Double green energy from traditional coppice stands in the Netherlands

Traditional oak and ash coppices are used to provide numerous useful products, including bark for tanneries and fire wood for bakeries. When these markets disappeared, most of the coppice stands have been replaced by high forests, at the costs of the specific natural values which coppices do provide. The emerging renewable energy market could create a new outlet for the woody biomass from coppices. The projectʹs aim was to set up and demonstrate the validity of a “double green” supply chain, including the harvest, logistics, cominution and delivery of the coppice biomass at the gate of a power plant. Double green refers to the green energy generated, and also to the positive ecological effects when coppice management is restored to a regular cutting cycle. A new Dutch subsidy program makes it more appealing for forest owners to put their woodlands back into a coppice management regime. A number of practical problems related to harvesting and logistics still remain to be solved.