to these post-fire plant remains.