Energetic Willow in Romania_Final_V0

Energetic Willow in Romania

2014/15

Impacts on the triple bottom line AND TUDOR CARSTOIU

20413 - GLOBALIZATION, SUSTAINABILITY AND TECHNOLOGY

Table of Contents

1. Introduction....................................................................................................................................1

1.1. EU Policies..............................................................................................................................2

1.2. Preconditions in Romania.......................................................................................................3

2. Impact on the Triple Bottom Line...................................................................................................6

2.1. Social Factors..........................................................................................................................8

2.2. Environmental Factors............................................................................................................9

2.3. Economic Factors..................................................................................................................11

3. Concluding Remarks.....................................................................................................................14

4. References....................................................................................................................................16

Carstoiu Tudor Globalization, Sustainability and Technology Page IFuertbauer Anna 20413 15.04.2023

Table of Figures

Figure 1: Energy crop premium (Source: Summa, 2008)........................................................................3

Figure 2: Licensed producers and distributors in Europe (Source: SalixEnergi)......................................4

Figure 3: The TBL (Source: Wikipedia)....................................................................................................6

Figure 4: People, planet, profit (Source: Quality Consultants)...............................................................7

Figure 5: Carbon neutral cycle of biomass (Source: Clark, 2013)..........................................................10

Figure 6: Carbon dioxide emission and reabsorption timescale for wood pellets (Source: Clark, 2013)

.............................................................................................................................................................10

Figure 7: Projected biomass prices CIF Denmark (Source: Ea Energy Analyses, 2013).........................12

Figure 8: Annual gross margin per ha for wheat and barley (Source: Ericsson et al., 2006).................13

Figure 9: Produced energy unit price (Source: own diagram based on Dezsi and Dozescu).................13

Figure 10: Selected positive and negative aspects of energetic willow (Source: own table based on

Olejniczak et al., 2011).........................................................................................................................14

Carstoiu Tudor Globalization, Sustainability and Technology Page IIFuertbauer Anna 20413 15.04.2023

1. Introduction

In recent years, the search for new green energy sources has been intensified due to an increasing awareness of environmental problems and climate change caused by traditional energy sources. Therefore, politics have introduced measures and policies to attain a more sustainable energy supply by directing research towards different types of unconventional energy sources. Great success could be achieved from solar, wind and heat pump (Murg, Martin, Abraham and Mateoc, 2012).

Another possible solutions discussed is biomass, which refers to plants or plant-based materials that can be used as an energy source. Thereby, either biomass is burned directly for producing heat, or it can be utilized indirectly by converting it into different forms of biofuels. Wood is still the most popular biomass energy source, but also other plants are used, including hemp, corn, willow, bamboo, palm, and sugarcane (Biomass Energy Centre; Murg et al., 2012).

The best results could be obtained by willow. Those plants are quite popular especially the Northern Hemisphere, and there are different types according to local climate conditions (Olejniczak, Cyganiuk, Kucinska and Łukaszewicz, 2011). They form part of short-rotation energy crops that are specifically grown to maximize the output her hectare with low input and overcome the disadvantage of a long time scale of conventional forestry. Traditional forest plants can only be harvested after 3-5 years, but energetic willow can be harvested each year, thus representing a safe and secure energy source. All the different varieties of willow are specifically bred to be well suited for the use as energy sources (Biomass Energy Centre; Murg et al., 2012).

Energetic willow (Salix viminalis, common osier, basket willow) is a plant which belongs to the SRWC group (Short Rotation Woody Crops) and it is referred to as a “green fuel”. Salix viminalis is originally from Sweden, where it already is cultivated on over 50,000 ha, and prefers colder areas and moist soil. Due to its fast growth of 3-3.5 cm per day and a productivity of about 50 tons per ha, it can be cut frequently and it is used for direct combustion for heat and electricity or to obtain solid biomass like pellets and briquettes. In addition, the high calorific value of about 4900 kcal/kg makes it an especially efficient energy source. Furthermore, it is very robust, resistant to various diseases, can be planted on hillsides, and it adapts easily to all types of soil, including wetlands and flood plains. Therefore, it can be cultivated even on permanent or periodic swampy land. (Olejniczak et al., 2011; Murg et al., 2012).

In general, the life of a Salix viminalis plantation is approximately 25-30 years. Only during the first year, the plant requires some special care, and in the first winter it is usually cut back to ground level in order to foster the growth of multiple stems. Beginning from the second year, however, it grows very fast without any other substantial intervention. This and low investments per hectare (about 2,000€) make the plant very convenient. In addition, once it is planted, it will yield a profit of 2,800€ per hectare in only two years, thus presenting a low-cost, basically risk-free and non-labour-intensive business opportunity. Hence, energetic willow can be very profitable even in small areas for energy independence and consumption (Murg et al., 2012; Biomass Energy Centre).

Usually, harvest time is in winter after leaf fall, between November and March. Yield, around 40-60 t/ha of dry material, depends not just on the site, but also on water availability, weed control, planting density, light, and temperature. Harvesting may be as rods, billets or chips. Since crops also

Carstoiu Tudor Globalization, Sustainability and Technology Page 1Fuertbauer Anna 20413 15.04.2023

can be harvested with just slightly adopted traditional agriculture machines, the stock of labour and machinery can be better exploited. After the harvest, the water content of willow chips decreases to 14-16% within months, thus they can be processed without artificial drying. However, chips may cause some problems regarding storage due to a loss of energy content caused by fast composting and due to possible mould formation. (Murg et al., 2012; Biomass Energy Centre).

A common form of using energetic willow chips is converting it to briquettes for heating. This way, the biomass is mechanically or hydraulically compressed to reduce its size and to get a compact product with a high calorific value, without losing any material. Theses cylindrical, hexagonal or rectangular products even contain more calorific value than beech wood, which allows cost saving of 60% compared to gas heating and 40% compared to heating with wood. The combination of low production costs with a huge demand make it a viable business option. It is obvious that people would prefer to buy one ton of ready-to-use briquettes instead of getting 1.5 to 2 tons of wood that still needs a lot of work before it can be burned (Murg et al., 2012).

1.1. EU PoliciesShortage of fossil energy sources such as oil, gas and coal, as well as environmental considerations have made renewable energy sources an interesting alternative for energy production. However, since those green alternatives still have some inconveniencies for both producers and consumer, investments are not as high as desired. Therefore, states have decided to intervene for the sake of environmental protection and energy independence.

In 2003, the EU started giving direct subsidies to farmers that cultivate biomass to support environmental protection measures. The EC Regulation No. 1782/2003 granted a financial aid of 45 €/ha for biomass producers if the crop is covered by a contract between the farmer and the processing industry or if the farmer himself processes it. The total amount was limited to 1.5 million hectares, but it was raised to 2.0 million hectares in 2006. In case there would be too many applications, the regulation suggested a pro-rata deduction. As it can be seen in Error: Referencesource not found, Romania was one of the countries that used most this subsidy. However, as this energy crop bonus was a very controversial issue, the EU stopped it. Nowadays, such farmers are only eligible for the general single farm payment also according EC Regulation No. 1782/2003, if they follow certain conditions and rules, such as a minimum holding size of one hectare used for agricultural activity and meeting cross compliance standards (Ekardt and Bredow, 2011).

In addition, the CAP (Common Agricultural Policy) includes other mechanisms to support the growth of energetic willow including training of farmers and investment support to processing activities. The Rural Development programs also provides the possibility of supporting investments and infrastructure related to short rotation energy crops, thus providing funding for a broad range of activities (Summa, 2008). The “health check” of the CAP in 2008 proposed that money should be shifted from direct aid to Rural Development. All farmers getting more than 5,000 € in direct aid only get 90% of this amount since 2012. With this money, the Member States can reinforce programmes related to renewables, and it is co-financed by the EU in convergence regions with lower GDP (Agriculture and Rural Development, 2009).


Figure 1: Energy crop premium (Source: Summa, 2008)With the European Directive 2009/28/CE, the European Union decided that renewables should represent 20% of energy consumed by 2020 and that energy efficiency has to increase by 20%, while also reducing CO2 emissions by 20%. This is the so-called “20-20-20” strategy (Murg et al., 2012). The directive required each Member State to submit a national Action Plan by the end of June 2012. Those set the share of renewable energy in transport, heating, and the production of electricity. Furthermore, they describe support mechanisms and cooperation with other Member States to reach the targets (EUR-Lex, 2014).

1.2. Preconditions in RomaniaWhen looking at Romania, it soon becomes evident that the current situation in this country is strongly favourable for the cultivation of energetic willow.

First, land availability is very high, especially compared to Western and Central Europe. Out of a total of 9.4 million hectares of arable land in Romania, about 1 million hectares remain uncultivated, thus turning fallow. Even though this number has dropped lately (fallow stretched across 3 million ha six years ago) it is still very high.

In addition, beyond those fallow areas, other types of land have been ignored completely so far and do not produce anything. Such unproductive land is not part of fallow, thus arable land that is not cultivated, but it is land on which there is no construction, and nothing is and was cultivated there. Hence, these half a million hectares of degraded land should also be used in some way, since it represents 2% of the total area of Romania (about 24 million hectares). If this this land was taken care of, if it was irrigated and cultivated, it could enter the agricultural circuit or otherwise might find some other useful purpose for construction etc. The county with the most degraded land is Alba, where 43,400 hectares of land produce nothing. Second, Cluj has 33,450 hectares of degraded land (Cristescu, 2012).

Reasons for the vast land availability are three strong waves of emigration from Romania. In 1989, after the fall of the Soviet Union, many people left the country and abandoned their land. Also in


2002, after the elimination of visas in Schengen countries, Romania experienced a strong population outflow since it became more convenient to travel in Europe. And last, the entrance in the EU further aggravated the situation in 2007.

What is more, the country is experiencing a structural change in agriculture. Many farmers shift from subsistence agriculture to activities that are more lucrative, and the sector is modernizing at a quite fast pace. For instance, agriculture, which has been in turmoil for more than three years and which contributes to 6-7% of the annual GDP, brought 18.5 billion Euros in the economy in 2013. This is the best result in history and a plus of 28% compared to 2012 (Ziarul Financiar, 2014). Therefore, it is clear that agriculture is developing fast and that farmers look for new investment possibilities. This context is just perfect for the development of energetic willow, which is not labour intensive and therefore could be a lucrative activity also in areas where traditional agriculture is not feasible.

Another crucial precondition is that the know-how about energetic willow already exists. All that is needed is land and a proper implementation. As demonstrated by Arora, Fosfuri and Gambardella (2001), the vertical organization of industries in the first world matters not just for the growth of the first world, but also for the growth of other nations. This implies that for the plantation of Salix viminalis we do not need to reinvent the wheel. We are building on the shoulders of giants because energetic willow has been tested for many years until the most productive type was discovered.

The leading know-how in this sector is found at the Swedish company SalixEnergi Europa AB. The company has all the incentives to create win-win solutions. Apart from the obvious environmental and societal benefits, the expansion of the market for energetic willow and thus the use of this source of biomass at a larger scale strongly depends on how fast the diffusion takes place. Because the core complementary asset, namely land, is not that easy to acquire or manage at a very large scale, we deal with fragmented markets. This implies more division of inventive labour and more general-purpose technologies (Bresnahan and Gambardella, 1998). Thus, owner of the technology has a strong interest in convincing as many farmers as possible to invest in energetic willow and license the technology from him. Therefore, the most profitable option for him is to spread the know-how to other national or regional players. In fact, SalixEnergi Europa AB has signed license and distribution agreements for certain energetic willow varieties with three Romanian companies (S.C. Rebina Agrar S.R.L., S.C. Agrifarm S.R.L., Kontrastwege S.R.L.) and also with several others around Europe (see Figure 1).

Figure 1: Licensed producers and distributors in Europe (Source: SalixEnergi)


The good soil conditions further facilitate the growth of energetic willow. First, water supply heavily affects the growth of the plant. Cultivation in Hungary also showed that willow is growing better on sandy soils and in areas with higher temperature, yielding approximately 45% more than plantation in Sweden. Therefore, Romania can offer favourable conditions for the cultivation of energetic willow in riverbeds and unused flood plains. Furthermore, the general good groundwater supply supports its plantation there, especially in the Danube Meadow and the Danube Delta, and it allows for cheap and easy irrigation where needed (Murg et al., 2012).

However, despite of those favourable soil conditions, short rotation coppice are still at the beginning in Romania. In 2010, only 49 test plantations were realized and it was estimated that about 850 hectares of energetic willow existed in Romania by 2012 (Borz, Dreczeni, Popa and Nita, 2013). This a very low number considering the total amount of 8 million hectares of agricultural area in Romania, so there is a long way until saturation and many options are available (Profit360).

Romania, along with all European Union countries, also has to use 20% renewable energy by 2020. At the moment, renewable sources energy production rate in Romania is insignificant when comparing it with other countries of the EU, since it only represents 1.14% of the total electric energy production (Dezsi and Dozescu).

The Romanian parliament introduced Law 220/2008 regarding the production of renewable energy in 2008, but it was not applied until recently due to the strong tensions it caused. In addition, some secondary requirements had to be added in order to solve the technical problems associated with wind and photovoltaic energy, caused by discontinuity of natural forces. Finally, a state aid scheme for green certificates was introduced by this law. Those energy suppliers that use biomass receive two certificates for every MW/hour produced, and power stations that use energetic plants like willow get a free certificate. However, even though stimulation of the production of renewable energy sources started very enthusiastic, the bureaucratic labyrinth soon became a problem. Investors needs a lot of patience to realize their renewable energy projects (Murg et al., 2012; Profit360).

The Romanian National Program for Rural Development (P.N.D.R.) together with the European Union program PHARE invests around 10 billion euro in Rural Development. Grants for energetic willow crops are on the rise through the measures 112 (installing of young farmers) and 121 (modernization of agricultural tools), with economically underdeveloped areas having priority. Those measures further help implementing energetic willow as an alternative investment solution in Romania.

In conclusion, energetic willow by its different types according to the local climatic conditions is the right answer to the question related to how to obtain in a short time very good amounts of wood mass per hectare. Especially in Romania, where heating is still a big problem in many areas, Salix viminalis could be a viable option to increase energy independence in an easy and cheap way. With a productivity up to 40 tonnes/hectare wood mass in 2-3 years, energetic willow can ensure the basic raw material for different applications like direct combustion to produce electricity or heating. Demanding a not so pretentious technology and being very adaptable to all type of soil, it may therefore become the basis of a sustainable business in Romania. Supported by programs financed by the European Union, such investments (in particular on the land not offering good results in traditional crop cultivation) can be promoted and implemented rapidly by farmers (Rebina Group Romania).


Figure 2: The TBL (Source: Wikipedia)

2. Impact on the Triple Bottom Line

During the last decade, sustainability has been included in the goals of many businesses, non-profit organizations and governments. Therefore, John Elkington developed a new framework during the 90s to measure corporate performance. The triple bottom line (in the following referred to as TBL) is an accounting framework that goes beyond traditional profit measures and shareholders’ interests. Rather, it also includes social and environmental factors, which allows a more comprehensive and complete investment result (see Figure 2). Hence, the TBL can support sustainability goals and has been adopted by many organizations already to evaluate performance on the long run. The idea is particularly successful in our age “zeitgeist” of climate change, fair trade and corporate social responsibility. After a long time where cost cutting was the primary goal of business, the hidden externalities of such operations became evident and required the organizations to take into account also more distant impacts of their actions. The TBL’s flexibility also allows adopting the concept to specific needs. The three dimensions are often also called the three Ps: people, planet and profit and represent the three pillars of sustainability. So a firm is not just responsible for its shareholders, but rather for all stakeholders, thus for anyone who is influenced by the firm’s actions. Therefore, their interests have to be coordinated and full cost accounting should be achieved (for this chapter see Slapter and Hall, 2011; The Economist, 2009; Wikipedia).

However, there are also some challenges to use the TBL in practice, since usually the three Ps are not measured in the same way. For instance, social capital cannot really be measured in dollars, so finding a common unit of measurement has been a difficulty. As a result, indexes are used often to allow comparison and to add up the separate accounts. Data is usually also available at the local or community level, but the geographical scope and the nature of the project determines the best use.

First, economic measures, or profit, deal with the flow of money and the bottom line, so it looks at all income or expenditures like employment, taxes, business climate and diversity factors. Commonly used are job growth, firm size, competition, etc. The profit of this bottom line somewhat differs from traditional accounting definitions of profit, since it is the real economic benefit that is enjoyed by the


host society. In addition, the true economic impact on the environment is included, thus it shall not be confused with the limited internal profit made by a business.

Second, environmental measures, or planet, capture the potential impacts on the environment and its viability. Business practices should be environmentally sustainable by benefiting the natural order. In case this is not possible, the impact on the environment should be close to zero and at least minimized. The ecological footprint is crucial here, and this bottom line can include not just air and water quality but also energy consumption, waste and land cover. It should help the company to identify the impacts of a planned project or policy and to better analyse the long-term trends. Hence, some measures already implemented include fossil fuel consumption, pollutants, hazardous waste management and excessive nutrients. This perspective is also considering the complete life cycle of a product, so from raw material to the disposal of the end user. Therefore, the company may be required to bear part of the cost of e.g. the ultimate disposal to avoid free riding by society.

Third, social measures, or people, deal with the wellbeing of the community and the region. The impact on education, equity, health and access to social resources is important, and the organization should enhance quality of life and social capital. Business practices should be fair and beneficial toward the workers and inhabitants, so the company should try to give something back. No group should be exploited at any point of the supply chain, and a simple “up streaming” of negative impacts is not valid (e.g. outsourcing production to a third country with child labour). Concrete measures include unemployment rate, poverty, commuting time, crimes and life expectancy which can show how socially responsible an organization operates.

To achieve sustainability, people, planet and profit have to be balanced (see Figure 3). If an organization just focuses on people and profit, it would be equitable, but it would not account for environmental externalities caused by its operations. If the company considers the profit and planet bottom line it is viable, but might cause social and political tensions. Last but not least, being interested only in people and planted is a bearable business, but no organization can survive on the long run without any profit, no matter if they only want the best for everyone. Therefore, it becomes evident that all three pillars are necessary for sustainability and that sufficient attention should be placed on all of them.

Figure 3: People, planet, profit (Source: Quality Consultants)

In the case of energetic willow, we believe that its cultivation could have a positive influence on all the bottom lines. Its application as biomass has gained a lot of attention in the recent decades.


Various arguments from a social, political and economic perspective can be found in the discussion, mostly pointing out positive aspects (Olejniczak et al., 2011). In order to highlight the benefits, the following part will analyse the possible impact of cultivating Salix viminalis on Romania’s society, environment and economic value.

2.1. Social FactorsEnergetic willow could have a strong social impact due to multiple factors. Firstly, it could give a productive use to land that until now did not serve any purpose. As mentioned before, the amount of unproductive land accounts for a total of 2% of Romania, which means that there is a huge social potential in giving underdeveloped areas the possibility to exploit better their untapped resources. It must be mentioned that especially such areas with unproductive land are the poorest ones, and many people living on the countryside struggle economic-wise even though they own large parts of land. Since energetic willow is very robust and resistant, it allows to exploit those areas that were untapped by traditional agriculture. This way, the people living in such areas would have an option to strengthen their community and it could bring about a revival of the region. People owning such land can earn an additional income by renting it to willow producers or by producing themselves. Consequently, also other abandoned land will increase in price as land-supply will become scarcer and demand will increase. Hence, the economic value of the unproductive land in general would rise by finding a productive use, thus further helping the development of the community. Of course, energetic willow is also a great choice for using the one million hectares of fallow land, which seem not to be used due to emigration or too low productivity, and the total impact could be huge. Since energetic willow can be planted on all types of soil and does not demand such a pretentious technology, it would be a great choice for Rumanian land that does not yield good returns from traditional crops of grain. With the help of EU funding programs, farmers could implement such investments quickly, thus promoting energetic willow as the basis of a sustainable business in Romania (Murg et al., 2012).

What is more, as energetic willow is not very labour intensive, it can be used just as a convenient additional source of income for a traditional farmer. This way he not only could get more money than from some other traditional crops, but he would also be able to diversify risk. Traditional crops depend strongly on the nature, while willow is quite resistant to external factors. It is a common problem in agriculture that natural forces can completely destroy the harvest of a whole season, making farming a unsecure and unpredictable business. Hence, energetic willow can play a big role in securing a minimum annual income and in minimizing exposure to environmental conditions, thus making farming a more viable alternative to a more secure job in another sector.

This is also strongly related to the next issue, the change from subsistence agriculture to more lucrative activities. As shown previously, agriculture is transforming a lot lately, and its economic importance is increasing. In the past, most people in Romania had farms only to support themselves, which means that there were planting only enough to have sufficient food throughout the year and to secure independence. However, those farms are now transforming to either larger-scale agriculture, or they are abandoned completely. Planting energetic willow can be a chance to prevent such people from moving to cities due to the job situation and in giving them a viable alternative farming concept that will allow them to transform towards a more productive and profitable agricultural sector.


Since harvesting is usually done between November and March, an additional social impact of energetic willow is the creation of more jobs. Normally, people that are employed in agriculture are confronted with strong seasonality, since the most part of the work has to be done during spring, summer, and autumn. Consequently, many are unemployed during the less productive season, which is a problem that must not be underestimated in a country that has very low wages and that offers limited possibilities to unskilled persons. In addition, as already available agricultural machinery can be used, planting Salix viminalis helps people in better using their resources, both labour and machinery (Murg et al., 2012). Also some new jobs might be created in willow-selling units and in new energy or heating facilities.

As an example, Romanian villages can profit by using briquettes, pellets, or just chopped energetic willow as a safe alternative energy source for the heating of municipal buildings like schools etc. This way, they will not only save money as compared to heating with other energy sources than biomass, but it will also reduce the hard labour required for transforming wood for heating. Wood was the most common way of heating so far, thus involving a lot of work and discomfort. Salix viminalis, however, would be a more convenient way of securing energy independence and hence increasing quality of life, especially in remote areas. Installing a district heating plant can be a very cheap and efficient way to provide heating for houses since the heat created by burning the chips is used directly and does not have to be converted in a different form of energy before.

In a nutshell, it is clear that the Romanian society would profit a lot from planting energetic willow and that it can foster regional development. Not only jobs and additional income would be generated, but also the value of land increases and efficient heating can be secured. In addition, it can support the current transformations in agriculture and secure a more effective use of resources.

2.2. Environmental FactorsIn general, energetic willow has been developed to serve as a green energy source. Its high calorific value of 4,900 kcal/kg makes it a real green alternative to other fuel sources such as natural gas, coal, and oil that have a very strong negative impact on the environment. For instance, the amount of energy that can be derived from 1,000 kg of dry energetic willow is comparable to 700 kg of high-quality black coal. However, it is known that black coal causes huge, irreversible environmental damages, which are an important issue nowadays. Consequently, the use of Salix viminalis for energetic purposes should be increased (Olejniczak et al., 2011). Of course there are also other renewable energy sources available, but many of them still include some inconveniencies and trade-offs. Energetic willow, however, has a calorific value that is even higher than oak (3,460 kcal/kg), and so a lower quantity of wood material has to be burned for the same heating result. Therefore, it can provide a very efficient alternative solution that minimizes negative connotations associated with changing energy supply. Using Salix viminalis in Romania is the first step to securing a right development towards more green energy sources and an independent and sustainable energy supply. Especially the easy and cheap investment is a big advantage for a country that still has to struggle with a lower economic development. Assuming that 20,000 ha are planted in Romania, one could get as much as 1,000,000 tonnes of pellets and a heat source of 4,900,000 Gcal energy per year, providing green heating for more than 145,000 apartments (Murg et al., 2012).

Furthermore, combustion emissions are close to zero. “Salix viminalis cultivation has a positive influence on the environment since their high mass productivity per hectare is definitely associated with CO2 absorption from the atmosphere” (Olejniczak et al., 2011, p. 206). Considering this, it can be


argued that the plant helps in stopping the increase of CO2 in the atmosphere. Figure 4 explains the CO2 life cycle of biomass (for the following see Clark, 2013).

Figure 4: Carbon neutral cycle of biomass (Source: Clark, 2013)

Generally, biomass is considered to be close to carbon neutral because even if burning it emits carbon dioxide, this amount was absorbed before while growing. However, there will still occur some additional emissions during farming, harvesting, processing and delivering, so carbon-neutrality cannot hold completely. In addition, some concerns have been raised regarding the timescale of CO 2

emission and reabsorption of biomass. Carbon neutrality implies a closed loop system and that the biomass energy source is able to take up carbon as quickly as it is released by burning. Since combustion emits all the CO2 immediately, the question is how fast the plant is growing. This gives a big advantage to short rotation coppices, and thus energetic willow, since they have a short harvesting cycle (usually annual). When compared to wood pellets, the difference is that conventional forestry operates on a timescale of about 20 years. Figure 5 shows that a tree is cut down, and at the same time a new one is planted. The wood is then transported to the biomass boiler and burned completely. This leads to an instant increase of the CO 2 concentration in the atmosphere, because even though a new tree is planted, it cannot absorb all the emissions immediately, but slowly equals out the amount during its whole growth cycle of about 20 years.

Figure 5: Carbon dioxide emission and reabsorption timescale for wood pellets (Source: Clark, 2013)


Consequently, since the plant is not gradually decomposing naturally and thus emitting carbon slowly but continuously, the impact of burning wood chips on the carbon concentration is not neutral at every point in time due to the time lag. On the contrast, energetic willow operates on a much shorter timescale. Therefore, the peaks will be much smaller and much more frequent (annually), which means minimum impact on CO2 concentration in the atmosphere. This fact further strongly favours the use of Salix viminalis as compared to many other alternative energy sources.

The plantation of energetic willow will not only secures that Romania uses safe and clean energy sources, but simultaneously helps protecting forests and countervailing deforestation, caused by the need for a cheap supply of heating material (Murg et al., 2012). Usually, economically less developed countries with huge areas of existing forests have little interest in planting energy crops due to the low cost of producing biomass from the forest. However, since deforestation has become more and more of a concern, also those areas will be more inclined to use energetic willow as a cheap alternative. This way, instead of rodding huge areas of trees, the same biomass output can be attained by cultivating Salix viminalis in much smaller areas due to its higher output per hectare. Additionally, since demand for biomass is growing and could even exceed the rate of production with traditional forest resources, planting the more efficient willow could become a viable option (Biomass Energy Centre).

In addition, energetic willow has a unique feature that allows its use for phytoremediation. Phytoremediation is an approach that treats environmental problems with plants that mitigate the issue, instead of excavating and disposing contaminant material. In the case of Salix viminalis, the plant can take up high amounts of heavy metal without losing its vitality, and it is even more effective in up taking, deactivating, and accumulating metal ions than other similar plants. For this reason, it is also referred to as a “hyper-accumulator” which means that it concentrates metal, so that its metal content can be higher than the metal content in the soil. Ions permeate into Salix viminalis roots and are then transported to the whole plant body. Therefore, the plant can be used for the slow but constant purification of soil, water etc. by planting it on metal contaminated soils or by bringing it in contact with contaminated water. This capability further distinguishes energetic willow from other energetic plants that only offer high growth rates and mass production (Olejniczak et al., 2011).

One use of Salix viminalis regards the treatment of wastewater. Usually, it is cleaned biologically, which is an expensive operation. However, by planting willow with a high evapotranspiration capacity of 15-20 l/m2/day in such water, one is able to clean 20-30 tonnes of sludge per hectare, thus representing a cheap alternative for wastewater cleaning in Romania. As a positive side effect, by flooding the plantation with wastewater, the plant even grows faster, thus representing an additional advantage (Murg et al., 2012).

Therefore, the use of energetic willow as an energy supply would bring about many environmental benefits for Romania. It is a very efficient low-carbon energy source, which can become a true alternative for fossil fuels and also wood, thus stopping deforestation. Furthermore, its use for wastewater treatment and phytoremediation in general strongly distinguishes Salix viminalis from other green energy alternatives.

2.3. Economic FactorsPlanting energetic willow in Romania also has a significant and positive impact on economic factors. In general, planting costs are about 1,500 – 2,500 €/ha, which would be made only once in 25-30 years. The first year will only produce a modest harvest of 10 - 15 t/ha with profits of about 300 –


400 €/ha. However, under the favourable conditions in Romania (meaning intensive water supply) production can reach up to 60 t/ha starting from the second year. This will lead to annual profits of 1500-1600 €/ha, with only minor costs (200€/ha/year) and care required (Admin, 2012; SalixEnergi). In addition, despite of the initial investment for the planting, investment is rather low, especially since traditional agricultural equipment can be used with just slight adaptations (Murg et al., 2012). As mentioned, Salix viminalis is very robust and not labour intensive. Therefore, its cultivation delivers a safe and secure income with minimum work and can provide a viable business opportunity for Romania. What is more, the ever-increasing demand for biomass will lead to a higher price (as shown in Figure 6), which further strengthens the economic benefits of energetic willow.

Figure 6: Projected biomass prices CIF Denmark (Source: Ea Energy Analyses, 2013)

As an example from real life, a Romanian company called Kontrastwege SRL is in the energetic willow business and has a yearly turnover of about 200,000 €. It owns the distribution license in Romania for various types of Salix viminalis. When they started in 2011, the sold about 146 ha of willow, and the amount already grew to 240 ha. The profit they get from a hectare of willow is twice the profit they would get from a hectare of corn. Customers are usually small farmers or guesthouses in rural areas that use it for in-house heat production. However, also large biomass power stations are important clients and their demand is expected to increase in the near future. As also new plants are being built, it is a good time to invest in energetic willow plantations (Profit360).

Furthermore, the plant can be cultivated on land that is otherwise unused, thus providing a good way to get some profit from such areas. As mentioned in chapter 2.1., additional income can be created by planting Salix viminalis on fallow and unproductive land that does not allow the growth of more sensible plants. Therefore, value can be created in areas where there was non before. Additionally, also existing farmland can switch to energetic willow production. Even though it would then compete with traditional crops, it can still be a more profitable option under certain conditions (see Figure 7). The viability of willow relative to wheat and barley decreases as the yields of all three crops proportionately increase, because the latter two have a steeper slope (Ericsson, Rosenqvist, Ganko, Pisarek and Nilsson, 2006). However, the current situation in Romania is that traditional crops still do not have a very good yield due to various reasons. Energetic willow, on the contrary, provides a very extensive harvest in general, and the water availability in Romania further fosters its growth. Therefore, traditional crops and Salix viminalis are at very different stages regarding yields, which favours the plantation of energetic willow. Also on the many areas with soil of poor and average


quality (fallow and unproductive land) referred to above, it is the best option to revive such land by the cultivation of willow instead of other crops.

Another interesting use of energetic willow is its plantation along roads. In the county of Arad in Romania, about 3000 roadside trees have been cut down three years ago because they were regarded as a danger to traffic. Therefore, the county council is now planning to use Salix viminalis as fast-growing plants next to roads not only to get briquettes or pellets for heating, but also to prevent snowdrifts on the road during blizzards, thus making roads more secure and accessible in winter. What is more, in case of an accident the plant is also less dangerous than trunks of other trees due the willow’s shape. The first test was on a 20 km long route between Semlac and Nădlac, and now the county decided to invest about 112,000 € in the expansion of the project to an area of about 67 hectares. With a price of 50 €/ton, and each hectare producing an average of 40 tonnes of wood, the costs should be recovered after the first harvest in two years and the country is able to generate an additional income from roadsides that have been unproductive so far. Additionally, as a by-product, the project seems to be positively affecting society’s security for no cost (Sinka, 2013).

What is more, if willow is cultivated on sufficiently large areas (1,000 - 1,500 ha) it makes even the investment in a pellets plant feasible. This way, a cheap alternative energy source for cities and the central heating of their houses can be installed (Murg et al., 2012). However, if no such pellets plants are available, it is more economic to use just copped energetic willow. When comparing the costs of producing one kWh of energy (see Figure 8), it becomes clear that all end-users can save a lot of money by using energetic willow for heating, and that wood, gas and diesel can be successfully replaced in Romania (Dezsi and Dozescu).


Minced energy willow -30% humidity

Deciduous wood -20% humidity

Wood briquette -18% humidity

Pellets Liquid fuel0.000.100.200.300.400.500.60

Produced energy unit price [lei/kWh]

Figure 7: Annual gross margin per ha for wheat and barley (Source: Ericsson et al., 2006)

Figure 8: Produced energy unit price (Source: own diagram based on Dezsi and Dozescu)

All of this shows that economic advantages of energetic willow are numerous. Not only farmers can get a sustainable income, but also end-users profit from a lower price for heating. In addition, also the cheap wastewater treatment mentioned in 2.2 and a general economic upswing due to an increasing price of land can benefit Romania economic-wise

3. Concluding Remarks

The following table summarizes the main advantages and disadvantages of energetic willow in general:

POSITIVE ARGUMENTS NEGATIVE ARGUMENTS High fertility and yield Lack of integrated bio-energy consumer

market High environmental tolerance Necessity of fast utilization after harvesting Long exploitation of plantations Energy overproduction Low labour consumption and advantageous

year schedule on labour demand during cultivation

High volume of biomass

Improvement of local economy High moisture content in fresh harvested biomass

Reduction of unemployment Threats resulting from monoculture cultivation on large agricultural areas

Diversification of energy resources Unexpected weather and climate changes Low capital consumption during vegetation Damages caused by diseases and pests High energy effectiveness Reduced consumption of conventional fuels Environmental friendly biomass utilization

for energy purposes Exploitation of lie fallows Efficient assimilation of heavy metals Possible cultivation on soils unusable for

other crops Possible reclamation of deteriorated lands Constant price increase in fossil fuels Increase of ecological awareness of the

society Financial support from EU and local

institutions

Figure 9: Selected positive and negative aspects of energetic willow (Source: own table based on Olejniczak et al., 2011)

Summarizing, energetic willow can score positively in all categories of the triple bottom line. It is a proven economic resource, with great profitability, stability and long-term perspective, it has obvious positive impact for the environment and it can have strong social potential due to its contribution to rural development. Like everything, risks do exist but benefits seem to out weight them. Therefore, the potential of energetic willow for Romania is huge and the country could lead the way to a sustainable energy supply.


Thinking also about the geopolitical conditions of Romania and Europe in general, it can be noted that there is an increased pressure for energetic independence, and energetic willow can support also this matter. Political tensions and scarcity of resources has intensified, making Europe more dependent than ever before. Consequently, projects like this are very appreciated by governments and society in general.

Finally yet importantly, under the trend of continuously increasing costs of traditional energy sources like oil, gas, and wood, but also considering its multiple uses, experts say the demand for energetic willow demand can just increase. Hence, it will have a very interesting future as an efficient and clean energy source, especially in light of climate change policies and the worldwide trend of increasing sustainability efforts (Murg et al., 2012).


4. References

Admin, l. (29 January 2012). Growing energetic willow “Salix viminalis energo”. Retrieved from http://3businessideas.blogspot.it/2012/01/growing-energy-willow-salix-viminalis.html

Arora, A.; Fosfuri, A.; Gambardella, A. (2001). Specialized Technology Suppliers, International Spillovers and Investments: Evidence from the Chemical Industry. Journal of Development Economics 65 (1), 31-54.

Agriculture and Rural Development (2 February 2009). "Health Check" of the Common Agricultural Policy. Retrieved from http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/healthcheck/index_en.htm

Biomass Energy Centre. Retrieved from http://www.biomassenergycentre.org.uk/portal/page?_pageid=76,15049&_dad=portal (last access 08.11.2014)

Borz, S.; Dreczeni, R.; Popa, B.; Nita, M. (2013). Regional Profile of the Biomass Sector in Romania. Retrieved from http://www.foropa.eu/files/country_reports/country%20report%20romania.pdf

Bresnahan, T.; Gambardella, A. (1998). The Division of Inventive Labor and the Extent of the Market. In Helpman, E. (ed.). General Purpose Technologies and Economic Growth. Cambridge: MIT Press, 253-281.

Clark, D. (2013). CO2 emissions from biomass and biofuels. Retrieved from http://www.cundall.com/Cundall/fckeditor/editor/images/UserFilesUpload/file/WCIYB/IP-4%20-%20CO2e%20emissions%20from%20biomass%20and%20biofuels.pdf

Cristescu, A. (28 March 2012). Ciulinii Romaniei! Cat teren degradat este in fiecare judet. TOP national! Retrieved from http://old.econtext.ro/dosar--2/analiza/ciulinii-romaniei-cat-teren-degradat-este-in-fiecare-judet-top-national.html

Dezsi, A.; Dozescu, S. Energetic willow – An advantageous fuel for biomass power plants. Retrieved from http://www.energy-cie.ro/archives/2011/3.8-dezsi_2.pdf

Ea Energy Analyses (2013). Analysis of biomass prices. Retrieved from http://www.ens.dk/sites/ens.dk/files/undergrund-forsyning/vedvarende-energi/bioenergi/analyse-bioenergi-danmark/analysis_of_biomass_prices_2013.06.18_-_final_report.pdf

Ekardt, F.; von Bredow, H. (2011). Managing the ecological and social ambivalences of bioenergy: Sustainability criteria versus extended carbon markets. In Leal Filho, W. (ed.). The economic, social and political elements of climate change. Berlin: Springer, 455-480.

Ericsson, K.; Rosenqvist, H.; Ganko, E.; Pisarek, M.; Nilsson, L. (2006). An agro-economic analysis of willow cultivation in Poland. Biomass and Bioenergy, 30 (1), 16-27.

EUR-Lex (6 February 2014). Promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources. Retrieved from http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?qid=1415638710312&uri=URISERV:en0009

Murg, O.; Martin, S.; Abraham, I.; Mateoc, T. (2012). The energetic willow solution for agriculture, energy and environment. Lucrări Stiintifice, Universitatea de Stiinte Agricole Si Medicină Veterinară a Banatului, Timisoara, Seria I, Management Agricol, 14 (1), 527-540.


Olejniczak, A.; Cyganiuk, A.; Kucinska, A.; Łukaszewicz, J. (2011). Energetic Willow (Salix viminalis) – Unconventional Applications, Sustainable Growth and Applications. In M. Nayeripour (Ed.) Renewable Energy Sources, InTech. Available from: http://www.intechopen.com/books/sustainable-growth-and-applications-in-renewable-energy-sources/energetic-willow-salix-viminalis-unconventional-applications

Profit360. Retrieved from http://www.business-in-romania.com/startup/energetic-willow-business-worth-200-000-euros-year

Quality Consultants. Triple bottom line approach (TBL). Retrieved from http://www.quality-consult.com/index.php?site=triplebottom

Rebina Group Romania. Retrieved from http://www.rebina.ro/en/

SalixEnergi. Retrieved from http://www.salixenergi.se/Seedproducers

Sinka, P. (17 December 2013). Energetic willows, planted to protect roads from blizzards in Western Romania. Retrieved from http://www.romania-insider.com/energy-willows-planted-to-protect-roads-from-blizzards-in-western-romania/111682/

Slaper, T.; Hall, T. (2011). The Triple Bottom Line: What Is It and How Does It Work? Indiana Business Review, 86 (1), 4-8.

Summa, H. (28 November 2008). European policies to promote energy crops. EUBIONET, Brussel. Retrieved from http://www.biomassenergycentre.org.uk/portal/page?_pageid=77,15133&_dad=portal&_schema=portal

The Economist (17 November 2009). Triple bottom line. Retrieved from http://www.economist.com/node/14301663

Wikipedia. Triple bottom line. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triple_bottom_line

Ziarul Financiar (10 January 2014). ZF: Agricultura a facut istorie in 2013. Ce a produs Romania cel mai mult anul trecut. Retrieved from http://stirileprotv.ro/stiri/financiar/zf-agricultura-a-facut-istorie-in-2013-cum-a-ajuns-romania-sa-sperie-tarile-dezvoltate-din-ue.html


http://www.ibrc.indiana.edu/ibr/2011/spring/article2.html

http://Www.rebina.ro/en/

Documents

Energetic Willow in Romania_Final_V0