Forschungszentrum Landschaftsentwicklung und Bergbaulandschaften (FZLB)
Marginal land (MagL) use for biomass production has received a lot of attention in the past decades. This alternative land use is free from conflicts with food crops, however it presents multiple challenges. The major issue to be resolved is the definition of marginal lands, which varies between disciplines and is often determined based on management goals. Moreover, concerns over the impacts of MagL use on environment, ecosystem services and sustainability have to be addressed.
In response to these issues, the SEEMLA approach proposes an algorithm and tools to support MagLs identification and mapping, as well as the assessment of their potential for biomass production. The SEEMLA algorithm assesses land marginality using the Muencheberg Soil Quality Rating (M-SQR) developed by Mueller et al. (2007). The algorithm also incorporates criteria to eliminate MagLs that may not be exploitable for bioenergy due to ecological and environmental issues or regulatory and legal restrictions and constraints posed by national or EU policies applied. Finally, MagL suitable for bioenergy production is categorized based on climatic zone and crop suitability. Alternative exploitation scenarios are developed for each class of MagL. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) will determine the sustainability of each scenario, considering also the results of the pilot sites that have been established in Germany, Greece and Ukraine.
The cultivation of bioenergy plants at fertile, arable lands increasingly results in new land use conflicts with food production and cannot be considered as sustainable, therefore. Marginal lands have been frequently considered as potential alternative for producing bioenergy from biomass. However, clear definitions and assessment methods for selecting marginal lands and for calculating potentials are still widely missing. The project “SEEMLA” aims at triggering the exploitation of currently underused marginal lands for biomass production for energy purposes. Study sites have been selected in different European countries: Germany, Greece and Ukraine. The selected sites represent a wide variety of different types of marginal lands. Based on a soil assessment set given by the Muencheberg Soil Quality Rating (SQR) system potentially “marginal” sites have been investigated. The SQR system allows for clearly distinguishing between soils of higher and lower quality. Soils with SQR scores below 40 are regarded as “marginal”. They can be classified into different groups with regard to the importance of soil hazard indicators as valuated by the SQR approach. The calculated SQR scores correlate significantly with biomass yields of bioenergy plants. Further, the SQR method was adapted for use in a GIS study on marginal land potentials in Europe. 46 % of the investigated European area could be classified as “marginal” with SQR scores below 40. From that area 22.6 % can be considered as potentially suitable for producing renewable resources after eliminating protected sites or other places not suitable for any kind of land use. Taking the ecological demands of selected bioenergy plants into account it is possible to give first preliminary recommendations for regional crop cultivation. It can be concluded, that Europe offers a large potential for renewable resources from marginal sites. However, the implementation into practice is often impeded by missing or varying policies and regulation. A proper implementation needs clear regulations and also incentives for farmers at European level.
In 2016, D.A.M.T, the Hellenic Forest Service for northern Greece (Macedonia and Thrace Regions), with the support of BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg Reseach Center Landscape Development and Mining Landscapes experts and following common standard protocols of the SEEMLA project, established three plots, in the northeastern part of Greece, in Rodopi prefecture (main forest species for biomass production: Pinus Nigra, Pinus Brutia and Robinia Pseudacacia). Nearby productive ecosystems (including forests etc.) or successional sites will be used as references for estimating the potentials of MagL. Further existing plantations of energy crops on similar MagL, will be used to assess potential crop yields. These plots represent different types of marginal lands, they were specifically selected for SEEMLA purposes (reliable and sustainable exploitation of biomass) and are entirely different from other inventories, used for typical
forest operations in Greece. The main differences are:
- an intensively studied core area,
- Soil Quality Rating (SQR) method measurements,
- Soil Classification Maps - parameters estimation (land capability classes and landforms),
- tightly spaced plantations (1,5 m x 1,5 m),
- cropping systems,
- shorter rotations and
- the need for special forest management study.
The combination of these requirements with the soil conditions of the area has created significant issues on plots establishment and accurate recording of supply chain stages. Main expected SEEMLA impacts are:
• provide a substantial amount of EU energy needs from marginal/degraded land,
• avoidance of land use conflicts by strengthening the ability to use MagL for biomass production for energy,
• reduction of EU-wide greenhouse gas,
• mitigation of conflicts regarding sustainability and biodiversity for the utilization of MagL for biomass production,
• growth of plantations of bioenergy carriers from MagL at competitive costs,
• expansion of economic opportunities for farmers, foresters and rural regions in general through biomass production on MagL and related processing activities,
• investments in new technologies and the design of new policy measures.
In der Niederlausitz finden sich sehr unterschiedliche Beispiele für junge Bodenbildungen, die oftmals durch menschliche Eingriffe ausgelöst wurden. In dem Beitrag werden neben den jüngsten Bodenentwicklungen auf Bergbaufolgestandorten auch jüngere Böden auf seit dem Mittelalter mit Flugsanden überdeckten Standorten vorgestellt. Obwohl die Genese der auf diesen Flugsanddecken anzutreffenden Böden bereits seit bis zu 1 000 Jahre andauert, sind hier erst Böden der Klasse der Ah/C-Böden entwickelt. Auf den Bergbaufolgestandorten wird versucht, die Bodenbildung durch spezielle Meliorationsmaßnahmen zu fördern. Untersuchungen an diesen besonders jungen Böden lassen gut die Prozesse der initialen Bodenentwicklung erkennen.