The Willow Project at SUNY-ESF
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Driven by the challenges of sustainability, climate change, and rural development, ESF is actively working with numerous university, private, and public partners to research and develop shrub willow for renewable energy and environmental applications. Willow systems can be multifunctional and produce sustainable energy along with other value-added benefits to ecosystems and communities.
Spotlight
- New paper: Influence of blending and hot water extraction on the quality of wood pellets
- Download the new 2017 Willow Biomass Producers Handbook
- Check out new videos on our YouTube Channel
- Purchase fast-growing willow cuttings from Double A Willow
The Willow Project
About Shrub Willow
Shrub willow is a short-rotation woody crop that rapidly produces large amounts of renewable biomass.
- Lifecycle assessments show that willow is a climate-neutral fuel that does not increase greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere.
- Willow can be grown on underutilized and marginal lands, stimulating rural development and job creation. Willow can also be grown on former industrial sites and provide bioremediation benefits.
- Willow plantings provide many ecosystem services such as minimizing soil erosion, minimizing the use of fertilizers and water pollution, and increasing wildlife habitat, biodiversity, and food sources for pollinators.
- Willow is also an ideal plant choice many other environmentally-friendly systems such as living snow fences, buffer strips, stream bank stabilization and other forms of ecological engineering.
One willow planting can be harvested seven or more times on a three-year cycle, with limited maintenance between harvests. ESF has teamed up with more than 20 universities, commercial partners, and non-profit organizations throughout the U.S. and Canada to conduct research and facilitate the commercialization of shrub willow systems. Willow bioenergy production and bioremediation systems are now planted on over 1250 acres of land in New York State, and other applications of willow are being deployed across the landscape. Click on the links above for more information!
Contact
- Telephone: 315.470.6775
- Email: willow@esf.edu
Recent News
- Biomass Powering a Military Base in Upstate New York
- USDOE - /8/17
- AHB Newsletter - 4/18/17
- Greenest Colleges Use Biomass
- Biomass Magazine - 10/28/16
- Working on making willow the energy crop of the future
- WRVO Public Media - 6/6/16
- ESF Harvests Shrub Willow for Biomass Fuel
- TWC News - 5/28/16
- Foraging for Efficiency
- Biomass Magazine - 5/21/16
- ESF Receives USDA Grant for Lifecycle Assessment of Willow and Forest Biomass
- Biomass Magazine - 5/09/16
-
Fast Fuel: Short-Rotation Willow Biomas
- The Forestry Source - 5/01/16
- Frequently Asked Questions: Shrub Willow
- Northeast Bioenergy Blog - 3/18/16
- University of Tennessee and ESF Team Up to Harvest Hybrid Poplar Down South
- UT Institute of Agriculture - 3/2/16
- Northeast Bioenergy Blog - 1/22/16
- Willow Harvesting Updates
- Northeast Bioenergy Blog - 12/22/15
- What about Willow?
- Progressive Farmer - 12/11/15
- Growing willow biomass in New York
- Country Folks - 10/15/15
- ESF helps set Guinness World Record
- The Daily Orange - 10/12/15
- ESF and Alfred State receive grant for Biorefineries Center
- Biomass Magazine - 9/23/15
- Alternative Energy: Willow for Fuel
- Lancaster Farming - 9/12/15
- New Holland and ESF Partner on Biomass Research
- Biomass Magazine - 7/23/15
- View News Archive