European Regional Development fund agreement No. 1.1.1.1/21/A/030
The total cost is 496,936.99 EUR, incl. ERDF support 407,289.55 EUR, state support 52,377.16 EUR.
The aim of the project is to quantify and to maximize climate change mitigation potential of transformation of the buffer zones around drainage ditches into resilient and self-sufficient shelter belts of woody crops ("biomass factories"), securing deliveries of high-grade biomass to the growing bioeconomy sector. The full scale implementation potential of the project results in Latvia equals to additional deliveries of 1.4 mill. m3 loose volume of biofuel (20% of the consumption in 2019) and greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction by 0.75 mill. tons CO2 eq. annually. The project is primarily targeted to hemi-boreal climate region; however, knowledge gained on short rotation forestry (SRF) and coppice (SRC), as well as on optimized mechanization solutions in SRF and SRC can be utilized in other regions of Europe and beyond. The project will be implemented in cooperation between research institution and private company specializing in agriculture and forestry consultations and life time education, Latvian Rural Advisory and Training Centre.
Project is planned as non-commercial, interdisciplinary (forestry, agriculture, IT & earth sciences) industrial research in the research field 4.1. Agriculture, forestry and fisheries, unrelated to economic activity. The project corresponds to the RIS3 specialization area "Knowledge-intensive bio-economics". The project economic activity area is research and development in natural and engineering sciences (NACE code 72.1). The overall readiness level of the project results conforms to TRL4 – components validated in laboratory environment.
The main results of the project are a model for quantification and economic assessment of climate change and nutrients leaching mitigation effect of the shelter belts around drainage ditches and recommendation for selection of tree species, design and management of the shelter belts, productivity and cost model of mechanized planting, early tending and harvesting of the shelter belts, decision support tool for transformation of drainage ditches into "biomass factories", manuscripts for 4 scientific publications, presentations provided in at least 3 international scientific conferences, international workshop organized for the project target groups. The planned public involvement activities, the organization of an international seminar and the co-operation with landowners in conducting surveys and collecting samples, the progress of the project and the provision of information on the results of the projects are not related to intellectual property rights.
Main activities and results reached:
- Evaluation of growth potential and ecosystem services, including climate change mitigation and nutrient retention, that can be provided by shelter belts in buffer zones of drainage systems in cropland and grassland.
Results of Activity 1 - GHG flux, carbon turnover and nutrient leaching measurements in existing shelter belts with mineral and organic soils.
Results of Activity 2 - Optimized mechanization and data management solutions and work methods for planting, early tending, maintenance and harvesting of the shelter belts.
Results of Activity 3 - Adaptation of design of the shelter belts to different conditions, identification of potential target assortments to ensure resilience of climate change mitigation and biomass production.
Results of Activity 4 - Elaboration of modelling and decision support tools for quantification of climate change mitigation and nutrient retention potential of the shelter belts.
Results of Activity 5 - Scientific reporting and dissemination of the project results, including guidelines for transformation of buffer zones around drainage ditches into "biomass factories".
Results of Activity 6