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Abstract
The revegetation of degraded and vulnerable land is a key objective of natural resource management policy in Australia. The production of woody energy crops could help to facilitate such revegetation, with examples including the cropping of mallee eucalypts in Western Australia and poplar and willow in Europe. This thesis seeks to add to the existing knowledge around woody energy crops for revegetation by exploring the applicability of these ideas to the Central West region of New South Wales (NSW), Australia. This includes analysis of the potential social, economic and environmental
impacts of energy cropping in this region and the development of policy measures to guide the use of woody energy crops for revegetation.
The results of two case studies in the NSW Central West are presented, one in the Central Tablelands and another farther west in the wheat and sheep belt around the town of Condobolin. These two regions have much in common, but also possess notable differences in land use, climate, topography, demographic trends and natural resource management priorities. The case study results suggest that different strategies are likely to be required for bioenergy-based agroforestry in each region. Woody
energy crops appear closer to being competitive with typical agriculture in the Central Tablelands, where large-scale bioenergy options such as electricity generation or liquid fuel production may be viable due to the presence of existing timber industry residues.
At Condobolin, energy cropping appears less competitive at present, but small-scale options involving wood pellets, briquettes or electricity may be viable for small groups of landholders with high levels of interest in mallee cropping. Recommendations are also presented on policy options that could be used to guide the development of bioenergy-based agroforestry in a sustainable manner. Policy
development of this nature requires consideration of the differing issues, benchmarks and policy measures employed across the revegetation, plantation and bioenergy sectors. Key policy recommendations include measures to support landholders in the establishment of energy plantations, the tailoring of renewable energy incentive programs to promote bioenergy that contributes to revegetation goals and the use of land use planning regulations to mitigate negative land use impacts.