Biomass assessment for sustainable bioenergy utilization in a Mediterranean forest ecosystem in northwest Greece

Worldwide bioenergy proportion from biomass for heat, electricity and transportation fuels is increasing since biomass conversion through various processes can supply solid, gas and liquid products. As Europe's energy policy integrates renewable sources to a great extent, an efficient smart-grid policy in the Euro-Mediterranean area highlights the pivotal role of lignocellulosic biomass exploitation in a rational way. Thus, biomass quantification and qualification are a prerequisite in Mediterranean region, of primeval forests and fragmented agroforestry landscapes. Sustainable management of oak coppice forests for bioenergy products is essential, as they play a vital role in Mediterranean landscapes and their resprouting ability ensures biomass productivity. Detailed field sampling design and dimensional analysis techniques between various tree parts and biomass content focus on such an ecosystem. Thus power functions were revealed with high variability explanation particularly in aboveground biomass, where the diameter at tree's breast height was an impartial and accurate predictor. Biomass conversion technique's requirement for moisture content and the proportion of each tree component in total biomass distribution, combined with the reliable biomass prediction model were applied in a theoretical harvesting scenario in order to assess the residual potential for energy purposes. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.