Review of energy potential of the wood biomass of orchards and vineyards in the Czech Republic

Abstract

The most important sources of biomass energy are currently coming from agricultural activity. A sizeable portion in production areas is waste wood after the winter cut of orchards and vineyards, which cover areas exceeding 30, 000 ha in the Czech Republic. The most important are species like apples, peaches, apricots, plums, sweet cherries, sour cherries and grapevines. Average production of wood mass for individual species of fruit trees and grapevines ranges from 1, 540 kg/ha up to 6, 762 kg/ha, i.e. 1.5 t/ha to 6.8 t/ha. The calorific value for these species ranges from 14.70 to 16.39 MJ/kg, with moisture between 6 and 8%. The results show that the total measured energy potential of the fruit species-cultivated areas is 1, 469.7 TJ for the whole Czech Republic.