Woodlands.co.uk

Blog - Energy, sustainability & economics

Biofuels from trees.

Biofuels from trees.

by Chris, 9 August, 2016, 0 comments

A biofuel is a fuel (such as alcohol / ethanol) that is derived from plant or animal material (biomass) by a biological process such as fermentation or anaerobic digestion.  Ethanol and methane are examples of biofuels that can be formed from a variety of sources of biomass. Ethanol can be used as a fuel (in its pure form) for vehicles or used as a petrol additive to increase the octane ration / improve emissions.  It is widely used in Brazil.  Ethanol has been produced from a range of plant materials, for example, sweet sorghum, maize, wheat, sugar beet, sugar cane, Miscanthus (elephant grass) and wood pulp.  Cellulosic ethanol is derived from biomass such as straw from crops and wood pulp - the latter is particularly rich in lignin and cellulose. Read more...
What does Brexit mean for UK woodlands?

What does Brexit mean for UK woodlands?

by Angus, 13 July, 2016, 8 comments

Whatever one thinks of the Brexit vote it is certainly a very big deal for the UK economy and is causing a re-evaluation of almost everything.   The most immediate effect has been a devaluation of sterling which has already dropped by over 10% against both the dollar and the euro and may well drop further.  Longer term effects may include a reduction in the number of people working here from abroad, changes in regulations and the possible departure of Scotland from the UK. Devaluation should make woodlands relatively more attractive to buy for several reasons - firewood is more valuable in relation to other fuel prices which have already risen and timber from abroad has become more expensive Read more...
New Welsh grant - Glastir Small Grants Scheme to open

New Welsh grant – Glastir Small Grants Scheme to open

by Chris Colley, 21 June, 2016, 2 comments

After a considerable period during which only woodland creation grants have been available, a new opportunity to apply for woodland grants has been announced in Wales.  The Small Grants Scheme offers grants of up to £5,000 per customer for capital works which reduce carbon emissions, improve water quality, reduce flood risks and increase Wales’ native biodiversity. Read more...
How could the Good Judgement Project help with managing woodlands?

How could the Good Judgement Project help with managing woodlands?

by Angus, 10 June, 2016, 0 comments

If you manage a woodland you must be making forecasts about the future.  You are probably predicting how your interventions, such as tree-planting or creating clearings will work out for wildlife and timber production in the years ahead.  But how good are we are forecasting the effects of our actions and how could we get better at it?  In the last few years a "Good Judgement Project" group led by Philip Tetlock at the University of Pennsylvania has been finding out scientifically how we can make more accurate predictions.  Read more...
How to grow a better tree.

How to grow a better tree.

by Lewis, 15 May, 2016, 2 comments

In 1987, the U.K. was battered by a storm – said to have been the worst that this country has experienced in three hundred years.  Hurricane force winds raged across southern England and the Midlands before the storm finally exited via the Wash.  It is often referred to as “The Great Storm” Millions of trees were uprooted, woodlands flattened, parks and gardens destroyed, the National Grid damaged, cars hit by falling branches and people died.  Places like Wakehurst Place, the Sussex outpost of the Royal Botanic Gardens (Kew) lost some 60% of their tree collection as a result of this storm.  Kew Gardens itself lost many trees.  Many were uprooted and died. Read more...
Have we moved into 'the human epoch' ?

Have we moved into ‘the human epoch’ ?

by Lewis, 1 May, 2016, 4 comments

As a species, we humans have only been present on the Earth for a ‘blink of the eye’ in geological terms.   The Earth is approximately some 4.6 billion years old. Geologists have divided up these years into a number of geological periods or epochs - from the Pre-cambrian (from the formation of the earth until about 540 million years ago) to the most recent - the Holocene, which started at the end of the last Ice Age - about 12,000 years ago. Modern Humans emerged out of Africa probably some 200,000 years ago, and since that time they have increased massively in number.   At the end of the C18th , there were probably about one billion people; now there are over seven billion. We have changed the Earth in many ways.   Read more...
rural enterprise

Heart of Wales – A vision of a sustainable future for mid-Wales

by Chris Colley, 28 April, 2016, 1 comments

The steel works of Port Talbot may have been taking the headines recently with the threat to employment and the prosperity of the local community, but other parts of Wales are facing their own challenges. The Heart of Wales (Calon Cymru) railway line runs through beautiful landscape, starting from Swansea and Llanelli, skirting the Brecon Beacons, and passing through Llandeilo, Llandovery, Builth Wells and Knighton, en route to Craven Arms in Shropshire. A great place to live, but with an uncertain future. Along with other rural areas in Wales the region has suffered from many years of depopulation and social and economic deprivation; all features of a challenging topography, poor transport links and remoteness from major centres of population. Read more...
Poor pollination and pesticides

Poor pollination and pesticides

by Chris, 3 April, 2016, 3 comments

Dr Dara Stanley of New Holloway, University of London has been looking at the effects of neonicotinoid pesticides on the ‘efficiency’ of bumblebee pollination of apples.  Several studies have already implicated these pesticides in the decline of foraging behaviour of bees / bumblebees.  As some 30% of agricultural crops depend on pollination by bees and  bumblebees, hover flies and other arthropods (with an estimated global value in excess of $350 billion / year) then the effects of these pesticides needs to be evaluated, so that informed debate on the banning or restriction  of their use can take place. Dr Stanley and associates exposed some bumblebees to ‘low’ levels of neonicotinoids (such as might be found in wild flowers), others were exposed to no pesticide.  Read more...

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